The New Kid on the Block…the Variable Annuity! The variable annuity of commonly referred to as a GMWB is on the horizon. In June 2006, I attended the Morningstar Investment Conference, which focused on “Retirement Income Planning”. One well-known speaker, Moshe Milevsky, introduced the concept in retirement planning of not just how to generate retirement […]
I had a great question from a client who recently asked “When I convert my RRSP to a RRIF, how much money must I withdraw each year?”. That’s a great question, so I thought I would explain RRSP and RRIF withdrawals and the basic rules. You can make a withdrawal for any amount, up to […]
Service Canada – Canadian Retirement Income Calculator With RRSP season having just ended and tax season ramping up, the last thing on most people’s minds right now is planning for their retirement. Whether you do your own investing on-line, use your local bank, broker, or a financial planner do you know your “Number”? Experience shows […]
How You Can Save 1000s of Dollars on Term Life Insurance Renewals What is a renewal anyway? When you buy a term life insurance policy, it has a fixed cost for a fixed period of time. For example, 10 year term insurance means the monthly payment (called “premium” in insurance lingo) stays the same each […]
Making Money Behave! There’s a saying that “You can’t improve, what you don’t measure”. Before setting up a budget or deciding what spending areas to change, you need to get an accurate picture where your money goes. Forget pen and paper, that’s too time consuming and messy. I recommended either Intuit’s Quicken, Microsoft’s Money or […]
Understand Travel Insurance Before You Buy CBC’s Marketplace host, Erica Johnson, had published an article about a couple who had a health issue while traveling and was subsequently denied a claim based upon filling out the travel insurance questionnaire incorrectly. If you don’t understand what you are filling out, you should get the answers before completing the rest of the […]
Family Meetings Simplify Estate Planning This author recommends ” Family Meetings Simplify Estate Planning” as an easier way to handle estate planning. Many people ask, “How do I talk to my parents about estate planning and encourage them to take the necessary steps?” This book shows them how to hold a family meeting and how to […]
How to Calculate Your Net Worth One of the most important financial planning steps you can do each year is to complete a Net Worth Statement. Your Net Worth is simply a snapshot of the difference between what you own (your assets) versus what you owe (your liabilities). A good time to update your Net […]