A Challenge for New Clients: How to Choose a Trusted Advisor

If you’re in business for yourself, you have a unique opportunity to build wealth in an asset class that others don’t have: equity in a business enterprise that some day may be sold for millions of dollars. In addition, that business can spin off income for family members that can provide significant tax advantages, done well. Understanding how to realize on this asset requires the help of a trusted financial advisory team. Who should be on that team and how do you find them? This is a challenge your next new business clients may wrestle with. Here are some tips on how you can open discussions to help them:

With the recently proposed tax reforms, more doors continue to close on opportunities for income-splitting between spouses. However, there is still one key strategy—the inter-spousal loan—that can minimize tax where one person in the couple earns significantly more than the other.

Last week, the 14th Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC) took place in beautiful Kelowna. Please help us thank and acknowledge the incredible sponsors that helped bring this event to fruition, and the many Knowledge Bureau graduates who have offered their ongoing support - check out all the incredible speakers, networking and fun in the photo gallery!

The tax proposals introduced on July 18, 2017, are complex and continue to evolve, promising some mind-numbing complexing for business clients. Tax and financial advisors need to gain a thorough understanding of the intricacies of these proposals in order to reduce the impact on their clients. The November CE Summits will address this need, in a focused session featuring family business tax expert Larry Frostiak. Note - Registration ends today, November 15.

This week brought more controversial tax news to Canadians: the Paradise Papers and a new tax “consultation”; this time in advance of the 2018 Federal budget.   The elephant in the room in both these stories is the unfinished “consultation” on the massive tax changes proposed for private businesses.

The Distinguished Advisor Conference was an outstanding success with all of the speakers delivering thought leadership with passion and conviction to the theme:  Financial Advice at the Crossroads of Change.

In one of the most talked-about and ground-breaking sessions at this year’s Distinguished Advisor Conference, futurist Jan Bartscht, brought a stark message to the approximately 200 delegates in attendance:  you must innovate or die in a stark business reality: 40 per cent of major companies will not survive the digital disruptions of the next five years.