A Challenge for New Clients: How to Choose a Trusted Advisor

If you’re in business for yourself, you have a unique opportunity to build wealth in an asset class that others don’t have: equity in a business enterprise that some day may be sold for millions of dollars. In addition, that business can spin off income for family members that can provide significant tax advantages, done well. Understanding how to realize on this asset requires the help of a trusted financial advisory team. Who should be on that team and how do you find them? This is a challenge your next new business clients may wrestle with. Here are some tips on how you can open discussions to help them:

Rosanna Sternat has attended the Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC) for six consecutive years, and was most inspired by Knowledge Bureau’s first annual Business Builder Retreat. She shares how the educational experience has benefited her public accounting practice in Selkirk, Manitoba.

Will Bank of Canada Interest rate setting impact your holiday euphoria? Bank of Canada’s Steven Poloz announced today that the overnight rate would remain at 1.75%.

In the holiday spirit yet? This news might dampen it: on Friday November 30, Statistics Canada released a report on GDP, income and expenditure for the third quarter of 2018. The big news? In 2018, Canadians have had the worst household savings rate on an annual basis since 2005, averaging only 1.4% over the past year. For the third quarter of this year, the household savings rate was a mere 0.8%; the lowest quarterly level since early in 2017.

On the heels of recent criticisms by the Auditor General, Knowledge Bureau Report readers weighed in on CRA service levels and they were conclusive: 87% of last month’s poll respondents say that the CRA needs to work harder. They cited a myriad of issues from 32-week wait times for a T1 Adjustment to the need to correct CRA’s errors, some of them big. 

One-third of parents of millennials say that their children are a financial strain that could ultimately take a toll on their own retirement. That’s the ongoing challenge that the boomers face. When it comes to managing their money, this generation needs to nudge their millennials towards financial independence or place their own retirement plans at risk.

In the height of charitable giving season, a review of recent tax changes provides an opportunity for advisors and clients to plan more strategically, while maximizing tax savings and planning 2019 investments before year-end. Here’s a checklist of talking points for your December meetings: