The new year is here and many of us have already broken most of the resolutions we’ve made. This month, I want to encourage you to take a good hard look into your future and re-think some of those resolutions and goals in the context of what’s coming down the pike for you. It is called future casing your life. This exercise is valuable from a financial perspective, but because … [Read more...] about Futurecasting your life
Finances
A taxing time
The government fully admits it. It’s there in black and white on the Government of Canada website (canada.ca) on the History of Taxes. “In 1917, as a temporary measure to help finance the war, the federal government introduced the Income Tax War Act, covering both personal and corporate income.” It then took 31 years for them to finally admit that “…income tax was no longer … [Read more...] about A taxing time
The danger of avoiding probate through the use of joint accounts
Avoiding probate is a topic that regularly comes up in conversations here in my office. Unfortunately, all too often the tail (probate fees) is wagging the dog (estate planning). Proper estate planning takes the cost of probate into consideration and, where it makes sense, proper estate planning will take steps to avoid those costs, but cost savings shouldn’t be the main … [Read more...] about The danger of avoiding probate through the use of joint accounts
All that glitters – investing in Gold
Gold holds an unusual and fascinating allure in the investment world. Admittedly, even to me, the thought of gold ingots stored in a safe house just sounds kind of cool. It’s times like these that I start fielding questions such as, “should I have some gold in my portfolio?” At the time of writing, an ounce of gold is priced at $1,499.23. That’s an increase of $313 … [Read more...] about All that glitters – investing in Gold
Tithing on your inheritance
I was recently asked the question: “Should I tithe on an inheritance that I receive?” My first thought (and in hindsight I wish I had verbalized it) was that I was pleased that the person didn’t ask: “Do I have to tithe on my inheritance?” That showed that they were coming at the question with the right heart. In considering my answer, it might help the reader to understand … [Read more...] about Tithing on your inheritance