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:

Resources for family caregivers in Canada are improving— a necessity, considering three in ten people over the age of fifteen have taken on the responsibility of caring for a family member, according to a 2012 Statistics Canada report.* However, the Employment Insurance Family Caregiver Benefit and the Canada Caregiver Credit continue to be underutilized and poorly understood.

Ian Wood, Assistant Vice President, Business Development, at Cardinal Capital Management, Winnipeg, is a graduate of Knowledge Bureau’s Master Financial Advisor (MFA™) and Real Wealth Manager (RWM™) programs. He says that his Knowledge Bureau education has helped him differentiate himself from his competitors, by providing him with a more detailed understanding of tax and financial planning topics. Here’s his story.

Single, self-employed Canadians have struggled with mortgage lending requirements for many years. But that’s all about to get easier starting on October 1, as new guidelines will improve borrowing eligibility of current or aspiring proprietors.

What is the difference between a tax preparer or practitioner and a tax specialist? In a word: advice. The tax preparation industry is in the midst of an enormous transformation, and new entrants must educate toward that change. But, why is that and what does that really mean?

CRA audit activities extended to those who claim Disability Tax Credits (DTCs), especially diabetics and children with autism, has continued to raise the ire of taxpayers. The $1.3 Billion in tax relief has been inconsistently applied and retroactively disallowed. But if you qualify, you could go back and recover that lucrative tax credit – all the way back to 2008.

The Independent Financial Brokers of Canada (IFB) and Knowledge Bureau are pleased to announce a strategic educational alliance to bring a new academic path to the continuing professional development of over 4000 IFB members.