Not all money market instruments are substitutes for each other. Below we look at the various securities available for investing your cash in, and identify which ones we have preferences   Read More

Are you, or someone you know, looking for a new mortgage loan. Unless the thought of higher interest rates keeps you up at night, you’d be hard-pressed to find a   Read More

If China starts to sell a small portion of its holdings of US bonds and bills, US interest rates could go even higher. China has a very significant ‘ace in   Read More

By now most of us have heard of virtual currencies. Now a group of software developers is creating an entire community in a virtual reality world where people are already   Read More

Investor’s Digest of Canada columnist Mark Halpern, CEO of WEALTHinsurance.com®, answers the seven most-frequently asked questions about retirement problems. He offers cost-efficient and tax-efficient solutions that will safeguard your finances   Read More

Accountant Mark Goodfield, aka The Blunt Bean Counter, warned The TaxLetter readers in April about new reporting rules regarding the sale of a principal residence. Simply put, if you sold   Read More

RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs, PPPs, critical illness insurance, long-term care insurance, high-limit disability insurance, life insurance, joint-and-last-to-die insurance, charitable donations at death—no wonder we get so tired as we get older!   Read More

Investor’s Digest of Canada columnist Mark Halpern, CEO of WEALTHinsurance.com®, answers the seven most-frequently asked questions about retirement problems. He offers cost-efficient and tax-efficient solutions that will safeguard your finances   Read More

Accountant Mark Goodfield, aka The Blunt Bean Counter, warned The TaxLetter readers in April about new reporting rules regarding the sale of a principal residence. Simply put, if you sold   Read More

The US dollar (USD) rises when stocks fall more often than not. If you believe, as The MoneyLetter columnist Keith Richards does, that there is reason for a substantial market   Read More

Contributing TaxLetter columnist Mark Halpern, CFP, TEP, spends a lot of time with generous and fortunate people who will have accumulated a lot of money by the time they die.   Read More

Not all money market instruments are substitutes for each other. Below we look at the various securities available for investing your cash in, and identify which ones we have preferences   Read More

A sound investment strategy involves keeping some of your portfolio in cash. But where should you put it? Below we look at some of the options available to you for   Read More

A gold-backed petro yuan will allow oil producers to sell oil to China in yuan, and then exchange yuan into gold via the Shanghai Gold Exchange. This system will be   Read More

Even better than borrowing from the bank of mom and dad is borrowing from yourself—or at least borrowing from your RRSP. Just remember that the taxman is probably not as   Read More

The TaxLetter contributing editor Mark Halpern recalls Martin Luther King’s sagacious advice: “If we are to go forward, we must go back.” When it comes to planning your financial future,   Read More

The Money Reporter regularly surveys insured deposit-taking institutions so you know where to get the best interest rate on insured deposits all across Canada.
The Bank of Canada started the year   Read More

The recent cryptocurrency frenzy inevitably calls excesses of the late 1990s dot-com bubble to mind. New Investor’s Digest columnist Jordan Lazaruk questions whether or not the cryptocurrency phase is history   Read More

A new version of draft legislation related to the tax on split income (TOSI) rules was introduced on Dec. 13, 2017, theoretically in effect as of Jan. 1, 2018. We   Read More

Columnist Mark Halpern shares his insight and analysis on using a Canadian insurance policy to protect your assets from the tax man. It’s a tax-smart investing strategy that honest, hard-working   Read More

The talk of Wall Street has been the big capital gains of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Bitcoin passed the US$10,000 mark in November—a 900 per cent return for 2017. Still, many   Read More

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is proposing a number of items to expand and modernize the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan—the biggest of which is “inter-generational RRSP loans” to help   Read More

Portfolio manager and MoneyLetter columnist John Stephenson says that despite persistent worries over valuation, there is no historical or economic reason to fear a market sell-off anytime soon. For that   Read More

Jason Geall of Corwin Mortgage Capital explains the value of investing in private mortgages. This alternative investment is relatively unknown to investors, and readers of Investor’s Digest of Canada have   Read More

It’s that time of year when many of us are thinking of both gift giving and tax planning opportunities. Contributing editor to The TaxLetter, Mark Halpern, CFP, TEP, is a   Read More

‘Save your Confederate money, boys. The south will rise again.’ You may recall the lyrics about ‘Confederate’ dollars. They never did rise again. But the Yankee dollar? That’s another story.   Read More

It’s said that gold comes out of dark underground mines only to disappear into dark bank vaults. When we publish our gold stock survey, we do outline the yellow metal’s   Read More

Drivers of Canadian growth today (real estate and consumer debt) may be tomorrow’s burst bubble. Solid blue chip stocks like Canadian banks or Canadian oil and gas stocks are safe   Read More

There’s a lot going on these days for those with private corporations and those without. You owe it to yourself to preserve your hard-earned money for the people and causes   Read More

“Irrational exuberance” is how former US Fed chairman Alan Greenspan described the stock market during the dot-com bubble of the 1990s. Investor’s Digest of Canada columnist Edward Gardiner looks at   Read More

“It’s a cruel, (cruel), cruel summer/Leaving me here on my own/It’s a cruel, (it’s a cruel), cruel summer/Now you’re gone”. British pop artists Bananarama weren’t singing about Canadians’ 2017 proposed   Read More

Seasonal financial analyst Don Vialoux says precious metals and their mining stocks generally reach a seasonal low in July and pick up speed again until late September. Cyclical stocks usually   Read More

Selling the family cottage (or, depending on where you live in Canada, the cabin, the bungalow, the lake, the chalet, the camp, the shack, the farm or the summer house)   Read More

Investing in mortgages is a lot like investing in real estate, except without the headaches and capital required to actually purchase a property. Corwin Mortgage Capital vice president Jason Geall   Read More

“Irrational exuberance” is how former US Fed chairman Alan Greenspan described the stock market during the dot-com bubble of the 1990s. Investor’s Digest of Canada columnist Edward Gardiner looks at   Read More

According to Weddingbells.ca, 67 per cent of Canadian weddings occur between June and September. They offer no statistics for common-law or non-traditional unions but financial, trust and estate planner Mark   Read More

Since 1802, the US dollar has lost 95 per cent of its purchasing power. After inflation, that dollar invested in US stocks would’ve soared to $704,997 by 2012; invested in   Read More

Now that people are living longer, it’s no surprise that one of the biggest concerns among aging Canadians is the genuine fear of outliving retirement savings. And most people would   Read More

To find stability amid volatility, columnist Mark Halpern details the oft-ignored (or simply unknown) advantages of taking out participating life insurance as an investment option. Participating insurance is a more   Read More

“Freedom 55 now occurs when your youngest child turns 55.” Certified financial planner and trust and estate practitioner Mark Halpern recalls London Life’s aspirational slogan of the 1980s with a   Read More

Your home is likely your biggest investment. And your job is likely your biggest source of income. As a result, you should build an investment portfolio that hedges against the   Read More

And six gold stocks to buy if you must. The price of gold appears to have stabilized. Lower producer costs raise profits. While you might hold a little gold to   Read More

So you’re a hands-on investor and you want to decide for yourself which investments go into your self-directed Registered Retirement Savings Plan. TaxLetter contributing editor Samantha Prasad, a tax partner   Read More

In a government debt crisis, is there a possibility of precious metals being seized? Professional gold bug Nick Barisheff examines the history and likelihood of government confiscation or expropriation of   Read More

Puts and calls may seem a little bit exotic at first, but their potential to earn you some handsome extra income from stocks you already own may well be worth   Read More

Stock markets keep rising as the precious metals miners’ rally pauses. Technical analyst Brian Hoffman warns that investors should watch support levels in an environment like this. He names three   Read More

Benjamin Franklin was one of the wealthiest men of his time. He could have retired in luxury  at a relatively young age but instead pursued a lifetime of philanthropic endeavours.   Read More

Gold and gold mining stocks will benefit from the turbulence of the Trump presidency. And, analyst David Chapman writes in Investor’s Digest of Canada, the amount of new gold being   Read More

We thank American actress Bette Davis for this keen insight. It’s tough to anticipate the joy of a new day when all your bits and pieces ache and won’t move   Read More

Investor’s Digest technical analyst Brian Hoffman says trading in gold and silver mining stocks is likely to be quite volatile until it is clear where the precious metal prices head   Read More

Behavioural finance analyst Ken Norquay makes the case that stock market risk is higher than normal as 2017 begins and advises investors to hold lower-than-normal amounts of stocks and bonds   Read More

Whether you’re old enough to remember the original “Home, Sweet Home” or your generational instincts are more attuned to Mötley Crüe’s 1985 power ballad of the same name (or Carrie   Read More