What Should You Really Expect with Regards to Your Child’s Post-Secondary Education Costs? It’s no secret to any parent with aspirations of paying for their child’s post-secondary education that the cost of doing so is quickly inching beyond the reach of even the most affluent families. Post-secondary education costs continue to increase at a much faster rate than the rate of inflation. For the parents of a new born today, the average total cost of...
The Five Disability Insurance Mistakes People Make 1. Underestimating the Odds of Becoming Disabled The risk of a disabling illness or injury that prevents a worker from doing his or her job is more significant than most people realize. According to information compiled by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), a male worker at age 35 faces a one-in-four chance of a disability taking him off the job for 90 days or longer during...
Personal Loans and Credit Card Payoffs - What You Need To Know With credit card interest rates ranging between 11% and 22%, it’s no wonder people are looking for alternative ways to manage and pay off their credit card debt. This is where a personal loan might come into play; using a personal loan to pay off your credit card debt can help you manage your overall debt once and for all, if you know...
Until recently, many retirees have been able to rely upon the three-legged stool of retirement income sources: a defined benefit pension plan that guarantees a lifetime income, their own savings, and the Canada Pension Plan. Within the last couple of decades, the first leg of the stool has all but disappeared as many defined benefit plans have been replaced with defined contribution plans such as an RRSP.
Long-Term Care as Part of Your Multi-Generational Plan For anyone who has dealt with an aging parent or grandparent the concept of long-term care is likely a familiar one. Those unfortunate enough to suffer from Alzheimer’s or other cognitive illness can end up requiring nursing care that can reach, or exceed, $80,000 per-year, depending on the quality of care. With modern medicine it’s entirely possible to live 10+ years after the diagnosis of a permanently...
Estate Planning 101 People spend a lifetime accumulating assets and building an estate with the intention of passing it on to their heirs or charitable beneficiaries. Without proper planning, a person’s death can create significant hardships on the people for which the estate was created. For an estate to be passed on to the heirs, there could be settlement costs, such as probate fees and terminal taxes. In some cases, where the terminal taxes are...
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Investors Beware: The Media Noise can be Deafening Most people would argue that living in a digital world, with instant access to an endless stream of information has made us smarter and more self-empowered than past generations. Investors believe that it has “leveled the playing field”, enabling them to make investment decisions based on the same information once only available to the investment pros. The incessant quest for information has reached such a fever pitch...
Buying vs. Leasing: Tips for Stretching your Car Budget as Far as it Can Go For some a car is simply a means of getting from point A to point B; for others it’s a status symbol. Cars are a hobby, a passion, for some and necessity for others, but whatever your level of affinity toward automobiles is, there comes a time where just about everyone needs to start shopping for a new (or used)...
Zeroing in on Mutual Fund Expenses As investment options continue to expand and competition for investment dollars increase, the mutual fund industry is coming under increasing scrutiny for the expenses charged in many mutual funds. With the advent of no-load mutual fund, index funds, and exchange-traded funds, many investors are questioning the reasonableness of expenses charged by many of the industry’s more popular funds. In times of double-digit market gains, as have been experienced in...
Traps to avoid a few years prior retirement We already know that we will be physically healthier if we exercise and eat well. But what about our financial health and peace of mind? A sound financial plan will take into account important factors that might have an impact on reaching our goals. I have indicated below « the 5 most important risks that have an impact on our retirement plans ». Risk # 1...
What you should know about your advisor What is your advisor's "background”? You give him the investments accumulated during a lifetime, thus it is important that you are comfortable with the experience and credentials of the person guiding you. What questions should you ask? I have copied below extracts of an article published in the Globe & Mail last May 29th: "What you need to know about your financial advisor" which I found highly interesting...