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Financial Planning & Tax Useful Links

Click on topic of your choice to go to a useful link – they are organized by topic area.  Use of these links is not an endorsement of their products and services.  My goal is only to assist you in finding useful information that is already available on the web.  Blair Corkum Financial Planning Inc. accepts no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of information presented on these sites.   You should do your own due diligence, and discuss options with your own financial institution’s professional financial planner.  If you need a financial advisor, review the various articles under Investing Portfolio Planning on my financial planning articles tab.

I have organized the Useful Links under the following headings, in order.  Click on a topic to jump to that section.  You can also use the Search box at the top right to find information on specific topics anywhere on the web site.

General Financial Planning Information

Investing

  • Is your financial planner using reasonable assumptions?  See the  Projection Assumption Guidelines issued by the FP Canada Standards Council effective April 30, 2024, which are to be used by Certified Financial Planner professionals, although they may be adjusted for unique client or local circumstances.  There are lots of caveats, which you should read, but in a nutshell, for long-term projections (10+ years), assumptions include 2.1% inflation, 3.1% wage growth rate (including promotional increases of 1% plus inflation), 2.4% short-term savings (e.g. 91-day treasury bills) rate; 3.4% fixed income rates (e.g. long-term bonds); 6.4% Canadian equity rates (assuming 33% dividends and 67% capital gains); 6.5% foreign equities in developed markets; 8.3% emerging market equities and management fees ranging from 0.5% to 2.5%.  Any deviations of more than 0.5% from these rates “should be reasonable and supportable and be documented with a written explanation.”  There is an assumption of no change in foreign exchange rates.  Projected fees to be deducted from the above rates will vary depending on your particular type of investing advice.  Regarding fees, they say, “Transparency around fees is important, in terms of the amount of fees charged (direct or indirect), the impact of fees on investment performance and the value the financial planner provides in exchange.”  In other words, if not told, ask what you are paying, in dollars and percentage, how much they will reduce your returns and what advice you will get annually for those fees.  These assumptions are updated each year, and of course, are no guarantee of future results.
  • Learn About Investing from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
  • The new Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization sets out “suitability” standards to be met for sales of investments – see section 2.2.6 of these Rules, particular 2.2.6(b) requiring your best interest to be put first, and also 2.2.5 for the requirements of the sales person to know their product.
  • What type of mutual funds do you own?  What does the name of your mutual fund really mean?  What are the mutual fund managers allowed to do with your money? The Canadian Investment Funds Standards Committee defines mutual fund categories.  For example, what is a “balanced fund.”  Did you know that a Canadian Equity Balanced Fund will have greater than 60%  (but less than 90%) of your assets in the equity market, meaning that only 11% but up to 39%) of your holdings could be fixed income.   Alternatively, a Canadian Fixed Income Balanced Fund can invest up to 39% of assets in equity securities, even though it is a “Fixed Income” balanced fund? Read the 2019 CIFSC document here to understand the names and definitions, then read your purchase documents and Fund Facts reports to see what you own and how much risk you have to ensure it matches your expectations.
  • Did you lose money because your advisor did not invest your money in the way you understood they were going to do so?  Were you mislead? If you have a complaint, see this website for next steps for an advisor who is a member of  the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO).
  • Investor Tools – Canadian Securities Administrators – Articles on topics such as Investing Basics – Getting Started; Working with Advisors; Understanding Mutual Funds, and more
  • Calculators related to investing – See the Ontario Securities Commission web site for some interesting calculators.  How much do you need to earn on investments to make it better to invest instead of paying down debt  – click here?  How much is your mutual fund growth reduced by the built-in fees – click here?
  • Investment Research for your existing or potential mutual funds (or stocks) – For example, to see Canadian market activity, visit TMX Money to see historical index activity by sector in the Canadian markets. Or visit Trading Economics and and type in your security symbol at the top of the page to get details on performance, etc.   BNN Bloomberg is another site for market research to visit.  Or, use your favourite search engine, such as Google, and type in the full name of the fund, along with the Fund code (if you have it from your investment statement, purchase receipt, or ask your broker), and then also insert the term “Fund Facts.”  With luck, this will provide you with a two page summary of your security, showing performance, risk, etc.  Read it carefully to see if you own what you thought you owned, particularly related to risk and performance.
  • Differentiating Exchange Traded Funds from Mutual Funds – an article  by Blackrock, who produce the iShares ETFs
  • Understanding Mutual Funds by the Canadian Securities Administrators
  • SPIVA – See this site and see how mutual funds fared against market averages
  • Bond index – How are bonds performing?
  • Financial reports for Canadian Public Companies and Investment Funds – Use the search functions at sedar.com
  • Foreign investments – This CRA link gives you a listing of eligible foreign corporation spinoffs for which you can elect to exclude the value of the spinoff as a dividend from your income taxes

Statistics

Old Age Security (OAS) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP), including My Service Canada Account info and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)

See the links below to learn how to find your personalized information on the web, to estimate your entitlements to OAS, CPP and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, find out how to restore your GIS and OAS more quickly if it is delayed or reduced because of a one-time income receipt, and much more information.

  • What is Old Age Security? This takes you to the Government of Canada web site. Essentially, if you are age 65 or older, and have lived in Canada for at least 10 years since age 18, you can apply.  There are special rules affecting your eligibility if you live outside Canada, or if you live here now, but lived in certain other countries in the past.  You can apply retroactively for up to 11 months.
  • What is the Guaranteed Income Supplement? This takes you to the Government of Canada web site. Essentially, if your income is below a certain threshold and you are eligible for OAS, you may be eligible for a “top-up” to your OAS.
  • Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) Calculator – If your income is below a certain threshold, you may be eligible for a “top-up” to your OAS.  See this page (step 2) to see what is included in income – normally it is your total income on your tax return, minus your prior year OAS and GIS, and minus up to $5,000 of employment or self-employment income.  There may be other adjustments also, and you should contact Service Canada immediately to see if your current payment should be changed if your spouse retires or if pension payments (including your RRIF) are reduced, as explained on this page.  To calculate your GIS, scroll down the page to find your marital/partner status.  Remember that your income for the calculator excludes your OAS and GIS for last year.  If you have applied for “involuntary” separation (see next item), you will be considered single.  There is a new calculator by Service Canada that may be useful if you are age 65 or over – see this page.  You can also do your own retirement planning using the calculator on that page.
  • Is your (or will your) Old Age Security reduced by “recovery tax” this year because of a non-recurring high income event last year (e.g. sale of real estate or a large RRSP withdrawal)?  You can request the “Recovery Tax” to be reduced by telling the CRA that you income will be lower again this year.  Complete the T1213 OAS Request to Reduce Old Age Security Recovery Tax at Source form and attach proof of the non-recurring nature of last year’s income.
  • Is your spouse in a nursing home because of disability – are you involuntarily separated? What is an involuntary separation?  The National Bank has a good discussion on this topic here.  Essentially, a voluntary application may increase your GIS if you are forced to live separately from your spouse.  For example, your spouse may be in a nursing home.  This has nothing to do with legally changing your marital status and does not change your status for income tax filing – it is only for GIS purposes!
  • “My Service Canada Account” – To access your personalized information, visit Your Personal Service Canada Account – to Access or Setup your own Account.  Detail instructions on how to set up a new account are set out in this PDF file (based on August 2022) – My Service Account Set up Steps
  • Do you want to calculate your own CPP – see this web site. However, Service Canada will provide you with an estimate based on your contributions to date using your My Service Canada Account, and this PDF file will direct you to the right web page: Steps to access your personal CPP estimate from Service Canada .  Of course, read the site details to understand the meaning of the result.
  • When will your tax, OAS and CPP benefit payments be received?  See here.
  • When should you draw your CPP? Service Canada provides some useful Rules of Thumb here.  Generally later, rather than earlier, as set out in these studies: The CPP Take-Up Decision (Society of Actuaries) and Get the Most from the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans by Delaying Benefits (National Institute of Aging).  However, if you want to see the value to you of taking CPP at various ages, look at this website by TaxTips.ca – it will give you a value in today’s dollars of making your choice.  But you need to know what you can expect to make off of your money from investment returns, an inflation rate, and your life expectancy.  You may wish to see the Projection Assumption Guidelines, which discuss all of these matters in more detail.  Do not “sell yourself short” on life expectancy.  If you estimate too young, you may be increasing your risk of running out of money before death by taking a lower CPP earlier and needing to use more of your retirement savings to make up the difference.
  • Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Information – Basic information
  • Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Survivor’s pension information.  This web site (Langford Financial Inc.) also has an easy to understand review of CPP Survivor benefits.  However, to understand how the maximum survivor benefit is calculated, see this web site (Doug Runchey).  Okay, I jest – it is impossible to understand the maximum benefit calculation.
  • Canada Pension Plan (CPP) post-retirement benefits (If you continue to work after you apply for CPP, your pension may increase.  These benefits will not be shared or split with your spouse/partner or former spouse/partner)
  • Canada Pension Plan (CPP) sharing with a spouse or common law partner (Note that post-retirement benefits cannot be shared.)
  • Canada Pension Plan (CPP) splitting upon separation or divorce (Note that post-retirement benefits cannot be split.)
  • Personalized CPP calculations, answering questions such as how much CPP will I get, what will the impact be if I divorce and split the CPP, what is the impact of starting at various ages, etc.  – See DR Pension Consulting Services
  • Request for Direct Deposit for your CPP and OAS using this form on the Service Canada web site

Seniors, Estate Planning and Senior Care Information

Retirement Planning

  • Is your financial planner using reasonable assumptions?  See the Projection Assumption Guidelines issued by the Financial Planning Standards Council of Canada effective April 30, 2023.
  • When should you draw your CPP? Generally later, rather than earlier as set out in these studies: The CPP Take-Up Decision (Society of Actuaries) and Get the Most from the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans by Delaying Benefits (National Institute of Aging)
  • When should you start taking your RRSP?  This answer is not determinable without a substantial amount of financial analysis, and a lot of estimates about future variables.  A research study was conducted by Doug Chandler, FSA, FCIA, on behalf of the FP Canada Research Foundation titled Retirement Drawdown and Choices – RRIF, TFSA and Non-Registered Accounts, in October 2022.  This study yielded interesting results, contrary to some very popular advice being offered.  If you wish to read the study (start with the Executive Summary and the Conclusions), see this web site: FP Canada Research Foundation titled Retirement Drawdown and Choices – RRIF, TFSA and Non-Registered Accounts
  • Need some help thinking about the non-financial issues in retirement.  See this workbook published by Hartford Funds, which provides very useful topics to help you navigate through the four phases of retirement.  Note that is from an American source – 8,000 Days Workbook.
  • Retirement Income Calculator from Service Canada – this calculator is very good because it is more thorough than many, and if you are doing your own retirement planning, it is a good starting point.  Retirement calculators are used for planning – remember than none of them can reflect what will really happen because no one can predict the future.  IMPORTANT – Many simple retirement calculators require you to tell them how much income you need in retirement – Income needed will be the amount required to pay all of your living expenses, including loan payments and periodic vehicle purchases, as well as occasional unexpected costs (e.g. helping children, paying medical bills, unexpected house repairs) and also income taxes.  Do your expense budget, and figure out how much pre-tax income you need to pay those expenses using an average retirement tax rate.  Average tax rates can be calculated at the E&Y website here.  Typical average rates run from 10% for incomes around $25,000 per year to 30% with incomes about $125,000.  You will also need to estimate your sources of retirement income – typically being your CPP and Old Age Security (available from Service Canada), company pension, investment income and annual RRSP withdrawals.   Use online calculators only after understanding their limitations.  However,  one  simple  calculator  to  consider  is  Retirement calculator from Fiscal Agents – Caution – they ask for the “income” amount needed in retirement, not the expense amount, so allow extra above your expenses for income taxes.  They also have other useful information at Retirement and Financial Calculators from Fiscal Agents .
  • RRSP / RRIF / LRSP / LIF /TFSA Information
    • RRSP and TFSA limits, and other such limits, for each year on this CRA site
    • Minimum Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) withdrawal requirements – a RRIF is typically created by money transferred from your RRSP, which is required by the end of the year in which you turn age 71, but may be done earlier (such as at age 65 to access the pension amount tax credit and pension income splitting opportunities for persons without other eligible pension income.)  See the withdrawal rates at this page, which is also linked from the description of how withdrawals are determined on this page –  GettingSmarterAboutMoney.ca by the Ontario Securities Commission, or use this minimum payments RRIF calculator, not only to determine the amount but how long your RRIF may last – see  VanCity RRIF calculator
    • RRSP or Mortgage payments – which is better? Should you pay down your mortgage or make an RRSP deposit – read this MoneySense article and try one of their recommended calculators.  (My advice varies on individual circumstances such as tax rates and debt load, with a bias to eliminate all of your debts by your retirement age.)
    • Locked-in Plans – LIRA, LRSP, LIF, and more – see this great review by RBC titled Locked-in RRSPs and your Options
    • Minimum and maximum Life Income Fund (LIF) withdrawal rates – a LIF is similar to a RRIF, but is typically created by transfer of funds from a Locked In RRSP or a Registered Pension Plan.  The maximum withdrawal rates are set by either federal or provincial legislation, depending on the type of pension plan from which the funds originated.  See the web page from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (Question #2).  Also, you may want to look at this TaxTips web site for more info and follow the links to find the rates for which you are looking.
    • Unlocking (getting money out early) of your Locked-in retirement accounts – see the options explained for “Unlocking funds from a pension plan or from a locked-in retirement savings plan” (particularly question 2) by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.
    • When should you start taking your RRSP?  This answer is not determinable without a substantial amount of financial analysis, and a lot of estimates about future variables.  A research study was conducted by Doug Chandler, FSA, FCIA, on behalf of the FP Canada Research Foundation titled Retirement Drawdown and Choices – RRIF, TFSA and Non-Registered Accounts, in October 2022.  This study yielded interesting results, contrary to some very popular advice being offered.  If you wish to read the study (start with the Executive Summary and the Conclusions), see this web site: FP Canada Research Foundation titled Retirement Drawdown and Choices – RRIF, TFSA and Non-Registered Accounts

Life Insurance and Annuities

Canada Child Benefit, Education Savings Plans and Tax-Free Savings Accounts

Savings Accounts – High Interest  (examples only)

  • Online banks often pay significantly higher rates than your traditional financial institutions.  You may wish to check some of these out, but always look at more than rates – for example, are they CDIC insured or covered by other deposit insurance (e.g. through the provincial credit union association); are there limits on how much you can withdraw at any one time; how often will rates change or are current rates time limited offers; are there fees to transfer funds, etc.?
    • Click here for a website showing comparisons of various banks’ high interest savings accounts, GICs and other info – To see the institutions with the highest rates, click on the Rates heading twice to sort in order of high to low.  These rates change frequently, and the highest paying institutions today may not be so tomorrow.  Some institutions with the high rates include:
    • CANNEX Financial Exchanges Limited – see current banking, mortgage, annuity and other rates under “Canada”

Cash flow and Debt Management Help

Tax Information

Disability Program Information

Housing, Mortgages, Loan Calculators and Information

Notes: Loans are calculated differently than mortgages, so select the correct calculator for your needs.  Also note that Canadian mortgages are calculated using semi-annual interest compounding, and American mortgages are compounded annually – so ensure you do this correctly also.

Health PEI

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