https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading daily 0.75 2025-01-05 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/avoidinginvestmentscams monthly 0.5 2025-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/db9fdadd-370b-480c-9388-ce1815d40870/clay-banks-NPlMmVsC40I-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Too good to be true? Avoiding investment scams - 1) Celebrity endorsements / social media deepfakes. If you’ve seen the ads where the likes of Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby are “all in on this investment - and you should be too!” you will know what I’m talking about. In some cases, the celebrity or athlete in question has no idea about the “investment” that they are supposedly excited about, with no involvement in the scheme whatsoever. Even in the cases where there is a legitimate endorsement, that is still not a guarantee of something being an appropriate investment, or of future returns. Athletes and celebrities are not automatically qualified to be giving financial advice (and frankly anyone who is would not be blasting a “one size fits all” suggestion on the internet). 2) Romance scams. This one is a classic, for the simple reason that it works. You meet someone online, everything is going great - you connect, you talk all the time, they know you so well and understand you… of course this person loves you and only wants the best for you! Once the ‘relationship’ has been established, they will suggest a great investment opportunity (more frequently this has been related to cryptocurrency investments) that they can help you invest in. In Alberta in 2023 there were 70 reports of romance scams resulting in over $2.6 million in lost assets - and many individuals who fall prey to this sort of scam never report it, meaning the actual total is likely much higher. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/ccdba8b8-f81c-4f9e-ae99-997d75f4e17a/logan-weaver-lgnwvr-PJYOpJCcbRg-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Too good to be true? Avoiding investment scams - Be wary of offers for risk free investment with high returns - all investments have some level of risk. If anyone is promising a specific return, or a high level of return for extremely low risk, there is probably more to that story. This is usually combined with a pressure to make a quick decision. If an investment professional is working with you, they should be taking time to ensure they understand your circumstances and what sort of investment is appropriate for you, and ensuring that you understand broadly how this investment works and what the risks are. You should not be pushed to invest before you are able to gain a comfort level with the proposed investment. If this is also an “exclusive offer” you’ve got a trifecta of red flags and should definitely take this idea with a grain of salt and independently verify it. Another red flag is an offshore firm or advisor - brokerage firms need to be registered in your province / territory to open trading accounts or make investment recommendations. If they are not located in Canada and not on the registration list, be extremely wary. Firms / advisors offering “confidential” investment advice, encouraging you to subvert the government / avoid financial institutions and limiting a paper trail may be trying to keep their illegal activities more easily hidden and make it more difficult to recover any lost assets. Investment advice given to you “confidentially” may be a fabrication to make you feel more secure in investing, or it may be insider information - either way this puts you at risk as an investor. https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/fhsa monthly 0.5 2025-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/9f84ed2e-c80e-45af-b457-92a1d402aa34/pexels-cottonbro-4631064.jpg Light Reading - Tax free first home savings account - the best of both worlds? - The Home Buyers Plan requires the withdrawal to be paid back over a 15 year period. If a required repayment is missed in any given year, that amount is added to your income for tax purposes. The withdrawal from the FHSA does not need to be paid back. The Home Buyers Plan has a maximum withdrawal of $60,000. The FHSA has a maximum contribution of $40,000, and any additional growth would also be eligible for withdrawal (or transfer to an RRSP if not needed). You can use both the FHSA and HBP for a purchase, and if you and a spouse are purchasing a property together (and both qualify) you can each use your withdrawals on your portion of the purchase. Will this help first time home buyers get into the market? As the account hasn’t even rolled out yet, it’s definitely too soon to tell, there are still questions that will remain regarding these accounts (will the IRS recognize this as a registered account like the RRSP, or not like the TFSA? Will it be possible to open another FHSA if you re-qualify as a first time home buyer within the 15 year period?) however, anytime the government gives you the ability to invest in a tax advantaged manner, it’s always worth considering! If you are a young adult just starting investing, it’s likely you would qualify as a first time home buyer, and this account could work nicely into your plans along with your TFSA savings. If you want to know how to make the most of your savings dollars, please reach out here. Information relating to the Tax Free First Home Savings Account is pulled from Department of Finance bulletin and accurate as of September 30th, 2022, but details are subject to change. Check with your Financial Advisor about the rules in effect when you choose to open an account. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/bb45239f-e382-40e8-b747-d8d77ded7cf1/sandy-millar-G-Aj03ckq0w-unsplash+%281%29.jpg Light Reading - Tax free first home savings account - the best of both worlds? - Like most tax-advantaged accounts, this one has some conditions to be able to access it. The first are pretty straightforward - you must be a Canadian resident who is at least 18 years of age (these are the same requirements to open a TFSA account). However, since this account is designed to help potential home buyers break into the market for the first time, there is an extra condition that you must qualify as a first-time home buyer. Who qualifies as a first-time home buyer? While that seems like it would be a simple answer, it wouldn’t be a government definition without getting a little more complicated! A first-time home buyer is someone who has not owned a home in which they lived at any time during the calendar year the account is opened, or at any time during the preceding four calendar years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/8a9bce5e-b249-4ba5-92a5-c7e7bea21102/pexels-kindel-media-7766930.jpg Light Reading - Tax free first home savings account - the best of both worlds? - A qualifying withdrawal occurs when the account holder has a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home before October 1st of the year after the withdrawal is made, with the intent to occupy the home as their principal residence within one year of building or buying the home. They must also still qualify as a first time home buyer. If these conditions are met - the entire withdrawal is tax free (like a TFSA). Non-Qualifying Withdrawals If the conditions above are not met, the withdrawal is considered non-qualifying and would be taxable as income in the year of the withdrawal, with the financial institution being required to withhold tax on the withdrawal (like an RRSP). https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/riskybusiness monthly 0.5 2025-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/6375a968-8b84-4b30-a41c-6b5fa1ecc701/ricardo-gomez-angel-qovsjSPm4Hg-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Risky business - managing risk within your portfolio - Market Risk. This is the one that most people think of when you consider risk in investing. It is the risk that arises from fundamental economic conditions, events in the economy or specific industries, or developments from specific companies. Market risk can be further divided into two main types: Systematic risk - risk that cannot be avoided and is inherent in the overall market. It is non-diversifiable because it includes risk factors that are innate within the market and affect it as a whole, and includes things like recessions, impact from interest rates, natural disasters etc. Non-systematic risk - risk that is local to a particular asset class or industry that need not affect assets outside that class. This includes things like changes in technology, resource discoveries, failed drug trials, or changing consumption patterns. This can be mitigated via portfolio diversification. Credit Risk / Default Risk is the risk of loss if one party fails to pay an amount owed on obligation, such as a loan, bond or derivative to another party. Essentially, if someone is lent money, how likely are they to pay it back? Credit ratings agencies provide an insight into how willing and able various entities are likely to be in repaying their obligations. Liquidity Risk is about accessibility. If you are invested in an asset or fund and need to get out of the position, how quickly can you do it? Will you suffer significant downward price pressure to do so? This is a larger risk with private investment, or for individuals who hold real estate properties as a large portion of their wealth. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/2f8afd8e-792c-40e5-bd37-6de51489c78b/olieman-eth-zmY1hAJiIIU-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Risky business - managing risk within your portfolio - As an investor, you may not be worried about Model (or Tail) Risk but Portfolio Managers or Fund Managers will be. This is the risk of incorrect assumptions in a model or the use on an inappropriate model when predicting outcomes (tail risk is specifically not accounting for the biggest moves as often as they wind up occuring). While most retail investors are not utilizing modelling in their investment decision making, this is relevant particularly when fund managers (particularly for actively managed funds) are determining their investing strategies for the funds that end clients are participating in. And of course, since you are most concerned with your investments aligning to your financial plan, here are some things to discuss with your Financial Planner that may not be addressed from a Fund Manager level: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/d1d50f52-6cb5-4969-8c32-419c58a93ea0/stephen-dawson-qwtCeJ5cLYs-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Risky business - managing risk within your portfolio - Effective portfolio management isn’t about removing risk from a portfolio, it is about implementing risk management. This requires understanding the risks that best balance achieving your goals with the acceptable and quantified risk of failure, and continuing to monitor it. As you can see from the above examples, often times these various elements of risk work in contrast to one another - seeking excess returns will minimize inflationary risk but increase market risk. Investing in certain types of bonds can decrease market risk but increase interest rate risk. Which risks are acceptable to you, and at what level are not necessarily going to remain constant either - during uncertain periods an investor may be comfortable with inflation risk over the short term to ensure they are less exposed to market risk. If you have a long time horizon you may be willing to accept liquidity risk if you think excess expected returns are available. While https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/rrsp-or-tfsa monthly 0.5 2025-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/ce5b6351-2070-450b-a7fd-b5dd59686af1/pexels-pixabay-210679.jpg Light Reading - Which is better, RRSP or TFSA? - Once your child attends post secondary (which includes certain apprenticeships and trade programs in addition to conventional universities and colleges) they withdraw the funds from the account. Since the contributions were made with after tax dollars, those are withdrawn tax free, but the growth and government grants are withdrawn as an Educational Assistance Payment, and taxable in the hands of the child (generally at a lower income tax bracket than the parents). If the child doesn’t fully use the balance in the account, the interest earned may be transferred to an RRSP for one of the plan’s subscribers provided they have contribution room (government grants would however be returned). I will touch on RESP plans in more detail in a future post - including some things to look for in setting up your RESP both in providers and plan structure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/8ce01f07-22d7-47b1-8ad2-3c90305121ec/pexels-joslyn-pickens-3833052.jpg Light Reading - Which is better, RRSP or TFSA? - And now we have the shiny new account! I have talked about TFSAs at length here. Contributions are the same regardless of your income level, but only begin once you turn 18. Contribution room is carried forward if not used in current years. Like an RRSP, the growth of your investments in a TFSA is tax sheltered. The first big difference between the two accounts is that you get no deduction when you contribute to your TFSA - you earn your income, pay tax on it, and take your after tax balance to make your contributions - booooo right? Not necessarily, as in this case funds withdrawn from the TFSA are not subject to any further tax, nor are they used as a basis for means testing. So if you are in a lower tax bracket today, you will pay your lower taxes now and let your balance grow through time, before withdrawing tax free in the future. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/599bb002-23c5-4fb3-85d8-bf21c17f540f/pexels-pixabay-210705.jpg Light Reading - Which is better, RRSP or TFSA? - In addition, RRSPs must be converted to a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) no later than the year in which you turn 71. Why does this matter? RRIF’s have a minimum amount that must be withdrawn each year, meaning a percentage of your portfolio is guaranteed to be coming out as taxable income in each year. This income is included when considering means tested benefits, such as OAS. If you are in high earning years today, and plan to retire early or have a modest retirement (and therefore your marginal tax rate is higher now than it will be in retirement) this is great for you, as you get to reduce your taxable income at a higher level, and pay tax later at a lower level. If you are in a relatively low tax bracket now, or have a particularly long time horizon, the amount coming out later may be taxed at a higher level than the deduction you are getting today - which is less than ideal. https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/mortgageinsurance monthly 0.5 2022-08-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/50974ba5-5806-4d46-aa39-7e2f1161a8d6/vlad-deep-mCqi3MljC4E-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - You’ve got your mortgage - do you want to add insurance to it? - 2 - Who owns it? This is a common question when it comes to policies, whether employer benefits or mortgage coverage - who owns it and can decide on the terms of the coverage? Generally, in the event of a life changing event you will want to be able to control what happens with your policies. In a mortgage policy though, the bank owns the policy, which means if you wish to change lenders for your mortgage, you will also have to factor in the new lenders cost of insurance versus the current cost. If you have your own policy, you will have already determined the terms of the policy and have set premiums so you can keep your mortgage decisions entirely about your mortgage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/5892c18a-3e47-4349-978b-245e21b657d4/kostiantyn-li-1sCXwVoqKAw-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - You’ve got your mortgage - do you want to add insurance to it? - 4 - Choices In a mortgage policy you are limited to what your financial lender offers. If they have disability or critical illness (not all do) you can usually only get those policies if you also take out life insurance with them (regardless of whether you already have coverage elsewhere). The amounts will be limited to your mortgage balance for critical illness and life insurance, and your mortgage payment for disability. If you take out individual policies, you can take as much (or as little) coverage for each item as your needs analysis shows, and take your other coverage into consideration. https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/doineedinsurance monthly 0.5 2025-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1628872288267-DGRB0V7LID80U7B6W9A8/owen-beard-DK8jXx1B-1c-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 5.5) - Insurance, do I really need it? - Health and Dental Coverage From university on, most of us will have some sort of benefit package. While it will include other benefits, the one people tend to focus on the most is Health and Dental coverage. And why not? Particularly at younger ages, things like making sure your trips to the dentist don’t cost an arm and a leg are usually our biggest concerns. For most of us, the coverage offered by our employer will be sufficient to meet our needs, and will be the most cost efficient way to protect ourselves and our families. If you have a spouse with their own employer plan, you can each cover your whole family and claim to both plans, effectively doubling up on your coverage! In some cases, however, it can make sense to seek out additional coverage. If your plan has a lower drug maximum (such as $2,000 or $5,000) and you get a diagnosis of say, rheumatoid arthritis, you can go through your entire annual allotment within months. If you have a particular medical equipment need that is not covered by a group plan, such as continuous glucose monitor, certain individual plans can fill the gap left by the group plan. Or, perhaps you have children and you expect you will need braces and your plan does not offer orthodontics. Quite often we see people move from an employee to a contractor and now need to replace their benefits entirely. There are a few things to note with individual health and dental coverage, namely that there are a lot of options to choose from! There are multiple carriers that offer plans, and they often offer 4-6 levels of coverage for each of “medically underwritten” coverage and “guaranteed acceptance” coverage. For https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1628871460950-LHBJMMSAUWWJIWNIPPAZ/scott-graham-OQMZwNd3ThU-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 5.5) - Insurance, do I really need it? - Life Insurance This is the one everyone knows about - and for an insurance that has such simple claims criteria, the policies are varied and can be incredibly complicated! For that reason, life insurance will also get it’s own breakdown detailing the types of policies available and the situations they make sense in. As I mentioned, for a long time life insurance was the type of coverage we worried about - we were more likely to die than to get sick and wanted our families taken care of. There are many reasons to get life insurance, from paying off debts and replacing income to your family, to minimizing tax liabilities on your death via charitable giving, or ensuring a tax free wealth transfer to your children / grandchildren outside of your estate (avoiding lengthy probate and claims from creditors). If you have dependents that you https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1628872144454-E78OCESJZC61NPJK69O4/jeshoots-com-mSESwdMZr-A-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 5.5) - Insurance, do I really need it? - Travel Coverage After the Covid lockdowns, people are back to travelling in larger numbers than ever, so making sure we have travel coverage is important! Many employer plans will cover this and if you are taking a week or two holiday to Hawaii or England with your family this is likely all you really need. If you become a contractor you will want to determine if this is coverage you need, either on a per-trip or on an annual multi-trip basis (some personal health and dental plans include travel, many do not). If you generally travel for extended periods of time (most group plans cover trips up to 60 days), regularly travel to countries with government advisories, have unstable https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1628872746401-YL2444T300WF3K51V3DB/sharon-mccutcheon-tKnqkvFcmyM-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 5.5) - Insurance, do I really need it? - Critical Illness Coverage Few employers offer critical illness (around 10% of group plans), and if they do it is typically in a fairly nominal amount. Critical illness insurance is the insurance industries response to medical advancements. Way back in the day, if you were diagnosed with cancer or had a heart attack it was pretty much a death sentence. Your family was understandably very sad, but on the other hand the medical bills are no longer accumulating and the life insurance cheque is arriving to make sure they are financially protected while they grieve. Now we are lucky that often people are able to recover from these illnesses, but unfortunately that means the life insurance money doesn’t come through - and the family has one party unable to work (or forcing themselves to work rather than recover) and they are incurring new costs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1628872503041-6WZ4LQ5K4HA8EX0PO8N4/georg-arthur-pflueger-TeWwYARfcM4-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 5.5) - Insurance, do I really need it? - Long Term Care Insurance This coverage, while available to younger individuals, is typically targeted at older Canadians. The idea being that as we are starting to live longer, we are unfortunately more likely to live part of our lives requiring specialized care either in our homes or in a facility. These policies will pay a monthly amount once you are no longer able to care for yourself, to ensure that when you require care you have the flexibility to receive the care of your choice (whether it’s staying in your home, choosing a private care facility, or staying in a public facility). These policies have had a bit of a bumpy ride in Canada, with no carrier willing to offer guaranteed premiums. Currently no carrier in Canada is selling a standalone Long term care policy, meaning if this coverage is something you are interested in it will need to be incorporated into your https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1628871812250-Y5IDV7QVAF7VD4T9F7EK/possessed-photography-XEhiyexYIpg-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 5.5) - Insurance, do I really need it? - Disability Insurance Coverage More people are familiar with disability coverage as many employer programs offer some coverage - but many individuals are still underinsured in this regard. This is one of those complex types of coverage that will be covered on it’s own in more detail but the big takeaway should be: if you work because you have to, you need some sort of disability insurance. If you work because you love your job and if anything happened to change that you would simply retire and have no ill effects, congratulations! Most of us aren’t in that boat however, and need to protect our income. At its core, disability insurance pays a monthly income to you if you are unable to work due to an illness or injury. There are a lot of moving parts that can be customized, such as how disabled you have to be to claim, if you want to protect future income or inflation protect your benefit, if you want to have https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/howmarginaltaxworks monthly 0.5 2025-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1625696942284-CRM9YO6MKULP1N5DH6XY/impact+of+taxes+fed+%26+AB.png Light Reading - Marginal tax rates - why working more doesn’t lead to earning less - Make it stand out Even though the impact of taxes becomes larger with the addition of provincial taxes - because there is no regressive taxation to lower income net income still grows steadily. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1625697033225-6UY15CUQ7GPSKVSM6ZJ8/marginal+v+average+fed+%26+AB.png Light Reading - Marginal tax rates - why working more doesn’t lead to earning less - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1625695169188-CCUF8T3ZWZKQPRQNVRT9/Federal+Marginal+Tax+Rates.png Light Reading - Marginal tax rates - why working more doesn’t lead to earning less - As you can see, the higher your income, the higher your tax rate. The important thing to note though, is that Canada employs a stepped rate. What this means is if you were earning $48,000 and you get a raise to $50,000, your first $13,808 is subject the personal basic amount credits to be effectively taxed at 0%, the next $35,212 is taxed at the 15% level still, and https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1625696120497-VMT1BPM8G2DEGVEOV88Y/Federal+and+Provincial+Tax+Rates.png Light Reading - Marginal tax rates - why working more doesn’t lead to earning less - Provincial Tax Rates While the example above only utilized federal tax rates, unless you are a non-resident of Canada (which is beyond today’s scope) you will also need to pay provincial taxes. These work in the same manner as federal tax rates, but are set by each province and therefore will vary depending on where you live. To make tax calculation easier, most income tax tables will show a combined federal and provincial tax table based on your province of residence - as https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1625696885656-IRC9N8TS5IKXOBBO1QWD/Impact+of+Taxes+On+Income%2C+Fed+Only.png Light Reading - Marginal tax rates - why working more doesn’t lead to earning less - Make it stand out While moving to a higher income tax bracket will reduce the amount from each additional dollar you take home, your overall take home earnings will still increase. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1625696900543-KDO98NXX8OH96YE52618/Marginal+v+average+fed+only.png Light Reading - Marginal tax rates - why working more doesn’t lead to earning less - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/wheretosave monthly 0.5 2025-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1621273345658-DPLRZQNI7XWENH8EPS4R/tierra-mallorca-NpTbVOkkom8-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 5) Saving - How & Where? - For your day to day living and paying bills (and paying off debt) a simple chequing account is all you need. It’s highly liquid, and since these typically offer no (or very low) interest rates there’s not much to worry about in terms of tax impact. You can only hold one thing - cash, but since this is for your purchases and bill payments that’s all you need. Your emergency fund will likely change over time, but when you are first building it up you want to make sure that this is also highly liquid and you don’t want to expose the funds to market fluctuations. However, since you don’t know if/when you will need the cash, if you can get some interest on your savings that’s a bonus. Often emergency funds will utilize a high-interest savings account (as we’ve seen from 2020-2024 interest rates can range from the non-existent to the very attractive), but the more important goal is ensuring no downside risk for your emergency fund). I would tend to avoid GIC’s for this, as they may be locked in and since you can’t predict when you will need the cash, flexibility is key. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1621273784878-A9OELKBR8302MRL2GZLJ/jana-sabeth-snDUMdYF7o8-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 5) Saving - How & Where? - Once retired and no longer earning employment income, the assumption is that your taxable withdrawals from this account will be at a lower tax bracket than while you were contributing to your account, giving you overall tax savings. However, like all registered accounts, there is a limit on how much may be contributed - 18% of your prior year’s income, up to a specific amount (for 2025 it is $32,490). If you have not made contributions previously, your unused contribution room will carry forward, so once you reach your peak earning years you may have a large amount of contribution room to catch up in these accounts. When looking at leaving a legacy or planning your estate, you may want to do this through your investment accounts or via a direct transfer of property. Another option to look at is whole life insurance. This should be reviewed to see if its right for you, but may be a tax efficient way to transfer wealth to the next generations, maximize the benefit of a charitable donation, or equalize an estate without forcing a liquidation of assets. You will want to speak with your Financial Advisor and Accountant to determine the best way forward. It is also important to remember that your goals don’t exist in a vacuum - some balance is needed. While some items should be checked off before moving forward (you will want to have an emergency fund before saving for a vacation property for example) you don’t want to sacrifice saving for retirement or your child’s education in order to save a down payment. Have an honest discussion about what your goals are, their timeframe, and what you can realistically save on an ongoing basis. Then you can determine how much you should be saving, and where, to maximize your ability to reach those goals. Next time we will be talking about protecting your downside, and allocating some of your savings to insurance to protect your plan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1621273556397-RW95NRI6CTNJ6PYTA7C4/mathieu-stern-1zO4O3Z0UJA-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 5) Saving - How & Where? - The RRSP also has a home-buyer plan, where you can withdraw $60K for your down payment. However, you have a set repayment plan (15 years, beginning in the second year after your withdrawal). If you miss a repayment, the amount you missed is considered RRSP income in the year it was missed. Conversely, someone who was over 18 in 2009 and has lived continuously in Canada since then has $102,000 in TFSA contribution room as of 2025, can withdraw all of it (plus their growth) if needed and recontribute whenever they are able, being mindful of recontribution rules in the year of withdrawal. While the Home Buyers Plan with your RRSP can definitely play a role (particularly if you can’t meet your full down payment with your TFSA assets), the added flexibility of the TFSA makes it my account of choice for goals like this. One exception to this is if you are saving for a kids education. https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/goalsetting monthly 0.5 2025-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1619542626449-3REAPMPMIVNVFU10LEO9/s-o-c-i-a-l-c-u-t-6iYb1BWWbV0-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 4) - Goal Setting - Short Term Goals These are typically things you are going to want to accomplish in the next year or two, and are usually more towards the “necessary” side of planning rather than aspirational in nature - it takes time to work up to those big dreams! Some examples include: Paying off all high cost debt (already covered here) Setting up an ongoing budget for you and your family (already covered here) Building up an emergency fund. If you have nothing at all, start small - $500 or $1,000. Ultimately, this is your “something’s gone wrong and I need cash now” fund so what amount makes sense for you will vary, but you’ll want to set something aside for if your car breaks down / furnace https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1619542786688-WXBIDHWUR0WX44562RDL/estee-janssens-zEqkUMiMxMI-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 4) - Goal Setting - Medium Term Goals While some of these are still practical, you can start to get into your wants and away from strictly your needs. We would usually be looking at the next 3-10 years here, but really it’s a catch all for anything not immediate and not well into the future. Some items would include: Paying off student loans and other “helpful” debts (more details here) Protecting your downside with insurance (there will be more discussion to come about the pros and cons of different types of life insurance, and where living benefits fit in to your plan). Part of this will be reviewing your employer plan to see what gaps remain that you will want to protect. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1619542880375-MDU8YW7N5YPU3N2FWV0Z/danielle-macinnes-IuLgi9PWETU-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 4) - Goal Setting - Long Term Goals The younger you are, the harder it can be to imagine what these will look like, and when it will be relevant. However, I can say with certainty that I’ve never spoken to someone who is 10 years out from retirement that thinks they started planning too early! While certainly not exhaustive, these can include things like: Retirement. When do you want to retire? What kind of lifestyle do you want? Obviously when planning 30+ years down the line it’s tough to visualize. A good starting question is, “if someone offered me a salary to stay home and never work again, how much would they have to offer for me to take it”? Once you know what sort of income you will need, and for roughly how long it becomes an exercise in budgeting - what sources of https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/networthdebtrepayment monthly 0.5 2025-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1617643317066-34O1FQSDUBGUO1BAMYGR/sandy-millar-G-Aj03ckq0w-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 3.5) Good debt and building net worth - For example, let’s look at if you have $10,000 free at the end of a year and are trying to decide between a lump sum pre-payment to your mortgage, or investing the money. For this example, we will assume you have a $300,000 mortgage without CMHC insurance, paying $1,402.86 monthly, with a 2.89% interest rate and a 25 year amortization, and are earning $75,000 in Alberta. By putting the $10,000 into your mortgage you can potentially shave 14 months off your mortgage, and save just over $10,000 in interest payments (your ‘earnings’ over this period). That’s pretty great right? If you put that same $10,000 into a non-registered account conservatively invested at 4% (assuming all capital gains on disposition), your $10,000 will have grown to just under $26,660 by the end of the 25 years, and once you’ve https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1617643417227-5EKS2TD2YERTG1IS3XML/yiorgos-ntrahas-mcAUHlGirVs-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. 3.5) Good debt and building net worth - So why doesn’t everyone do this? In a word, comfort. Many folks I talk to acknowledge that they are sacrificing some return in favour of paying down their mortgage because they are more comfortable knowing they own their home outright. Once it’s paid off, no matter what happens to their personal situation they have a roof over their heads - and there is value in that. Borrowing money to invest is something that should only be done by those comfortable with the risks associated with it, as the assumption that you can earn more investing than you pay in interest may be true over the long term, but it certainly isn’t true every day. If you borrow $30,000 to invest and the market drops by 20% the next day, the loan and interest you need to pay back doesn’t decrease. Would you be able to repay it in that scenario? And would a scenario https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/financialfundamentals-baddebt monthly 0.5 2025-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1616171488742-Q9T2IVOE97A1KPEG4DV6/avery-evans-RJQE64NmC_o-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt 3) - ‘Bad’ debt and when it gets out of control. - To figure out where you should be focusing your energy, make a list of all of your outstanding balances - mortgage, car payments, student loans, lines of credit, credit cards, absolutely everything. Note the bill, the monthly payment, and the interest rate. Next sort these into two lists: your investing into the future list (that you will focus on later), and your paying for the past list. Start with the paying for the past list (incidentally, these usually have higher rates) - credit cards, a home repair that you financed with the company, or a vehicle payment. If you are the type of person that gets a motivation boost from crossing one off the list, see if there is a relatively small balance and tackle it first (debt snowball method). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1616172368308-ZP1ORX3Y9AR3M355H1D4/melinda-gimpel-9j8k3l9afkc-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt 3) - ‘Bad’ debt and when it gets out of control. - If your Consumer Proposal is not accepted, the final option is to declare bankruptcy. There are some required forms to fill out with your trustee, to officially declare you bankrupt. From this point onwards, your trustee will deal with your creditors, help you meet your payment obligations, and walk you through things like what assets are protected from liquidation, and which debts will not discharged with your bankruptcy. Once your legal obligation to repay your debts is over, you can file to have your bankruptcy discharged. If you think you may need to enter into a Consumer Proposal or Bankruptcy, you should consult with a Financial Counsellor or Bankruptcy Trustee to determine what the best course of action is for you, as this is a complex process that requires extensive knowledge in this area. It’s also important to note that often, we feel ashamed to say when we are struggling, especially when it looks like those around us are succeeding https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1616172623955-KDJIBBSU142CEA4JWRP7/robin-jonathan-deutsch-RkcXOhvS-qc-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt 3) - ‘Bad’ debt and when it gets out of control. - If you have a few high interest items, but you have no/little free cash flow, work to lower your interest rate. Lowering your interest rate could be done by switching cards, or if you have a line of credit, paying your credit card off entirely with your line of credit. A word of caution, however, is that you will want to understand the terms and conditions before you do this as you aren’t eliminating your debt and a mistake here may actually wind up costing more. Sometimes a new card has a low introductory rate, but after 3 months it will shoot up, or being late on a payment moves you to a higher interest rate, or the way interest is calculated is less favourable - any of these can cost you if you aren’t aware of what you’ve signed up for. In addition, doing this too often can have a negative impact on your credit score, impacting your cost of borrowing in the future. Done carefully, however, this can reduce your required monthly payments so if you were previously paying your https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/financial-fundamentals-cash-flow monthly 0.5 2025-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1613415434804-OZKU53U0ETP6SZPTH5Q0/fernando-venzano-MYTyXb7fgG0-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt 2) - Cash Flow - So if you’ve read through all of this and are still stressed, it may be time to move past budgeting and get some real focused help. If you are tracking your spending, you know what is a need and what is a want and still find yourself spending too much on impulse, it may be linked to a larger issue. Do your benefits cover psychologists/counselling or do you have an Employee and Family Assistance Program? If your spending is a compulsion, you may want to talk to someone to determine how to reduce the impact it is having and hopefully find and address the root cause. If the issue is that a large portion of your monthly expenses is tied up in debt servicing - the next installment is going to look at debt repayments in more detail, including reducing interest expenses, consolidating your debt, credit counselling services, and when to consider a consumer proposal or declaring bankruptcy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1613414996857-71YKJI92A2WG24PLIS18/garrhet-sampson-CmF_5GYc6c0-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt 2) - Cash Flow - Pick up additional hours at your job if you are paid hourly or overtime is tracked (don’t worry about more hours leading to being “paid less”, we’ll talk about marginal tax rates in a future post). Get a second job or side hustle, either working part-time or monetizing a hobby of yours (coming soon: discussion about payroll deductions, what you can and can’t avoid, and planning for the tax man if you monetize a side business). Channel your inner Marie Kondo and declutter your home, selling anything of value that you don’t need (coming soon: when do you need to claim personal items sales on your taxes). Please note, none of these are long term fixes, if you are cash flow negative every month this will not get you back to positive in the long term unless you actually like working all the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1613415233562-VVEYFJG0MSMTKDJP6LSU/michael-longmire-RhBVoJnRqVg-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt 2) - Cash Flow - Now that we’ve eliminated some items totally, let’s look at the ones we don’t want to cut entirely, but aren’t that necessary. Things like cutting back on eating out or fancy coffees, or evenings out. It is easy to conflate spending time with friends (grabbing drinks or lunch) with spending money. Limit going out with friends to happy hours, or have friends over for a pot-luck, or arrange a hike. If 2020/2021 taught us anything, it’s the time spent connecting with people that means more, not going to the cool new gastropub. Shop your needed ongoing expenses. When was the last time you reviewed your internet / cell phone package - can you get a better deal elsewhere? Is your mortgage coming up for a renewal? Shop around for a better interest rate. Review your homeowner’s and auto insurance. These things are all https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/budgeting monthly 0.5 2022-02-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1611618585539-YG96YLQ2BY3JPNHVP13I/Spending+Tracking.png Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. One) - Budgeting - How Do I Build a Budget? There are so many ways to build a budget - depending on your own personal style any of the following may work for you: App - there are several apps out there such as Mint, YNAB (you need a budget), Pocket Guard, Honeydue, Personal Capital, among others Excel - if you like to keep things digital but want to be able to customize to your own situation, it doesn’t get much simpler than excel (as shown here). Pen & Paper - if you like to keep it old school, maybe actually writing it down makes it more serious but this would be essentially the same as excel, just off-line. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1611618826383-6SX0J16W03C9UMHZPO8Z/Budget.png Light Reading - Financial Fundamentals (Pt. One) - Budgeting - Income. This one is usually pretty easy, most people know how much money they make. Where it can get a little trickier is if you have variable income, or bonus income that is not guaranteed. A safe number to use would be average earnings that you can count on (please note this will be different depending on your job, compensation schedule, etc. there is no hard and fast rule). Now while you are including your employment income, do you have rental income? If so, include that. Do you receive tax credits? Pension from another job? Include all of these so there is a clear picture of income coming in. 2. Expenses. This is the one that trips people up. Some expenses, like rent or a mortgage are consistent and show up on our banking every month - those are easy to keep track of. Some change through time (like groceries) or only happen once a year (Christmas shopping). To try to get a clear picture of spending, I would track what you spend for no less than 3 months, but even further if you can. Then add in your seasonal https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/is-your-tfsa-just-a-savings-account monthly 0.5 2025-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1609438502507-E6KWJJHQ0S05AFH5OZ7I/TFSA+Contribution+Room.png Light Reading - TFSA - not just a savings account! - Let’s take a step back and look at what a Tax Free Savings Account is, how it works, and what you can do with it. First introduced in 2009, the Government of Canada set a $5,000 annual contribution limit, with the limit increasing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1609439422470-5DHTMRHTU29B5PIMZUK9/TFSA+v+RRSP.png Light Reading - TFSA - not just a savings account! - So, let’s say you’ve been sitting on some cash and decide to go all in and put the full $75,500 into your account today - you’ll get a big tax refund too, right? Unfortunately, that is one drawback to the TFSA - contributions are made after-tax, meaning there is no deduction for money put in to the account. On the other hand, when you need to withdraw funds down the line, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1609443557622-0CC10OPNMZNQQ2RGR7X5/Tax+Rates.png Light Reading - TFSA - not just a savings account! - 3) Funding retirement is made through tax - free withdrawals, not converting your account to a RRIF. If we jump forward in time and assume you are getting ready to retire, we will now circle back to the pay tax now versus paying tax later discussion. Most people who have taken an introductory finance course will say time https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/endofyearchecklist monthly 0.5 2025-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1606255941721-XVK6UE8FWBU2TV9TDKQT/jess-bailey-94Ld_MtIUf0-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Your “End of Year” Checklist - If you are like me, you are ready to ring in the New Year, open a bottle of bubbles, and bid 2020 adieu. While much of our regular routine has been shaken up, there are some constants that remain – and one of those is that a lot of our financial and benefits years run on a calendar year. To make sure that you take advantage of the good things that can come from 2020, before ringing in the new year we should all do a quick review of the following: RESP Accounts Have you contributed for each child to take advantage of the Child Education Savings Grants? In each year, 20% of your contributions are matched, up to a maximum of $500 awarded ($2,500 in contributions per child)[1]. If you have not maximized your contributions in prior years, you can “catch up” the grants, up to one year at a time. If you have not maximized your contributions, please feel free to reach out and we can discuss how to maximize your grants[2]. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1606256760176-NXUN21M4NRMRPXE02YK1/krakenimages-7BpuzmcxlHU-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Your “End of Year” Checklist - Elyce Harris is a CFA Charterholder working with Cornerstone Investment Counsel, a registered ICPM in Alberta, Canada. She is also a licensed insurance broker in Alberta, Ontario, and PEI. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of statements, errors may occur. If a specific stat or carrier policy is cited, a source will be provided, however this is not done for generalizations. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1606256264278-GUNJKNXGV50IAKD4PFN1/max-van-den-oetelaar-buymYm3RQ3U-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Your “End of Year” Checklist - Employee and Family Assistance Programs Christmas can be a really hard time for people at the best of times, and this year is certainly not the best of times. If you find yourself stressed about the holidays, for any reason, reach out to your employers Employee and Family Assistance program for confidential support. While you are taking care of your family, do not forget to take care of yourself. https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/benefitsofacontractor monthly 0.5 2025-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1603832746583-I74C8VMEWM77GG5LJN27/Screenshot+2020-10-27+150327.png Light Reading - The ‘benefits’ when you’re a Contractor https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1603832438904-PZTRSVJD0935HGUO3L1K/Picture1.jpg Light Reading - The ‘benefits’ when you’re a Contractor - There are a ton of benefits to being an independent contractor – you get to set your schedule, can choose who you work with, and generally get to ‘be the boss’. In short, you’re living the dream, right? Well, if it were nothing but upside, everyone would be doing it – so let’s talk about the upsides as well as the downsides to being a contractor. Item #1 – Employee Benefits It’s hard to get group employee benefits when you’re not an employee, right? While a very few companies will offer benefits to their contractors (if you are contracting almost exclusively with them), this is generally frowned upon as the CRA takes a dim view of companies calling a group contractors for payroll purposes, but then giving them benefits similar to their employees – it is less complicated to simply let contractors take their earnings and decide to https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/what-can-you-do-post-cerb/13/10/2020 monthly 0.5 2022-02-08 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/consolidatingretirementaccounts-registeredpensionplans monthly 0.5 2025-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1601325223371-DWRXR5QXY1PN97LGF5WP/omid-armin-ESsGNnhUiCg-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Consolidating Retirement Accounts - Registered Pension Plans - What if I was only with my employer a short time? If you have a small balance in your pension, you may be allowed to unlock the funds. In this case, you can choose to take the funds as cash, which will be subject to withholding tax at the time the funds are paid out, and fully subject to income tax in the year of the withdrawal; or you could transfer it into an RRSP in which case there is no tax impact, and could be combined with your other RRSP accounts. The amount that can be unlocked in Alberta is 20% of the Yearly Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE) if you are under age 65, or 40% of the YMPE if you are over age 65[1]. For 2020, that amount is $11,740 and $23,480 respectively[2]. If your pension amount is over this limit (even by a dollar) you are ineligible to unlock your pension based on it being a small amount. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1601325319417-2AO7MW44K2K52S2UBCNM/nicole-geri-gMJ3tFOLvnA-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Consolidating Retirement Accounts - Registered Pension Plans - Becoming a non-resident of Canada (as determined by the CRA, also indicating your non-resident status for social programs and taxes). Your pension partner will also need to waive their rights to their survivor’s pension. Considerably shortened lifespan (a terminal illness or disability that leads to considerably shortened life span, as verified by a letter from your doctor is required). The letter does not need to explain the nature of the illness, just to verify the shortened lifespan. If you have a pension partner, they will also need to waive their rights to their survivor’s pension. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1601324826974-BOVPLS2I4TQSOJR19WDP/1roman-bozhko-PypjzKTUqLo-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Consolidating Retirement Accounts - Registered Pension Plans - You’ve left your employer and you had a Defined Benefit Pension While you can take your pension, you may not want to. When you leave and receive your statement of options from the plan provider, one option listed is to leave it alone, and collect your defined benefit pension at retirement. Depending on your salary level and number of years with the company, this could be a substantial amount, and is guaranteed to pay for your lifetime. The amount payable at your retirement age (as well as any reductions for early retirement) should be made available to you in your exit package from the provider. Another option is to take the Commuted Value of the pension, essentially a lump sum that the carrier had designated as the amount that would be used https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1601325436664-7RU1X1SK9ZT6JA4F85JU/anukrati-omar-NZFJYpkwIXc-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Consolidating Retirement Accounts - Registered Pension Plans - Transfer to a LIF. Much like you will transfer your RRSP to a RRIF on retirement to begin receiving funds, you can transfer your LIRA to a Lifetime Income Account, in which the funds within the account will continue to be invested, but each year there will be a minimum withdrawal amount, based on your age. Since this account is also designed to provide pension income for your lifetime, there is also a maximum withdrawal amount based on your age (unlike the RRIF account which has a minimum only). Purchase a lifetime annuity. This is a product available from an insurance company. You can use the lump sum of money within your LIRA to purchase an income stream from the insurance company. The https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/shouldyouconsolidateyourrrsps monthly 0.5 2025-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1600099505357-WO11EIPYF20WUM8CYG1X/clement-falize-uJrRY8gUm7E-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Should you consolidate your RRSPs? - If you have a DPSP or an RRSP with a “no transfer” provision, don’t fret - this certainly doesn’t mean the plans are bad! A DPSP is fully funded by your employer, and if your employer RRSP offers a match, you are still receiving free money that you would otherwise not receive. It does however mean that you will need to manage these accounts separately (your Financial Planner should be willing to work with you to ensure that your accounts with your employer group are invested appropriately as per your asset allocation). You can, does that mean you should? Say you’ve reviewed your plans and determined there are no issues with transferring accounts and consolidating your plans. That is great! Most people like to minimize the number of institutions they are dealing with as this reduces the number of statements received, investment decisions to make, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1600099887874-EY8YIQLV7Z6MV9NQC8LP/amy-hirschi-JaoVGh5aJ3E-unsplash.jpg Light Reading - Should you consolidate your RRSPs? - Good advice - If you are confident in making all your investment decisions on your own, the first two may be the only items you want to consider. However, most people get a lot of value from the advice of their Financial Professional. Whether it comes from having a deeper understanding of the different investment management companies and their funds, being able to recommend which accounts to save more or less into to reduce current and future taxes, or even ensuring that you create a plan and stick with it when the markets are turbulent, there is value in receiving good advice regarding your accounts. Some of these items will work in opposite directions - typically if you are getting more in-depth advice, your fees will be a bit higher. If you look at those factors for each of your accounts, you should be able to determine https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/pandemicemploymentequality monthly 0.5 2022-02-08 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/driving-your-investment-plan/13/8/2020 monthly 0.5 2025-01-03 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/can-you-afford-to-rely-on-employer-benefits-alone monthly 0.5 2025-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597092348034-ERTYP1AF5D8BN7EF3MSD/ASM+at+Different+income+Levels.png Light Reading - Can you afford to rely on Employer Benefits alone? - For any given income level, the disability benefit payable will be the lower of the red and green bars. This is your income replacement relative to your non-disability income (the blue bars) assuming there are no Non-Evidence Maximums to further restrict benefits. Tax impacts are based on Alberta tax rates in 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597090915105-IH2A1OP7FQQUVX6HB1HC/NEM+Income+Replacement.png Light Reading - Can you afford to rely on Employer Benefits alone? Assumes $2,500 monthly Non-Evidence Maximum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597090519928-6SL5KG6HEI0V4UH8L6NH/Full+Income+Replacement.png Light Reading - Can you afford to rely on Employer Benefits alone? Based on Alberta 2020 marginal tax rates https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597092160414-UQ4F82OCH42MT98J7TBQ/ASM+Income+Replacement.png Light Reading - Can you afford to rely on Employer Benefits alone? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597091239034-5EG7SUOPWLGAB22AEONC/Definition+of+Disability.png Light Reading - Can you afford to rely on Employer Benefits alone? When it comes to protecting your future income, the details of the contract can have dramatic impacts on what you are eligible to be paid https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/category/Insurance+Planning monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/category/Employer+Plans monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/category/Investing monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/category/Wealth+Building monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/category/Long+Term+Investing monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/category/investment+planning monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/category/Saving monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/category/2020 monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/category/investments monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/category/Risk+Management monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/category/Income+Tax monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/category/Financial+Planning monthly 0.5 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https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/tag/Emergency+Planning monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/tag/2021 monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/tag/2020 monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/tag/budgeting monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/tag/financial+fundamentals monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/tag/retirement+planning monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/tag/scams monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/tag/Insurance monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/tag/bank+insurance monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/tag/Employment+Equality monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/tag/risk monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/lightreading/tag/down+markets monthly 0.5 https://elyceharris.ca/aboutme daily 0.75 2024-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597247935433-QV207V4JSDE55GXY2ZRU/Elyce+Harris+CFA.png About Me - I am someone who is passionate about making the financial world make sense. After graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta in 2010, I moved to Calgary to begin working with Great West Life as a Living Benefits Specialist - educating financial advisors about Disability and Critical Illness Insurance and how it could help protect the financial plans they were building for their clients. After Living Benefits, I worked in Small Group Benefits helping employers put together benefits packages for their small to medium sized companies. In this time I learned a lot about the insurance industry, and what mattered to both employers and their employees when putting their coverage in place. I also learned a great deal about how confusing the industry could be - and that there wasn’t much impetus to simplify things. I left Great West Life and joined an advisory firm in an analytical role, but soon began working with clients building group benefits programs and helping their employees with individual planning needs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597247700316-8X1BCHE69RIBV8UL8UDB/ElyceHarrisCFA.jpg About Me - Outside of work I am an avid traveler and foodie. Four months after we began dating my (now) husband and I embarked on a four month backpacking trip through Central and South America and never looked back - we’ve been through the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and even spent our honeymoon on safari in Botswana! We always try to find a great restaurant to enjoy, an adventure to get the adrenaline going, and make some amazing memories. With the global pandemic, we have been travelling much closer to home and enjoying all the Rocky Mountains have to offer getting out hiking, climbing, fishing and camping. Since he can come along on these trips, our Wheaten Terrier approves! When I’m at home, I spend a lot of time with my dog, and enjoy watching hockey and reading. I enjoy trying to learn new languages (French, Spanish, German, Russian, Korean, and Turkish with varying levels of success), and trying to improve my community through volunteer work, volunteering with the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society and serving as a Board Member for the Calgary Humane Society. https://elyceharris.ca/servicesavailable daily 0.75 2024-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597094148349-3JBL824RJNIND1DJDE5E/image-asset.jpeg Services Available https://elyceharris.ca/home daily 1.0 2022-02-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1596756771574-PF76ZW36D8XG8RU90IN5/image-asset.jpeg Home - There is enough stress in every day life... I can’t promise unexpected expenses won’t come up - but I can help lighten the load of creating and sticking to a road map for your finances. Why keep doing this by yourself if you don’t have to? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1596752921781-F3LEI3PGNBJ2JJL7TXUE/image-asset.jpeg Home - Does managing your finances feel like a second job? How hard can it be? These famous last words have found countless people trying to be an investment professional, insurance professional, and tax and estate planner on top of their actual profession! If this is you, let’s talk - and focus on getting you your free time back! https://elyceharris.ca/letstalk daily 0.75 2024-10-02 https://elyceharris.ca/faq daily 0.75 2025-01-03 https://elyceharris.ca/theprocess daily 0.75 2024-09-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597864060032-1GEZLF792IUTFBN3G1RQ/image-asset.jpeg The Process - Take some time Not ready to move forward yet? Don’t worry about it! The decision about who to trust to help you reach your financial goals is not one that should be taken lightly - make sure you are feeling comfortable before moving forward. Some questions you may want to consider include: Do I like and trust this person? Does the services offered make sense for the fees charged? Do the recommendations make sense to me? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597864576544-UQSI8NMEHR00XU9BNR28/image-asset.jpeg The Process - Ongoing follow up Your financial plan isn’t a “set it and forget it” kind of thing. As you go through life, your needs will change, your job may change, and the market will certainly change - we will continue to meet and ensure the plan is still working for you, and check on your progress towards your goals. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597863635854-DBIJNBPU21L3T5S4BH6C/image-asset.jpeg The Process - Analysis Based on the information covered in our prior meetings and the documentation provided, I will conduct my analysis of your current portfolio and financial plan and put together a document of where you are, where you are going, and how best to get there - along with any thoughts / comments regarding your current plan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597864271484-6DW9AYV2XM6VX7PYI112/image-asset.jpeg The Process - Account Opening We will get everything needed to get your accounts opened, plans moved over, and get your client portal access set up. From here we will begin implementing the recommendations made at the Plan Presentation, and start moving you towards your goals. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597863340942-2SAM10J6WI3328CX4400/image-asset.jpeg The Process - Get to know you meeting Whether in person or virtually, this is where we dive into more detail. We will go into more detail about your goals and objectives, and I will give you a questionnaire to bring with you, as well as copies of your investment statements https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597863987286-6B0KDOVG0FV7I08WN3UZ/image-asset.jpeg The Process - Plan Presentation We will arrange another call or meeting to discuss the plan, portfolio comparison, and explain how we can help you. We will also discuss the scope of our services and what the fee schedule would look like at this time. If you are ready to move forward, we would begin Account Opening right away. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f2c5de265396163dc55dd7e/1597863089761-SRR2VPZKRRPFRXBRRRW4/image-asset.jpeg The Process - Introductory Call During this initial call, I will get a chance to get to know you, your financial situation and goals, as well as answer any questions that you may have. If I think our services are a fit for you, and you want to learn more, we will move forward to a “Get to know you meeting”. https://elyceharris.ca/myinvestmentphilosophy daily 0.75 2025-01-03 https://elyceharris.ca/self-serve daily 0.75 2025-10-17 https://elyceharris.ca/get-started daily 0.75 2020-08-12 https://elyceharris.ca/get-started/p/relationship-with-youothers-bl4zd monthly 0.5 2020-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced8e1d5fd4c700018dd761/1560190004400-XTA0DF0S9WOZJUG994C8/Stocksy_txp824ffa5crXt000_Original_845035.jpg Get Started - Relationship with You+Others https://elyceharris.ca/get-started/p/relationship-with-others-zb8y4 monthly 0.5 2020-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced8e1d5fd4c700018dd761/1560189982811-KFAJF1TCUH1SXZ827UMC/Stocksy_txp824ffa5crXt000_Large_844923.jpg Get Started - Relationship with Others https://elyceharris.ca/get-started/p/relationship-with-you-cf3dc monthly 0.5 2020-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ced8e1d5fd4c700018dd761/1560189874730-3B0TSLDUHTQ93497V3L8/Stocksy_txp824ffa5crXt000_Large_844934A.jpg Get Started - Relationship with You