New 30-Year Amortizations for Insured Mortgages

Effective August 1, 2024, the government will allow 30-year mortgage amortizations for first-time homeowners who purchase newly built homes.  For existing mortgage holders who meet specific criteria, “permanent amortization relief” will be available to extend repayment periods for as long as they need to get to the number they can afford to pay monthly. It’s an extension from the 25-year mortgage amortizations previously allowed. However, this isn’t for everyone… there is a significant risk to lifetime wealth creation and must be managed with an eye to interest rates and payment terms to reduce the non-deductible interest costs.  

How important are a tax and financial advisor’s “soft skills?”  Having deeper conversations about many life components, other than finance, can be an important first step in improving your clients’ lives. 

The old adage says that “money can’t buy happiness.” This is now statistically true.

Millennials (ages 18 to 35) are confident in their abilities and fairly optimistic about the future, but they have greater stress levels than any other generation before them. Why? Despite their many traits for success—ambition, drive and the ability to work hard—it is difficult for them to find opportunities to prove themselves.

Summer is here and it’s moving season. Exciting yet stressful, this life event can be lucrative from a tax viewpoint. 

For the 2015 tax filing season, the average Canadian overpaid their taxes by $1,729 during the year—that’s just over $140 a month that’s not going into TFSAs, RRSPs, RESPs, RDSPs, or non-registered accounts to benefit Canadian families in their future.

When is employment income earned by an Aboriginal person exempt from income tax?