Monthly Archives: March 2016

Let’s tackle Ageism, not quibble about Age: OAS Eligibility to move back to 65 from 67

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lisataylor
Lisa Taylor

By Lisa Taylor, ChallengeFactory.ca

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

In this week’s federal budget, the Liberal Government will announce that they are returning the eligibility age for OAS back to 65. In recent years, the previous Conservative government had shifted the eligibility age to 67, mirroring moves in many other countries.

Since Prime Minister Trudeau declared this intention, first in the federal campaign and then in this recent Bloomberg News interview, I’ve been asked by many to react.

Most assume that Challenge Factory, with its focus on workforce engagement for people in their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond would resist this change to lower in effect Canada’s “retirement” age.

Whether the age of eligibility is set at 65 or 67 or 71 is irrelevant if the government doesn’t also take steps to foster the older workers and the intergenerational workforce. Eligibility does not necessarily correlate to when Canadians will choose to leave the workforce and the danger in this new announcement is that the headline remains focused on age 65 as a targeted age for people to make their exit.

We are optimistic that this move marks the beginning of new and beneficial discussions about ageism, aging and the workforce.

New definition needed for the word “retirement”

Continue Reading…

Federal Budget 2016: don’t expect much relief for personal finances or retirement

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Federal finance minister Bill Morneau selects Canadian-designed shoes for upcoming federal budget

Here’s my latest column in the Financial Post, which provides a look ahead to the federal budget, which will go live at 4 pm Tuesday afternoon.

You can find the column here by clicking on this headline: Why Tuesday’s budget may not hold much good news for your personal finances. It’s also in the print edition of today’s paper.

Here is info on the media lockup, which starts at 9:30 am.

Once the floodgates open on or shortly after 4 pm Tuesday, you should be able to get access to the budget by clicking on the Department of Finance website here. We will update this site as necessary and also watch my Twitter feed @JonChevreau, as we disseminate coverage once available. This feed also shows up on the right side of the Hub’s main page.

A walk along Risk Road, Part 2: Investing in a Slow-Growth world

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Mawer’s CIO, Jim Hall

By Cameron Webster, CFA
Institutional Portfolio Manager, Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

A few weeks ago in Part 1 of this series, we ran an interview featuring Mawer’s chief investment officer, Jim Hall (pictured, left) about current interest-rate trends and deflation.

This is the follow-up interview, where we look in more depth at the problem of investing in a low-growth world.

As noted earlier, we at  Mawer spend a great deal of time asking and answering the question: So What? A company’s share price is down 6%…so what? A central bank moved interest rates up…so what? Google re-named itself Alphabet…so what?

It’s not always an easy question to answer and often leads us to ask even more questions in an effort to develop key investment insights. “So what?” is one of the questions that can lead us to investment action (or inaction) in our process of building well-diversified, resilient portfolios.

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Cameron Webster

Cameron Webster: Jim, last time we discussed how Mawer’s quarterly risk review ranks macro risks on both probability of occurrence and degree of severity. Remind us why this is part of the investment process.

Jim Hall: It is not enough to just look at potential risks. We need to ask ourselves is it something we need to do something about? Is this something upon which we need to act? Is it important? That’s the value in evaluating these risks on both probability of occurrence and severity of consequence. Continue Reading…

2016 planning priorities for business owners

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AdrianBy Adrian Mastracci, KCM Wealth

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Today’s business owners are preoccupied with the day-to-day operations for 2016. They need plenty of encouragement in planning their tomorrows.

Owners know that curve balls can suddenly appear practically every day. A continuous challenge for many is trying to improve their business prospects.

Business plans can easily veer off course, often beyond one’s control. A refresh of your business elements is good value.

First, mull over what you would like to achieve with your business.
Then brainstorm with some solid ideas.

Assess, Analyze & Adopt

Continue Reading…

Tax Filing: DIY or Hire a Professional?

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hr-officeBy Robb Engen, Boomer & Echo

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

We’re right in the middle of tax season, and while some keeners have already filed, Canadian taxpayers have until May 2nd to submit their personal taxes for 2015. The deadline to file taxes for those who are self-employed is June 15th.

There aren’t very many strategies for individuals to save on taxes these days and so most tax planning is fairly straightforward. That’s why for many years I filed my taxes using basic tax preparation software.

My tax situation wasn’t complicated. Just a standard T4, plus my RRSP contribution, a bit of student loan interest to deduct, and maybe some tuition credits when I was going to school.

It was no big deal filing taxes on my own – and it got even easier (and cheaper) as the software became more sophisticated. In fact, tax preparers like H&R Block started offering free software last year and will continue to do so this year by download at hrblock.ca.

More Money, More (tax) Problems

But as I started earning extra money through my online business it became clear that I needed some expert guidance to figure out whether it made sense to incorporate my business. Continue Reading…