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Recent Articles

So, You Got a Tax Refund

According to the Minister of National Revenue, the average tax refund is over $1,500 for the 2011 tax year. Surprisingly, many Canadians are thrilled about getting a big refund. While certain situations can lead to an unusual tax refund, far too many Canadians lend large sums of money to the government at 0% interest year after year. Two things you can do to make your refunds smaller are:

Reaching for Yield in a World of Low Interest Rates

While we can talk about concepts such as inflation and purchasing power the struggle for many people today is earning enough income on their savings to meet their lifestyle needs. Interest rates and the earnings from capital through dividends, bonds and real estate rental income have dropped dramatically in the past few years.

Education Savings: Start Early

A new baby in the family brings many hopes, dreams and expectations. This can often include thoughts about how their lives can be better than that of their parents. And that often includes hopes about careers and the education that goes with them. It is also the time to start planning how to finance the education needed to fulfill those hopes and dreams.

How NOT to Plan your Estate

Your death will create problems. There will be three types - emotional, legal and financial. You can do certain things now, while you're alive, to reduce or increase these problems and make your heirs either love you or hate you.

EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS

You can increase the emotional upset after your death by leaving your affairs in a mess. Hide your will, or better still, don't make one. Have a number of secret bank accounts and investments.

Choosing the Right Life Insurance

Making the right choices for protecting you and your loved ones in the case of a premature death comes down to understanding some basic principles and rules of thumb. The first is that the name is all wrong; life insurance does not help you, it helps to protect the standard of living and lifestyle of those you leave behind. So more accurately it should be called something like: loved one's lifestyle assurance plan?.

Inflation & Your Financial Health

To truly appreciate the role that inflation plays in your ability to build assets and achieve financial freedom one has to consider the role of its dance partner: purchasing power. You can't have one without the other!

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