Author: Pacific Blue Cross What you need to know about BC’s COVID-19 vaccination plan As BC’s number one health benefits provider, our mission is to improve health and wellbeing for all British Columbians. Because we provide health benefits coverage to over 1.6 million people in the...
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We’ve Expanded!
2020 has presented a number of unique challenges for all of us. It has provided an opportunity for us to evolve as a firm and improve upon the services we offer you. We've expanded! We expanded our provincial footprint of our firm by opening a new office in Victoria, BC. Fone Thantasanee...
Read PostRe-affirming Our Investment Management Approach
2020 has been a year of wild volatility. The market is up on recent news of COVID-19 vaccines, but we remain cautious for 2021 as many risks still pose a threat to the markets. Global economies are tight-rope walking to recovery and industry earnings growth is still minuscule for many. While it...
Read PostAnnual Investment Audit 2020
Our annual investment audit 2020 is here! Investing in 2020 was about being resilient, resisting the urge to sell, looking for opportunities, and rebalancing after things have calmed down. We believe that 2021 will be about going global as sectors and markets affected by lockdowns start to...
Read PostBomb Shelter Investing
Since the arrival of COVID-19 our world has been in a constant state of uncertainty. Uncertainty about COVID-19, the stock market, our businesses. Uncertainty is a common catalyst for fear. When making financial decisions, fear clouds our ability to make the 'rational decision'. So how do the...
Read PostTurn Your Personal Medical Expenses into 100% Corporate Tax Deductible Expenses
One of the most common questions we ask business owners is, “How do you pay for your personal medical expenses that are not covered by your benefit plan?” 95% of the time, the response we hear is, “out of my personal pocket”. As soon as we hear that, we know we can save that person a...
Read PostInvesting in a Post–Pandemic World
Overview The global economy is bouncing back. COVID-19 infection rates are dropping as more people are getting vaccinated. We are now in the reflation phase of the recovery: high growth, rising inflation, low interest rates, and lots of volatility. How do we then invest in a post-pandemic...
Read PostRetirement Mistake No.39: Not Having Tax-Free Savings Accounts (If You Have Savings)
What is better than tax-free? RRSPs first started in 1957 to assist self-employed individuals and employees who were not members of a registered pension plan (RPP) save for their own retirement. Quite simply, a RRSP is an investment plan that you register with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)....
Read PostHow to Invest a Cash Lump Sum
Increasing our savings and making good investments helps us increase our wealth. While this is true, we also become wealthy from a sudden cash lump sum. This usually occurs 1 of 3 ways: 1) Selling a Business At some point, entrepreneurs sell their business (hopefully for a large amount)....
Read PostRetirement Mistake No.38: Thinking that Estate Planning is About Dying
Talking about estate planning can be as exciting as watching paint dry. But it doesn’t have to be all about dying. Here are four reasons why you should consider estate planning. You want to pay less income tax today. Each time you withdraw from your retirement plan, you pay tax. There...
Read PostRetirement Mistake No.37: Second Marriage Mistakes
Let me tell you a secret about estate planning. One day last month, Mick and Tracy walked into my office to discuss estate planning. Mick introduced me to his second wife and joked about the challenges in joining two different families. He said, “When I die, I want to leave enough for my children...
Read PostRetirement Mistake No.36: Not Being Prepared
What if you died today? Thinking about it seems odd, but we all want to have peace of mind about the answer to that question. When answering from a financial perspective, it’s natural to want to do the best you can with the finances you have. Dean’s Estate Planning In the last few...
Read PostRetirement Mistake No.35: Not Being Aware of the Risks in Joint Accounts
Did you hear the story of the retiree who had his accounts cleaned out by his son? It can easily happen if you put your investments and bank accounts in joint accounts. If you become mentally incapacitated, your children can take the money, leaving you broke at a time you need help. Most couples...
Read PostRetirement Mistake No.31: Not Exploring Insurance Tax Shelters
The Industry The life insurance industry is a tax haven. It was a way of sheltering money from taxation long before RRSPs came into existence and is a strategy used by the wealthy. It is essentially a plan that allows you to deposit money into a life insurance contract and to shelter all of the...
Read PostRetirement Mistake No.32: Earning Interest Income Inside Your RRSP/RRIF Instead of Outside
Are you one of those investors who doesn’t mind risk inside your registered plan, RRSP, or RRIF but want the money that you have outside of your RRSP to be safe and liquid? Several retirees I have seen have made this common mistake. They are generating capital gains income inside their...
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