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
I have said this here before, but it is always a good reminder. “The more convenient it is to make payments, the more we spend.” On August 4th, Preet Banerjee wrote an article in the Globe and Mail entitled “Paying by tap? New research suggests contactless payment leaves us out of touch with our spending.” … 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 started off by discussing the different insurance products out there and how they are tasked with providing money should the unexpected occur. I also spoke about how either life insurance is a misnomer, or we aren’t using it correctly. Term ‘life’ insurance is actually death insurance. It pays out only if you … 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