Insights

Many retirees know that they have the ability to “split” certain types of retirement income. Pension income, and RRIF income (provided that the annuitant is over the age of 65) can be split with a lower income spouse in order to average down your tax bill. In many cases, retirees are surprised to learn that CPP benefits cannot technically be split on the tax return. They can, however, be shared. CPP sharing can produce the same effect as income splitting but it’s not a perfect process and it takes some work to figure out whether it makes sense for you. In this video, I am going to explain what CPP sharing is and how it works, and the conditions that need to exist so that CPP sharing makes sense for you. Then I am going to close with an example of a hypothetical retirement couple who used CPP pension sharing to lower their lifetime tax bill. And if we haven’t met yet, my name is Mark Walhout. I created this channel to share ideas and concepts that I am using to help people with retirement every day. If you want to get more videos like these consider subscribing to the channel.

Getting income taxes right in retirement can be stressful. While we are working, our employers generally do a good job of making sure our tax withholding matches our tax liability. But it is trickier in retirement. We have multiple income sources coming in, all with varying levels of income taxes withheld, and often times we have a negative surprise at tax time. In this video, I walk through a sample retiree's tax return and show how they ended up with a surprise tax bill at tax time. Then I talk about steps they can take if they want to get their tax withholding right, specifically for CPP and OAS.

As you approach retirement, should you be putting money into your TFSA or into your RRSP? Many people preparing for retirement consider this question. The short answer is: it depends. In this video I am going to describe the TFSA and RRSP accounts and walk through different scenarios that compare the two accounts side by side, and at the end of the video I am going to give you some key takeaways as you consider this question for your own retirement savings.

Are you nearing retirement and concerned about how much of your hard-earned savings will go towards taxes? The bad news is that you will almost certainly be paying income taxes throughout your retirement. In fact, it may be one of your largest household bills. The great news is that, with a bit of smart planning, you can manage that tax bill downward based on how and when you make withdrawals from your retirement accounts. In this video, I am going to walk you through an example of how you can strategically time the withdrawals from your investment accounts to lower your tax bill.

The Minister of Finance tabled the 2023 Federal Budget this week in the House of Commons. The budget introduced a wide range of programs and changes that will affect Canadians. In this video, I want to focus on the changes that will specifically impact Canadian retirees and soon-to be retirees. We will talk about what the changes are, their impact, and planning opportunities to make sure that you are able to take advantage of any opportunities that they present.

Are you approaching retirement, or in retirement, and wondering - when is it a good time for me to add my kids as joint owners on my investment accounts? Perhaps you want to smooth the process of getting those assets to your children later on, or you want to avoid the estate process, or possibly avoid taxes. While these may be noble intentions - adding adult children to investment accounts may carry consequences that you want to avoid.