Tax

Fee transparency trumps structure: readers

Our mailbox continues to fill with opinions on the fate of trailer commissions, following a story we ran earlier this week on 12(b)-1 fees in the U.S. With all the fuss over how an advisor is compensated, one reader pointed out that un-advised investors are frequently still paying the fee for advise to their execution-only […]

By Steven Lamb |August 13, 2010

3 min read

Industry

Advised Canadians are far better off: IFIC

Here’s a suggestion for those who question the value of financial advice: take it easy…but take it. Having advice is strongly associated with the accumulation of financial wealth regardless of income level or age, according to an Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) report. The study, titled The Value of Advice: Report, reveals financial advice […]

By Vikram Barhat |August 12, 2010

3 min read

Planning and Advice

Retiring before your mortgage

What do you do when your client enters retirement with a mortgage or other debt? It happens all the time. In fact, the stats show us that 40% of Canadians are retiring with debt and some are even accruing debt in retirement. At this point it’s too late to avoid retiring with debt, so what […]

By Stephanie Holmes-Winton |August 11, 2010

6 min read

Industry

Selling business shares

There are opportunities clients should certainly take advantage of to shelter or defer the tax on those gains

By Gena Katz |August 10, 2010

3 min read

Withdrawal strategies

Here is a situation that could be described as a financial advisor’s dream. An advisor has been referred a well-to-do retired couple who are seeking a second opinion on their finances. Their main goal, naturally, is to generate enough income to keep them in the style to which they have become accustomed. But, they also […]

6 min read

Reporting confidential tax deals

There was no mention of it in the Federal Budget Speech, but there is a very important proposal in the Budget Plan that could have serious implications for wealth advisors, particularly those involved in sophisticated tax planning. It has to do with requiring the reporting of certain tax avoidance transactions that fall outside existing tax […]

June 29, 2010

4 min read

Retirement crisis overblown: Hamilton

Despite dire warnings in the press that Canada’s pension plans are set to implode, one of the country’s most respected actuaries says the problem isn’t really that bad. In fact, Canadians are in an enviable position compared to most other countries. “It’s a truth universally acknowledged that Canada has one of the best retirement systems […]

By Steven Lamb |January 12, 2010

5 min read

Claiming charity contributions

If your clients are generous givers and happened write a cheque or donate in cash or kind to their favourite cause or charity in 2009, make sure you remind them to save the receipts as you could help them reduce income taxes when you file their tax returns. Here are some strategies that make both […]

By Ann Galvin |January 1, 2010

3 min read

How to really resonate with clients

Keep asking good questions that help your client move out of crystallized-thinking mode and into emotional contemplation. Try to understand life issues in discovery before starting your financial discovery. Try to understand life issues in discovery before starting your financial discovery. Keep asking good questions that help your client move out of crystallized-thinking mode and […]

5 min read