There are plenty of tricky little financial planning traps for US citizens living in Canada, and they change often enough to be difficult to stay on top of, if you ever get on top of them in the first place. I’m not on top of them and never will be.
If you’re a US citizen, please for the love of all that’s holy find and work with a financial planner who knows cross-border planning in and out. You don’t want them learning on the job if you’re the job they’re learning on; the consequences of getting it wrong are too high.
A good emergency fund, Martin says, is one you can access within a short time and without withdrawal penalties. “A great emergency fund is money that you can access at any time, even in the middle of the night in Nowheresville. Earning interest is fine, but access trumps interest.”
Nobody wants to talk about insurance, at least, not with the people who sell it hard, and man - I get it. But if you depend on your ability to work to pay the bills, or if other people depend on you for their food and shelter, you have to at least think about it.
Today, we’re taking five minutes to think about life and disability insurance that you own yourself, as opposed to the group policy you might be part of through work).
I know no one else is quite as excited about tax time as I am (and yes, I am hosting at least two tax prep parties with friends this year), but I hope this helps you give your future self the gift of a slightly less bad (or maybe even a good?) tax filing season.
Coming soon! Ready Set Money is a guide to knowing what’s important and where to find it. It’s short, sweet, and actionable, so that whether you’re getting ready to work with a financial planner, to do your own planning, or just want to get organized so you can stop thinking about it already, you’ve got a friend in your ear to help you.
The thing I want most for you in the coming year.
If you’re in a position to put money away for the future, knowing the basics of Tax Free Savings Accounts and Registered Retirement Savings Plan can help you decide what kind of account makes the most sense…for you, specifically.
If you’re even a little bit interested in money, you’re going to encounter RRSPs. They’re everywhere, especially during RRSP season, that 60 days at the beginning of the year when everyone, including your uncle, is trying to get you to contribute.
RRSPs aren’t a bad thing. They’re not a good thing. They’re a tool that might be useful to you, and the more you know, the more useful they can be.
Old Age Security is the closest thing to a universal basic income we have in Canada, and more than 95% of seniors get it. For more than a third of Canadians, it’s a major piece of their income pie.
Knowing how it works, even if you aren’t old enough to get it, is going to be relevant to you someday, I can almost guarantee it.
The last thing I want for anyone who is fortunate enough to have a team of professionals is for egos to get in the way. I want your professionals to confer with each other, disagree if they need to, and provide you with a united strategy that makes the most out of each person’s expertise to serve the only thing that matters: what’s most important to you.
The Canada Pension Plan, or CPP, has been around for sixty years, but most of us don’t think much about it except when we notice it on our paycheques, or have to pay it all at once on our self-employed earnings come tax time.
For lots of people, CPP is a major piece of their income pie when they stop working. It might be for you too. It’s also a payment you have to make with every paycheque, or - if you’re self-employed - in addition to your income tax at the end of the year. Isn’t it important to know where your money is going and when you can expect it back?
Today’s episode is another (relatively) long one, because it’s about the basics of income tax, and there’s a lot to know (plus, it’s so much fun…for a certain value of fun). It’s worth it though: familiarity decreases anxiety, less anxiety means more ability to think clearly, and thinking clearly means better decision making and more power over your own life.
Our collective wealth includes the water, air, rocks, forests, and creatures that surround us, the relationships we have with each other, and the knowledge we gather and preserve in community.
Today’s episode is a long one, because your employee benefits (if you have them) are important to Present You and to Future You, and it takes time to understand what they are and how they work. And, fair warning: this episode has homework.
If you’re one of those few, those happy few with a defined benefit pension plan, let’s talk about the four most important questions you might want to know the answers to: when you’ll get it, how much you’ll get, whether it’s going to increase with the cost of living, and what happens if you leave your job before you retire. Find out where to get all this information (and who to talk to if you can’t) in today’s episode.
What is retirement income planning, and why do we have to do it once a year? As it turns out, almost none of you are actually experiencing the worst case scenario, at least from the perspective of your investment returns, tax policy, and cost of living increases. Most of you have more in your accounts than we projected.
And that’s precisely why we meet once a year to check in on your plan.
The evidence is in: when disaster hits, your first responders are probably not going to be actual first responders. They’re going to be your neighbours. Investing in your community is more than just an insurance policy against dealing with a bad situation on your own, though: it’s also a great way to build a better world, one block at a time.
When you give your money to someone in the hopes that it will create new money, it’s a good idea to know what you’re investing in. In today’s episode, we’ll take a little trip through investing 101 and the first steps you need to take to understand what you own and what you should expect from it.
How do we make financial decisions when we’re not totally sure what tomorrow is going to look like? Or if there’s even going to be a tomorrow?
Knowing how much you spend is absolutely essential to planning for your own well-being. This isn’t about spending less or more wisely, it’s just about knowledge. Take a deep breath, don’t worry about judgment, and join me to learn how to get that knowledge for yourself.
If part of what you want for the kids in your life is to help them get an education, contributing to a Registered Education Savings Plan probably makes sense. In this episode, we’re getting you ready to start and make the most of your RESP.
Your Service Canada Account is a workhorse. It’s a treasure trove of information about your student loans, EI programs, the Canadian Dental Care Plan, Canada Pension Plan, CPP Disability Plan, and Old Age Security. In this episode of Ready…Set…Money, we’ll learn how to get access to your account and what it’s useful for so you’re ready for the next time you need it.
Your CRA Account is a treasure trove of information that I guarantee you’ve needed in the past and will need again in the future. In this episode of Ready…Set…Money, learn how to get access to your account and what it’s useful for so you’re ready for the next time you need it.
Coming soon! Ready Set Money is a guide to knowing what’s important and where to find it. It’s short, sweet, and actionable, so that whether you’re getting ready to work with a financial planner, to do your own planning, or just want to get organized so you can stop thinking about it already, you’ve got a friend in your ear to help you.
Maybe you’re tired of your labour being exploited for someone else’s profit, or how toxic your workplace is, or being evaluated for the quantity of time you spend in the office instead of the quality of the work you do.
If you’re thinking of starting what the kids these days call a side hustle, or what people at my advanced stage of life call “a business”, this episode is for you.