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Insights

RRIF and Estate Planning Questions Answered Thumbnail

RRIF and Estate Planning Questions Answered

Today we're going to talk about a mailbag question that came in from a viewer asking about how to treat the proceeds of a RRIF that fell into their deceased parent's estate. I'm going to step you through the question, some of the considerations that the viewer asked me to cover, and I'm going to walk through the answer that I provided to them in email.

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Avoiding Investment Schemes When Approaching Retirement with Markus Muhs, CFP®, CIM® Thumbnail

Avoiding Investment Schemes When Approaching Retirement with Markus Muhs, CFP®, CIM®

I invited Markus on the channel today to have a conversation with me about it. We talked about why people in their 50’s and 60’s are susceptible to falling for investment fads and schemes, stories from his nearly 2 decades working with Canadian retail investors, different types of risky investments that can draw people in, and Markus shares some words of wisdom that may help you avoid being pulled into a risky investment scheme.

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4 Simple Steps to Take if You Are Worried About Running Out of Money In Retirement Thumbnail

4 Simple Steps to Take if You Are Worried About Running Out of Money In Retirement

According to a recent study by Ipsos Reid, 57% of pre-retirees surveyed and 37% of retirees surveyed indicated that running out of money in retirement was among their top financial concerns. Far and away, the greatest fear that I hear from people getting ready for retirement is the fear of running out of money. In this video I am going to walk you through 4 steps you can take if you are worried about running out of money in retirement.

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When Is A Reverse Mortgage A Good Idea? Thumbnail

When Is A Reverse Mortgage A Good Idea?

I was recently asked for my thoughts on reverse mortgages. The topic can bring up strong feelings and troubling stories of family members who took out a reverse mortgage and had a bad financial outcome. But, like many financial products, reverse mortgages are a tool. They can do a lot of damage in situations where they are used incorrectly. And they can be a great solution for a retiree who meets a number of important criteria.

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What is the impact of retiring early on my CPP benefit? Thumbnail

What is the impact of retiring early on my CPP benefit?

A viewer asks "How does retiring early affect CPP calculations? If you retire at 55, are all of the years following 55 to 65 counted as 0 income for the purpose of determining your average CPP contributions and therefore your payout in retirement? If so, and you start collecting CPP at 60, would that remove 5 years of 0 contributions, or would 60-65 still be counted as 0 CPP contributions for the average?"

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Top 10 Probate Questions Answered Thumbnail

Top 10 Probate Questions Answered

I recently posted a video discussing the Question “Is there an inheritance Tax in Canada?” and it got a lot of interest and generated a ton of great questions and feedback. So, today is a longer “Part 2” video discussing the answers to some of the most common probate and estate planning questions including the benefits of probate, when probate is mandatory, dealing with estates without going through probate, different probate rules by province, and some examples of both good and bad estate planning.

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Is There An Inheritance Tax in Canada? Thumbnail

Is There An Inheritance Tax in Canada?

So in this video, I'm going to talk about the probate process, how it works in the event of somebody passing away who owns a home that wants their child to inherit that property, what the difference is between probate and capital gains taxes and other forms of tax that might be payable when someone passes away. And hopefully some of this will relieve any concerns you might have about inheritance taxes and maybe help you avoid make. Planning mistakes as you try to avoid this inheritance tax that doesn't exist.

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My Child is Nearly Done University but I stil have an RESP balance - What Can I Do?? Thumbnail

My Child is Nearly Done University but I stil have an RESP balance - What Can I Do??

Many Canadians have children who are nearing the end of their post secondary education, and they may be holding onto RESP account balances and wondering what they should be doing with them?   For example, their child’s education costs may have been less than they anticipated, their student may have saved through part time work while they were in school, or they may have received scholarships and bursaries that more than covered their education costs.  In this video I’m going to walk through some of the options to effectively use up leftover RESP account balances.

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Avoid Double-Taxation When Giving or Selling Assets to Family Thumbnail

Avoid Double-Taxation When Giving or Selling Assets to Family

n this video, I am going to talk about the risks of selling assets to your kids at a discount - specifically, the potential for double taxation. I will begin with introducing a hypothetical situation. Then I talk about how double-taxation occurs then give you 3 alternatives that may make the transfer of that asset to your children more smooth and tax efficient.

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