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Beneficiary Designations at Risk

A recent Ontario court decision could upend estate planning. This article will briefly review the common law principles governing the gratuitous transfers of property, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) decision in Pecore v. Pecore, 2 and how this decision has been applied in Calmusky and other recent court decisions to override transfers pursuant to beneficiary designations. This article will also discuss steps that can be taken to ensure that a beneficiary designation in favour of adult children (and other adult beneficiaries) will be respected by the Courts.

By |2020-10-08T16:50:25-04:00October 8th, 2020|Financial Planning|Comments Off on Beneficiary Designations at Risk

Hidden health-care costs can be a shock for retirees

Every Thursday, Randy Filinski drives a group of seniors to one of two government-sponsored physiotherapy sessions in Toronto’s Scarborough area and sees firsthand the realities of inadequate health-care coverage in the retirement years. Mr. Filinski, volunteer chair of CARP’s Ajax-Pickering chapter east of Toronto, says the members he drives are eligible only for a 20-minute [...]

By |2020-10-08T16:19:27-04:00December 30th, 2015|Financial Planning|0 Comments

Three Areas Where You Can Save Money

I believe that, just like people, our money needs a purpose. Sometimes it’s obvious what that purpose is: saving, covering the cost of housing, food, bills etc. but often, once those recurring payments are taken care of, the remaining dollars tend to magically vaporize from our bank account and drift off to find their own [...]

By |2020-10-08T16:20:24-04:00December 16th, 2015|Financial Planning, RRSP's and Pension Plans|0 Comments

What The Liberals’ Tax Promises May Mean For Your TFSA

Just moments after being sworn in as our new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and his cabinet announced that Parliament will reconvene on December 3 and immediately turn their attention to taxes. While the priority focus will be on marginal tax rates for the middle class and those making more than $200,000, it's worth paying attention [...]

By |2020-10-08T16:22:06-04:00December 8th, 2015|Financial Planning|0 Comments

Are you playing rational roulette with your retirement plans?

We all know that our mental abilities will wane at some point, though we like to think it won’t be until extreme old age. Is it possible that those abilities diminish sooner and faster than we think, even in the absence of dementia? If we look around us, we can find objective benchmarks that suggest [...]

By |2020-10-08T16:24:10-04:00December 1st, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments

The joy of retirement readiness

I’ve been facilitating courses and seminars on Retirement Readiness for long enough that I have been a part of hundreds of people’s retirement planning process. Some have come back to see me after they retired.  Others have sent a message and some people I have run into them socially.  The feedback I have gotten is very [...]

By |2020-10-08T16:25:07-04:00November 24th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Want to destroy your wealth? Here are 10 of the best ways to go about it

It was my worst financial mistake and left me in what seemed like massive debt at 18. Surprise, the problem started with a credit card. We’re not talking about spare change here. Financial Post’s Garry Marr looks at how taxpayers could get dinged by municipalities’ land transfer tax plans A teenager with a $1,500 credit limit in [...]

By |2020-10-08T16:45:45-04:00November 17th, 2015|Financial Planning|0 Comments

Where in the U.S. will my travel dollars go further?

The misery of a Canadian dollar that buys little more than a slap in the face overseas makes backyard camping seem like a good idea. But while melting your MasterCard on hotel rooms in the United States is easy, there are ways to trip southward without incurring bankruptcy – so long as you target better [...]

By |2020-10-08T16:26:57-04:00October 13th, 2015|Financial Planning|0 Comments

What do Boomers and Gen Y have most in common?

Both generations are struggling with their next big step — one into retirement, the other into the workforce. The parallels are remarkable. The Canadians who make up the two largest, most influential demographic groups in the country are vulnerable to challenging identity issues, partly as a result of the weak global economy. That is the key [...]

By |2020-10-08T16:42:21-04:00October 7th, 2015|Financial Planning, Personal Life Insurance|0 Comments

Despite graphic health warnings, tax hikes and smoking bans, …

Despite graphic health warnings, tax hikes and smoking bans, you may be among the millions of Canadians who still smoke. Here are tips to help you quit. Nicotine patches, anti-smoking drugs, seeing a hypnotist and going cold turkey: Lyn Carlson tried everything to quit smoking over the years. For the 51-year-old administrative assistant, smoking began [...]

By |2020-10-08T16:42:51-04:00December 17th, 2014|Uncategorized|0 Comments

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