Group RSP and Group DPSP Every company's greatest asset is its employees. Whether you are a one-person consulting firm or a 1000+ national tech and computing software company, all employers wish to attract, retain and motivate the best in the industry, no matter the role. A motivated, loyal and...
Read PostAre ETFs Right for Your Portfolio?
You can now supplement your existing investment portfolios with ETFs. We are now offering Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to our clients at Elementus Wealth! What's an ETF? Similar to mutual funds, Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs) allow investors to buy a stock portfolio without buying each stock...
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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