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The Estate Bond – Have Your Cake and Eat it too!

Often we see older investors shift gears near retirement and beyond.  Many become risk averse and move their assets into fixed income type investments.  Unfortunately this often results in the assets being exposed to higher rates of income tax and lower rates of return – never a good combination.

Or maybe the older investor cannot fully enjoy their retirement years for fear of spending their children’s inheritance.

The Estate Bond financial planning strategy presents a solution to both of these problems. Read more

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The Stability of the Life Insurance Industry in Canada

Given the problems encountered by some large financial institutions in the United States, how concerned should we be about the state of the life insurance industry in Canada?  It is a fact that over the past decade the number of life insurance companies operating in Canada has decreased dramatically.  This decrease is mainly due to the mergers and acquisitions of the existing companies.  For example, those individuals who maintained policies issued by Maritime Life, Commercial Union, North American Life, or Aetna Life, now find themselves insured by Manulife Financial.  Today, insurance is one of the most closely regulated industries in Canada.  Unlike the United States, in Canada, there is a government organization that supervises all of the federally incorporated and foreign insurers to ensure that these companies operate in a prudent manner.  This organization is the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI).  For those companies that are provincially chartered their oversight is provided by the province in which they do business.  The major life insurance companies are federally regulated by OSFI.

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Family Business Succession

Family Business Succession, Estate Equalization and Wills Variation Act

 

When dealing with the estate planning of a family business it is particularly important to consider the issue of estate equalization.  One of the common objectives in a family business succession plan is to treat the children fairly and/or equally.  This can be problematic in that many family business owners see up to 80% or more of their wealth tied up in the family business.  The question arises, how to deal with the children who are not involved in the business when those children that are will receive the family company shares as their inheritance?  Aside from the issue of maintaining family harmony another risk of not dealing with this issue in an effective manner is the risk of court action under provincial legislation such as the Wills Variation Act. Read more

Recent Blogs

« The question isn't at what age I want to retire, it's at what income. ~George Foreman »     ...     « 'You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.' – Mahatma Gandhi »     ...     « 'Most people are so busy knocking themselves out trying to do everything they think they should do, they never get around to do what they want to do.' – Kathleen Winsor »     ...     « 'Man must go back to nature for information.' – Thomas Paine »     ...     « 'When you have brought up kids, there are memories you store directly in your tear ducts.' – Robert Brault »     ...     « 'Challenges make life interesting, however, overcoming them is what makes life meaningful'. – Mark Twain »     ...     « 'Fear eats away love!' – Author Unknown »     ...     « 'Adolescence is perhaps nature’s way of preparing parents to welcome the empty nest.' – Karen Savage and Patricia Adams, The Good Stepmother »     ...     « ' You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.' – Douglas MacArthur »     ...     « 'Patience is the companion of wisdom' - Saint Augustine »     ...     « 'All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.' – Galileo »

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

17
Apr
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Trends in health benefits for retirees

Since the late ’90s there has been a growing shift away from employers providing group health and dental coverage for retirees. Increasing healthcare costs, provincial de-listing of services, an aging population and changes to accounting rules are the main culprits that are eroding coverage for post-employment. Read more »

26
Mar

What’s A Workamper?

I just learned that my father-in-law was ahead of his time as a “Workamper” twenty years ago. He was your typical Prairie “snowbird” when he left his home in Winnipeg and headed south to either Texas or Florida – far away from the frigid winter months in his recreational vehicle (RV). He would often talk about doing small jobs around the RV Park while he was down south a few times a week and getting paid for it. We didn’t think much of it except that it was good to introduce additional activities into his weeks and months in the sun.

 

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