Financial and Estate Planning

For your entire adult life you are subject to taxation in some form or other. You may begrudge paying these taxes, but you nevertheless do, justifying the expense as the "required cost" of living in Canada. It therefore seems a bitter irony that the payment of taxes doesn't necessarily end when you die. You are likely aware of the various income taxes that are payable by your estate in the year of your death. However, you may not be aware that additional costs, sometimes referred to as a "death tax", can be incurred in the form of probate fees charged for duly approving your will through letters probate.
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Insurance for Retirement

Four years to go. Perhaps five. Or three, if the budget is strictly adhered to and the market performs well. Ah, the heady dreams of retirement. Most of us look forward to our retirement years most of our working lives. And a lot of us will spend as many years in ‘retirement’ as we did working. The challenge, of course, is to ensure that we have properly prepared for our leisure years.
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Getting Organized: Estate Planning

What will become of the things you own -- your assets -- when you eventually pass-on? The following list of documents, materials, and instructions will help organize your own thinking and will provide essential information to your survivor(s) or to those who will care for you if you are disabled and unable to act for yourself. There are six broad categories of materials to organize.
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New Year Financial Tune Up for Seniors

While you’re making your New Years’ resolutions, don’t forget to give your financial house an annual tune-up. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and few adjustments now could save you thousands of dollars, not to mention some major headaches, in the months and years to come.
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