Tax Shock Adds to Family Heartbreak

Last month the sad story of an Ontario family who suddenly lost both parents in 2024 was shared in Burlington Today.  The tax outcomes were just as shocking as the two deaths from unrelated causes.  There was a cottage, a large RRSP and a big tax bill.   Some of the outcomes could have been mitigated with some planning.   I sat down with CTV’s Pat Foran to discuss the outcomes – with a message important to family planning.  

Let’s face it, we all appreciated the financial support we got when we were struggling students. For those contributing financially to someone else’s post-secondary education, those kind family sacrifices can bring tax rewards even though the amounts have neither risen nor been indexed recently.

New value propositions are cropping up for investors everywhere today. . . but humans are not the only ones delivering. Is Robo-advice a competitive threat or a potential competitive advantage to advisors in multi-generation planning? 

A diverse client base can present some challenges to financial advisors, but also many opportunities, especially if you embrace diversity and tailor your practice to the needs of Canada’s changing demographics. New stats will be interesting to you if you plan to grow with this exciting new market, especially with young families.

If you have a university bound student in your home this year, there is plenty of good tax news to help with the financial burden. Once again, it’s important to be aware of opportunities to save or recoup some money, and remember to keep all receipts!

Today certain tax credits have been enhanced to help both full-time and part-time students while they are studying, including the monthly education amount. Only one education amount may be claimed for each month: the full-time amount or the part-time amount.   Here’s the criteria behind the numbers students will find on their Form T2202A, required to make the claim:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –   Modern day advisors need to learn a more proactive approach to both educating and assisting their assist clients through new conversations that are multi-generational in nature.  Evelyn Jacks, President of Knowledge Bureau is delighted that one of Canada’s top 50 financial advisors – David Christianson -  will help steer the audience in the right direction with his experience and wit again this year.