Posts from the ‘For Sun Life Advisors’ Category

Nov 14

Preparing for 2016 – Changes to the Taxation of Life Insurance, Prescribed Annuities and Testamentary Trusts

For those of us who focus on estate and financial planning, particularly on the left coast, the last few years have featured a cavalcade of change. 2011 featured changes to how Powers of Attorney must be set up and what they can do, along with the introduction of a new healthcare document called an “Advance Directive” that allows you to dictate your healthcare choices in advance along the lines of a Living Will. 2013 marked large scale changes to family law in beautiful B.C., such as extending property rights to common law spouses and changing how property gets divided in the event of a divorce. This year (2014) saw massive changes to Wills law, including a change on how things get divided if you die without a Will, what happens if two people die around the same time and removing the automatic revocation of your Will upon marriage, to name just a few.

Despite the significant changes already in place, there more still to come. This time they’re coming from the Federal Government and will affect more than just those people who cheer for the Canucks. Fortunately, we’ve been told of these tweaks to the system several years in advance so that we get a chance to either prepare for the inevitable (such as under the new tax rules for how trusts set up in your Wills) or to take advantage of a final chance to buy life insurance and annuities that will continue to qualify under the current rules even under the new regime. Here’s a little bit about each.

Aug 19

Defined Benefit Pensions: Steps to Get the Most Out of Your Pension

Introduction

Some people like to say God that is “in the details” while others claim say it is the devil that calls the shots. In any event, the financial planner part of me wonders if whoever coined these expressions was secretly thinking about defined benefit pension plans. Sometimes, the details of a plan are a safety blanket that makes sure you’re covered regardless of what happens next while in other instances, the fine print is a trip wire that leads to catastrophe. Fortunately, whether your plan is a safety net or tsunami isn’t entirely a matter of chance; the choices you make at key points along the way have a lot of impact over what happens later. As a result, I want to talk about some of these key decisions and the things you can do to make your future a little bit more like heaven and a lot less like hell.

Aug 4

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Wills, Thrills and Chills – Changes to Wills and Estates Law in British Columbia

I am the first to admit that lawyers generally a pretty conservative bunch; if something has worked well enough in the past (no matter how ancient), then why rock the boat by trying something new? Sometimes, however, even the most cautious and traditional of lawyers realize that it’s time for a change. Accordingly, after many, many years of consideration, contemplation and conversation, our province has implemented sweeping changes to the rules regarding wills and estates through a single new piece of legislation entitled the Wills, Estates and Succession Act that consolidates many other statutes into one stop shopping. Essentially, it’s like making 90 years of changes all at once.

Jun 22

The OAS Pension Recovery Tax What To Do if the Clawback Ain’t For You (Part 2)

Introduction

Now that you know how the OAS pension clawback is applied and its actual effects on your bottom line in after-tax dollars, I want to pass along ways you can organize your affairs so that you can get (and keep!) as much of your Old Age Security Pension that is humanly possible. Since a lot (but not all) of these techniques focus on keeping your taxable income down, you might also save some income tax dollars, too, if you’re not careful.

Before diving in, I realized that there was one additional situation where I see seniors taking an unwanted sojourn into the clawback zone that merits comment: the curse of the saver. If you are one of those thrifty and savvy investors who actually grow their incomes during retirement, you could unwittingly end up in the clawback zone at some point. Even if you don’t become a regular inhabitant, you still may be an occasional visitor during years you report significant capital gains. Accordingly, this article is written for those of you as well in the hopes of keeping your visits to this unpopular destination as infrequent as possible.