It’s a good budget year for tax planners serving families, business owners and farmers. Clients interested in donating to private foundations will be happy, disability advocates have been successful in their lobbying efforts and, perhaps most important for many advisors, seniors facing their 69th birthdays can wait another two years before converting their RRSPs. Finance […]
The Supreme Court of Canada released its decision today in the first Charter of Rights class action to go to trial in Canada. In the decision, the Court awarded CPP survivor’s pensions to 1,500 Canadians involved in the class action lawsuit and cleared the way for other same-sex couples to collect survivor benefits in arrears. […]
A new survey from Scotiabank has found that 40% of Canadians have made an average of three withdrawals from their RRSPs and nearly half of those who have made at least one withdrawal do not intend to pay it back. Canadians taking money out of their RSPs withdrew an average of $18,000. Of those, 37% […]
Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology opened the its new Markham, Ontario campus facilities this morning, home to the newly created Financial Services Practitioner program, in a ceremony recognizing the Town of Markham’s $500,000 donation. “For me this was great because this building is really conducive to business,” said Sam Albanese, the insurance industry […]
(November 2006) Although there’s some lip service in the industry paid to intergenerational planning as a means of keeping client assets on the books at the end of the estate planning cycle, not many advisors actively seek introductions to the next generation of would-be clients. It’s a pity too – younger clients, many times, are […]
While much of Bay Street cries foul about tricks played on the income trust world, they’re overlooking a few tax policy treats that also came with the announcement, which are intended to soften the blow for seniors. Although the “main event,” a distribution tax on income trusts and limited partnerships, is featured in most of […]
To support the launch of its new program aimed at educating children, Edward Jones has released new survey findings that show six out of 10 Canadian parents and grandparents are concerned their children won’t be able to properly handle money when they grow up. Given current consumer debt levels and savings rates, credit counsellors say […]
An increasing number of institutional investors, pension funds, asset management firms, banks and insurance companies are joining the camp of investors who think greenhouse gas emissions and climate changes pose risks to company valuations. Many of these institutions say they want to more accurately assess their exposure to such issues. Most recently, 225 signatories, representing […]
In sharp contrast to mutual fund returns reported in Q2 of 2006, when all but three fund indices were in the red, preliminary data on investment fund performance released by Morningstar Canada Tuesday shows that 25 of the company’s fund indices posted gains for the three-month period ending September 30. Financial services, emerging markets and […]
New trends in compliance and technology are forcing massive change in the dealer channel. But the lure of higher revenues and better profitability can give dealers the incentive to work with these trends, by using new tools to help deliver the package and still keep ahead of the regulatory and compliance curve. Panelists discussing new […]