General

Is it worth it to skip a Mortgage payment?

Posted By |

By Alyssa Furtado, RateHub.ca

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Skipping a mortgage payment can seem like a good option, especially in an emergency if you don’t have a rainy day fund or savings to dip into. If you lose your job, your car breaks down, or you have any other type of unexpected expense, the option to skip a mortgage payment may look enticing. But is it worth it?

Some mortgage lenders allow you to skip a payment. Here’s what you need to know before deciding whether or not you should choose that option.

What does skipping really mean?

Sounds like a simple fix on a month when everything’s gone south, right? Not so fast. When you skip a payment, you’re not just pushing the expense back a month, you’re still racking up interest.

On a day-to-day basis, it looks like a simple monthly payment. But your mortgage payment actually has two component parts: The principal (the actual payment of the debt itself) and the interest. You don’t pay the principal, but your mortgage lender still charges you interest.

By skipping a month, you lose the chance to pay down the principal and you add on that month’s interest, which gets added to the total amount left on your mortgage.

You wind up with a higher mortgage rather than the number staying the same. The skip doesn’t freeze time. Any scenario where you add more interest should be looked at as borrowing more money.

Looking years down the line, the interest you pay after skipping will be even higher since your loan itself becomes larger. The increase won’t be huge, but if you just took on a mortgage with a 25-year amortization period, the additional interest will add up over time. If you’re close to paying off your mortgage, the interest costs won’t be as high.

Am I allowed to skip?

Continue Reading…

Retired Money: How tax filing changes in Semi-Retirement

Posted By |

Here is my latest MoneySense Retired Money column: Tax filing advice for retirees.

It relates my personal experience of filing this year’s tax returns for the 2016 calendar year.

There is quite a difference between the key tax documents when you’re a full-time employee and the ones you receive when you’re fully retired. And in semi-retirement, it’s an interesting combination of both. Instead of T-4 slips from full-time employers, and RRSP receipts that help you minimize the high tax rates of employment, the semi-retiree now may be receiving T4A slips that tell you (and the Government) how much pension income you received in the prior calendar year and how much (if any) tax was withheld at source.

And the mirror image of the RRSP receipt in retirement or semi-retirement is the T4RSP slip, which tells you how much money you withdrew from your RRSP and how much (if any) tax was withheld at source.

The article also links to an earlier Retired Money column on “Topping up to Bracket,” which describes how you really want if at all possible to tap into the roughly $20,000 “Tax-free” zone made up of the Basic Personal Amount ($11,474 in 2016, which rises to $11,635 in 2017), another $2,000 for the Pension Credit and for those who are 65, the $7,125 Age Credit.

Age Credit escapes the axe … for now

As I noted in my Budget blog last night and this morning, despite fears that the Age Credit might be the victim of the Liberal zeal to jettison costly tax credits, evidently the fear of offending the 5.2 million seniors affected stayed the hand of Finance Minister Bill Morneau. While it is income-tested, for modest-income seniors I view the Age Credit as essentially making Old Age Security (OAS) benefits tax-free, assuming they are commenced also at the magical age 65. Continue Reading…

Budget 2017: No capital gains tax hike for investors, Age Credit for seniors remains intact

Posted By |

Seniors and affluent investors who were bracing for a hike in capital gains taxes or other attacks on investment income can breathe easy, at least for a few months as Ottawa monitors developments south of the border.  And homeowners will be relieved to know that there was no move to end the capital gains exemption for principal residences.

Bye bye CSBs, hello electronic T-4s

Budget 2017 hikes a few sin taxes, imposes a sales tax on Uber and did eliminate some tax credits. Oh, and they killed Canada Savings Bonds!  For full report, read this Globe & Mail summary. Or these 10 things you need to know. And Rob Carrick reviews ten ways the budget may affect our personal finances. (You may not be able to access the link if you’re not a G&M subscriber.) Among the points: the first-time donor’s super credit expires as planned in 2017, and Ottawa will review the use of private corporations by high earners to minimize taxes.Oh, and a 3-year pilot program that starts in 2018-2019 will make it easier for adults to qualify for Canada Student Loans and grants.

Continue Reading…

Duking it out: The RRSP vs TFSA

Posted By |

By Brandon Hill, CFP

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

I’ll never forget when I was growing up hearing my parents talking about “buying RSPs” (I got excited about saving money. I know… I’m a weirdo).

In my mind, they were this magical investment that people bought so they could multiply their money to one day retire. This term, “buying RSPs” is still used today; however, I think it adds to the confusion of what a RRSP really is.

I’m here to explain in plain English the difference between the RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) and the TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account).

What are they?

The best way to think of an RRSP or a TFSA is simply as an account that has special tax benefits. Just like your chequing account, you are able to deposit and withdraw money into a RRSP or TFSA; however, the special tax benefits make it slightly more complicated.

RRSP: When you deposit money into an RRSP, you’re allowed to deduct this amount on your tax return, saving you tax and increasing your refund. However, when you withdraw money from your RRSP, you have to pay tax on this amount.

TFSA: When you deposit money into a TFSA you do not get a tax deduction, although when you withdraw from your TFSA, you do not have to pay any tax.

All growth within an RRSP and TFSA is tax free.  

You can invest in many different ways inside the RRSP or TFSA, including: stocks, bonds, GIC’s, Mutual Funds, ETFs, and other more advanced options.

Continue Reading…

5 tax tips for the Family Business: Keep more money in your wallet

Posted By |

By Mahyar K. Hansotia

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

 In Canada, as many as 80 per cent of small businesses are family enterprises. Whether it’s a start-up or a third-generation company, there’s often plenty of hard work that’s been invested, not to mention financial risk. So it goes without saying that business owners are keen to utilize any tax-saving strategies available to help them maximize take-home profits.  Here are five ways family business owners can keep more of their hard-earned dollars.

1.) Pay your family a salary

Don’t miss an opportunity to pay your spouse, common-law partner or children for any work done to help the business. This commonly known income splitting technique allows you to shift some of the income to family members who may be in a lower tax bracket. This can significantly reduce the overall tax bill by moving some of your income out of a higher tax bracket. Examples of work can include filing, answering phones, making deliveries and creative or technical assistance with the business website. Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) allows you to pay family members, as long as you meet two key conditions:

  • You must be able to prove that your family members actually did the work
  • The wages must be “reasonable under the circumstances”

In addition, this strategy allows family members to increase their CPP contribution, as well as create RRSP contribution room. Both items can benefit the family member in future years; CPP contributions will result in a higher retirement income, and the increased RRSP contribution room can be used in the future to bring down the family member’s taxable income should they be in a higher tax bracket.

2.) Pay a bonus directly to RRSP

There are some tax benefits for the family members as well. As an employee, they can consider contributing a bonus directly into their RRSPs. You’ll avoid tax withholding and the full amount can be used as a deduction, provided the family member has reached the CPP/EI threshold. Continue Reading…