In Ontario, the top marginal tax rate is 53.53%. Tax rates can’t go up any higher, can they?? Although 53.53% seems like a lot, historically it is quite low. Can you believe that between 1936 and 1980, the top tax rate exceeded 70%, maxing out at 92-94% in the 1940’s and 1950’s? Considering that both … Read more
I was at an event over the weekend and started chatting with a woman who was concerned about the next generation. Her concern was over how difficult it is to get ahead financially today. Compared to when she was starting out, things are much harder today. Buying a house is harder, investments aren’t growing like … Read more
It’s the middle of the summer and that means that many are starting to think about, “Back to School.” For families with kids going off to university or college, this means it is time to think about taking money out of an RESP. Did you know that there are two parts within an RESP? One … Read more
Continuing on with our discussion about insurance, let’s go back and look at a little history. In Canada, life insurance predates Canada becoming a country. The first life insurance policy was issued in 1847! In addition to the death benefit, the policies were also considered safe savings vehicles. In the roaring twenties and the depression … Read more
Last week I promised to discuss insurance products. Let’s start out by stating the obvious. Insurance is there to help out financially when the unexpected occurs. For example, we buy disability insurance to replace our paycheck if we are sick or hurt and unable to work. We buy critical illness insurance to provide cash for … Read more
This has not been a good week for the reputation of our big banks in Canada! On Monday the Globe and Mail published an article entitled “Persuasive sales culture at Canadian banks designed to push customers into high-fee products.” It was a very damning look at how front-line employees are compensated and what they do … Read more
To recap last week’s topic, saving is putting money in a place where there is no risk of loss, investing is putting money in a place where you have a risk of loss, but a calculated risk, and gambling is putting money where you will either lose big or win big. Some people who invest … Read more
Just to recap, over the last few weeks I have discussed controlling your finances—from tips to control your spending, keeping control of our currency, to controlling your borrowing. What about controlling how we build our wealth? Building our wealth is good but I don’t want you to take my word for it, take it from … Read more
The last couple of weeks I have been speaking about controlling your money. From using cash for day-to-day expenses, to avoiding digital currencies. Many Canadians don’t realize that they can take control of their borrowing as well. For example, when it comes to most people’s largest borrowing, our mortgage, we defer all the decisions to … Read more
Last week I wrote about the benefits of using cash for our day-to-day purchases. As mentioned, studies have shown that we tend to spend 17% less by using cash than by using credit or debit cards. Unfortunately, the Bank of Canada is currently exploring the creation of a Digital Canadian Dollar. At this time the … Read more