Joe Macek, Investment Advisor Portfolio Manager iA Private Wealth

  Are RRSP’s a Scam? Don’t Invest In RRSP’s THEY ARE A SCAM!!! I hear this a lot when I talk to folks about their investments. Individuals shaking their fists at the idea of contributing to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), absolutely convinced it’s a scam.  “I wish I NEVER would have invested in RRSP’s!”  they say —  “RRSP’s are a scam! They tax you SO MUCH when you pull it out!” These folks, nice as they are, hit retirement and they find themselves  grappling with tax burdens when they withdraw funds from their RRIF’s— and no one likes to pay tax.  Yet, amidst their frustration and disappointment, there’s a number of critical things these fine folks have forgotten about.  The initial tax deductions they received for their contributions, leading to years of tax refunds, and the years of tax-deferred growth their investments quietly accumulated.  It’s really a story of misunderstood benefits. If You Like My Writing— YOU WILL LOVE ME ON ...

  This Small Mistake Is Costing The Average Canadian $100,000 Don’t Let This Slip-Up Rob You of $100,000! I just read an article in  The Globe and Mail  about  a startling new survey  that found the vast majority of Canadians begin to take payments from their Canada Pension Plan (CPP) as early as age 60,  even though it’s usually a lot better financially to defer those payments until much later, like age 70.  I found this trend to be quite shocking, since traditional retirement knowledge, along with what I have experienced in my own practice  frequently suggests that deferring Old Age Security (OAS) and CPP payments as long as possible until age 70 tends to maximize your payouts from CPP and OAS and optimize your retirement plans. When you combine this finding with the fact that Canadians are living longer — in some cases well into their 90’s,  it would seem to me that Canadians by and large are not getting proper advice or they are not getti...