All posts by Jonathan Chevreau

The Big Red “Soak the Rich” Budget

Posted By |

Depositphotos_1830058_s-2015My low expectations for Budget2016 apparently weren’t low enough, with a sea of red ink projected as far as the eye can see. Spending, spending everywhere. Not that we should be surprised: the die was cast with the election, this is merely the other shoe dropping.

In this article by Garry Marr, the Financial Post aptly describes it as a “Soak the Rich” Budget. It quotes CIBC Wealth’s Jamie Golombek to the effect “the government is taking away some key tax planning vehicles that allow the wealthy to rebalance their portfolios without incurring a deemed disposition, meaning they will face immediate tax consequences.” As of October 1st, there will no longer be tax-free switches for those in corporate class mutual funds.

And the return of a 15% federal tax credit for Labor-Sponsored Investment Funds is hardly any consolation!

As expected, income splitting for couples with kids under 18 will be eliminated but fortunately, pension splitting remains intact. (sigh of relief!)

Capital gains tax inclusion rate still at 50%

As for the rumoured  sweeping changes to capital gains taxes, you’ll need to dig into the supplementary budget documents that are aimed at measures for those in the new 33% tax bracket. We will update this paragraph as it becomes more clear but based on this report today by Advisor.ca, the capital gains inclusion rate remains at 50% and won’t rise to the feared 67 or even 75%.

GIS sweetened for low-income seniors and couples living apart

Continue Reading…

Federal Budget 2016: don’t expect much relief for personal finances or retirement

Posted By |
image
Federal finance minister Bill Morneau selects Canadian-designed shoes for upcoming federal budget

Here’s my latest column in the Financial Post, which provides a look ahead to the federal budget, which will go live at 4 pm Tuesday afternoon.

You can find the column here by clicking on this headline: Why Tuesday’s budget may not hold much good news for your personal finances. It’s also in the print edition of today’s paper.

Here is info on the media lockup, which starts at 9:30 am.

Once the floodgates open on or shortly after 4 pm Tuesday, you should be able to get access to the budget by clicking on the Department of Finance website here. We will update this site as necessary and also watch my Twitter feed @JonChevreau, as we disseminate coverage once available. This feed also shows up on the right side of the Hub’s main page.

Closure of Hulbert Financial Digest a loss for all investors

Posted By |

Mark_J._Hulbert_cropHere’s my latest Financial Post blog, which puts a Canadian spin on the announcement late last week that after 36 years, the influential investment newsletter ranking service is shutting down. Click on this headline: ‘A loss for all investors’: The Hulbert Financial Digest says goodbye.

As the blog notes, there aren’t too many Canadian investment newsletters but two of the majors had one or two newsletters that often did well in the Digest.

Here is Hulbert’s Wikipedia entry.

The good news is that Hulbert continues to be a columnist at MarketWatch.com. Check out his recent opinion piece, entitled Don’t be fooled by a bear-market rally in stocks.

Exploring the ExPat Lifestyle in Mexico’s San Miguel de Allende

Posted By |
FullSizeRender(1)
View of San Miguel from top of the Rosewood Hotel (Photo J. Chevreau)

Last week, my wife Ruth and I enjoyed a week’s vacation in San Miguel de Allende, which is located in central (and landlocked) Mexico. We’d been to Mexico several times over the years but never this particular community, which is not handy to a major airport.

It was also our first trip to Latin America in about five years, since we had been taking our February breaks in Florida in more recent years.

Ironically, San Miguel was prominently featured in the old magazine I published around the year 2000: The Wealthy Boomer. At the time, I remember being impressed by the fact the cost of living for semi-retired American and Canadian baby boomers was roughly half what it was in our home countries. This theme was also applied to various Asia locations in a Hub blog last year featuring the book Planet Boomer. See also my post, titled 5 Asian locations where retirement is more affordable than North America.

Trading high taxes for crime?

Back during the days of the tax-and-spend Jean Chretien Liberals, I found the Mexican expatriate fantasy quite compelling, so much so that I listened to Spanish instructional tapes on my long commutes to the National Post’s bunker then located in Don Mills. But the fantasy of becoming a tax exile/early retiree faded once the Conservative Party achieved power and seemed to offer at least the hope of more reasonable levels of taxation (the Tax-free Savings Account being a major positive example.)

Meanwhile, the unremitting press over drug-cartel-related crime in Mexico reached a crescendo in the last few years so we stopped visiting for a spell.  Continue Reading…

BitGold: a cure for savers frustrated with low or negative interest rates?

Posted By |
gold-cubes
The ultimate store of value? (BitGold.com)

Here’s my latest Financial Post blog, which looks at a relatively new service called BitGold (not to be confused with BitCoin): A New Gold Standard: BitGold offers a fresh way to buy and sell the yellow metal.

It notes that while it’s been a tough time to be a saver the last decade,  the new phenomenon of negative interest rates combined with the resurgence of the price of gold so far in 2016 is causing savers to look again to gold as a savings vehicle capable of preserving purchasing power.

As the blog says, BitGold customers’ are credited with real physical gold, which is stored at any of seven Brinks locations in major global financial centers. Customers can also choose to take physical delivery. Through this gold-based global network, you can purchase or sell gold at a 1% transaction cost in each direction. Early customers are mining companies that let employees be paid wholly or in part in BitGold, or permit shareholders to receive dividends in BitGold. Continue Reading…