More than half of Canadians don’t have a will. Ultimately, this lack of foresight is a truly selfish decision. It leaves your family members in a terrible position where they have to guess what you would have wanted. Let’s say you didn’t do any estate planning....
For many people, the phrase “trust fund” conjures up images of wealthy, irresponsible young people, wasting their time and money in ways that are completely unfathomable to hardworking, dependable businesspeople. Although you may not want your children to become wealthy overnight – not to mention careless...
When protecting an asset like your home, the easiest, most obvious solution may not be the best one. Let’s say your spouse has passed and your kids are grown. You invite your new partner to move in with you – but you don’t want to get...
If you have an RRSP, a TFSA or a life insurance policy, you’ve probably designated a beneficiary for that account or policy. But did you think it through carefully first? Or did you just write down the first name that popped into your head? Conventional wisdom...
When people think of writing a will, most people don’t consider the beneficiaries that carefully. Of course you’ll leave your estate to your spouse or partner, you think, with some special mention of your kids or grandkids. Perhaps you’ll include some other relatives who are...
If you’re like most people today, your family situation is complicated. More than a quarter of Canadian children live with only one biological or adoptive parent.[1] You may be divorced and even remarried. You may have kids with more than one partner. In other cases, you...
Losing a spouse can be one of the most traumatic events in a woman’s life. But with women living longer, on average, than men, it’s likely to happen. In fact, many widows have many happy, healthy years without their partner. Circumstances do vary, but there are...
According to the last census data, roughly 1 in 8 Canadian families with children live in blended families.[1] Blended families vary somewhat, but generally they include children who are the biological children of only one of the parents in the family as well as children...
One in five Canadian women leave the financial planning to their spouse[1] — and that statistic is from 2018, not from 1958. Not only is leaving all the planning to someone else not a great idea in general, but it could actually be dangerous in the...
In about a third of Canadian households, women and men are earning roughly the same amount. And in 17% of families, women are actually earning more than their husbands.[1] With women contributing a greater percentage to the family’s overall income, it’s important for married women to...