Keystone Private Wealth
#270, 104-13 Street North T1H 2R4 Lethbridge, AB, Canada

This is an article I wrote in June 2011. It was in our local newspaper, but I never did get it posted on-line, so I'm posting it now. The information is generally accurate as it hasn't changed. The one caveat to that is the mention of amnesty for US citizens filing tax returns - that has expired (but don't lose hope, there are options.) June 2011 Cross Border Planning (Canada & U.S.) One of the great things about retirement is the ability to head to warmer climes during th...Continue reading

Been awhile since I've written anything, but thought I'd put some general information out there: Retirement planning is becoming more and more important. A friend recently posted about how her mother was well looked after in retirement even though she did not have much. Government programs do not a bad job at the lower end of the income scale, but things are changing. As more and more baby boomers move into retirement and put pressure on our gov't pension benefits I believe... we will see continued cuts there. I just don't see any other options. The number of workers per retiree is dropping - and rather quickly. We've already seen some moves in that direction - the biggest being the raising of the age to 67 for collecting full CPP and OAS. Some of the other things to be concerned about: medical health - in Canada we've become pretty ambivalent about it - but there are some real issues you may have to deal with. Drugs are not all covered, as health care costs continue to spiral, expect more delisting of services. What kind of lifestyle do you want to live? CPP/OAS/GIS don't pay much. One lady I worked with recently will have $200/month of discretionary spending. She won't be starving to death, but $200 isn't much. Recently Safeway has announced a major cut to their pension benefits. All existing retirees will see a 10% reduction effective in July. Those who are still working will see a 20% reduction at retirement, and those who moved on to other work, but left their funds with Safeway's pension program will see a 25% reduction. That's just one company, one pension plan. When you retire, because of early retirement and longer life expectancies there is the very real chance you will be in retirement longer than you worked. Get a retirement plan done. It's the only way you're going to be able to be comfortable in the knowledge of where you are.

I've written about the growing complication and enforcement for Snowbirds before. This article is geared towards financial planners to get the information to their clients - but if you spend time in the US, you need to understand the implications of the new entry-exit recording. http://www.investmentexecutive.com/-/alert-snowbirds-to-new

Have you looked at Dave Ramsey's program? Would you be interested in taking Financial Peace University this fall?

Over the years I've done various calculations showing the opportunity cost of the money spent on smoking (the same calculations can be done for any spending habit.) - but this puts a new spin on the financial costs of smoking. http://news.ca.msn.com//smoking-reduces-house-value-by-30p

I've posted on this before, expect to see more posts on it, as it's a big issue in our family. How to cut down on the cost of groceries? Here's an interesting article. Got some other ideas? http://canadianbudgetbinder.com//top-ten-ways-to-cut-your/

Been awhile since Ive written anything, but thought Id put some general information out there: Retirement planning is becoming more and more important. A friend recently posted about how her mother was well looked after in retirement even though she did not have much. Government programs do not a bad job at the lower end of the income scale, but things are changing. As more and more baby boomers move into retirement and put pressure on our govt pension benefits I believe... we will see continued cuts there. I just dont see any other options. The number of workers per retiree is dropping - and rather quickly. Weve already seen some moves in that direction - the biggest being the raising of the age to 67 for collecting full CPP and OAS. Some of the other things to be concerned about: medical health - in Canada weve become pretty ambivalent about it - but there are some real issues you may have to deal with. Drugs are not all covered, as health care costs continue to spiral, expect more delisting of services. What kind of lifestyle do you want to live? CPP/OAS/GIS dont pay much. One lady I worked with recently will have $200/month of discretionary spending. She wont be starving to death, but $200 isnt much. Recently Safeway has announced a major cut to their pension benefits. All existing retirees will see a 10% reduction effective in July. Those who are still working will see a 20% reduction at retirement, and those who moved on to other work, but left their funds with Safeways pension program will see a 25% reduction. Thats just one company, one pension plan. When you retire, because of early retirement and longer life expectancies there is the very real chance you will be in retirement longer than you worked. Get a retirement plan done. Its the only way youre going to be able to be comfortable in the knowledge of where you are.

Ive written about the growing complication and enforcement for Snowbirds before. This article is geared towards financial planners to get the information to their clients - but if you spend time in the US, you need to understand the implications of the new entry-exit recording. http://www.investmentexecutive.com/-/alert-snowbirds-to-new

Not For Profit By Don Goodison, CFP, FCGA (Don Goodison is a partner of Kemp Harvey Goodison, Certified General Accountants, in Brunaby BC Email: [email protected]) One of the things that I dont like about tax work is that I am often perceived as a bearer of bad tidings. If I tell clients that they are wasting their time appealing an assessment or that their fantastic tax avoidance scheme will not work, they view me as a naysayer. Outside the office, I find myself set...Continue reading

When I first saw the title of this article and the first couple of paragraphs I was ready to send a nasty note to the author... Its a good article. http://www.boomerandecho.com/is-it-time-to-say-goodbye-to-/

Have you looked at Dave Ramseys program? Would you be interested in taking Financial Peace University this fall?

This is why you MUST file a US tax return and corresponding FBAR!! If you are an American Citizen you MUST file. You should probably also talk to someone familiar with cross border issues, as theres some planning things you should take a look at to make sure you dont pay more tax than you should. http://taxconnections.com//fbar-violation-leads-to-suspen/

A Wedding seems to be a time where the terms "budget" and "frugal" are supposed to get thrown out. I remember a friend of mine - 25 years ago - was getting married to the daughter of a wealthy family. She wanted the "fairytale" wedding - which 25 years ago was $25,000 - her dad pulled my friend aside and said, "elope and Ill give you the $25,000 to start your life with, put a downpayment on a house, whatever." - Wife wouldnt go for it and they had the wedding. Heres some outlandish wedding expenses, and a link to Dave Ramseys "wedding budget". By the way - my wife and I got married a couple of years later, and including the dress, TWO receptions, etc. we got it done for about $2,000. http://www.daveramsey.com/blog/6-extravagant-wedding-costs

Another fraud. I actually got TWO of these this morning from two different vehicles I was watching on ebay. Ones from "Adam" and the other from "Jason." Hi, My name is Adam, and Im emailing you about my (2002 Volkswagen Jetta) that I have for sale, The car never had any paint/body work done, garaged keep always, without any mechanical problems, tires and wheels are in great shape as well, electric is working perfectly and the engine runs very good and has 122000 kms.......... Im selling this car, because I moved with my job to US (I work as a stockbroker) and thats the reason I want to sell it. The final price is $2,600. I travel a lot with my job and I decided to make this deal through eBays Buyer Protection Program. I just need your full name, full shipping address, home/cell # so I can open a case.(with no further obligation or fees). eBay will contact you with all the info you need in order to make this purchase. I will take care of the shipping so dont worry. I hope to hear soon from you. P.S. Let me know if you want more pictures, Thank you for your interest! Adam

Fraud is all around - one way to recognize it is if the wording is just a little too perfect, a little too much detail. Ive been searching for a vehicle on-line, and after I replied to one ad, this is the reply: Hello, Thank you for your interest in purchasing my 2005 Toyota 4Runner. It is in perfect condition, with no scratches on it, no damage, always garaged, always covered. Everything about this suv functions perfectly. Incredible power, handling and reliability. If you... are interested in buying, the price is CAD $4,717. I had to move with my family to London, UK but because now i dont have time to ride i decided to sell the suv. The transaction will be done through eBay for our own protection, no money first to me. Your funds will be 100% insured by eBay until you will receive and inspect the suv, and I will be sure that I will receive the payment. You will have 5 days from the time you receive the suv to inspect it and decide if you want to keep it or not. If you want to buy my suv then e-mail me: Full name for the title, Shipping address As soon as I have this information Ill start the official procedure, and eBay will notify you about this. Youll also receive important guidelines + instructions from them (please go through them exactly). Ill handle the shipping, so this will be free of charge for you. Looking forward to hearing from you, Angela See more

A 97 month car loan?! Are you kidding me? As car prices increased, leasing became popular (many people could not afford the payements on a new car if they were paying for all of it - leasing allowed you to just pay for part of the car.) With increasing auto prices, even that isnt enough anymore. I dont want to sound like a broken record, but going into debt for a depreciating asset is never a good idea. https://www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com/a/car-loan-catastrophe

Over the years Ive done various calculations showing the opportunity cost of the money spent on smoking (the same calculations can be done for any spending habit.) - but this puts a new spin on the financial costs of smoking. http://news.ca.msn.com//smoking-reduces-house-value-by-30p

The fine-print can get you! After putting off dealing with our insurance company for our house, I finally decided it was time to get it done. (Hail storm damage from the end of last summer). Heres one of the interesting ones that came up: My roof has TWO layers of cedar shakes on it. My policy only covers removal of ONE layer. Its against code to leave a layer on now, so both have to come off, but my insurance will only pay for one. Insurance is filled with fine-print... issues like this, so its really important to go through your policy and make sure youre covered for your needs. BTW, just as a side-note. If youre getting a bunch of work done to you home, make sure that youre doing exactly what the insurance company is paying for. If youre covered for cedar shakes, and you put shingles on so that you can "pocket" the difference - thats insurance fraud and I know of a couple of cases where charges have been laid.

Ive posted on this before, expect to see more posts on it, as its a big issue in our family. How to cut down on the cost of groceries? Heres an interesting article. Got some other ideas? http://canadianbudgetbinder.com//top-ten-ways-to-cut-your/

Have you seen this? Wow, we SLOWED our borrowing. Only up 4.5% this last month! How can we keep borrowing like this?? http://money.ca.msn.com//consumers-slow-pace-of-borrowing-

Over the Easter weekend I spent some time perusing some blogs on debt reduction. (yes, I get that Im kind of geeky when it comes to finance.) Almost all of them recommend that you pay off the higher interest debt first. This sounds logical, paying off the higher interest saves money, right? I disagree, this shouldnt be the criteria for deciding which debt to work on paying off first. Heres what I think. First, make a list of all of your debts. This list should have t...Continue reading

Managing your cashflow is the single most important aspect of achieving financial independence. There is NO amount of money you cannot outspend. Lately weve heard alot about how our governments are going deeper into debt and not managing things fiscally - but are we doing anything different in our households? Latest statistics would indicate otherwise - were spending more and going deeper into debt. There are some ways to turn it around. One of the best formats Ive seen is the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University. Let me know if youd be interested in taking the course, as wed like to get another class going.

When do you want to retire? Ever heard of EXTREME early retirement? These are people who decide at very young ages to retire REALLY early - like 35 and 40! While most probably dont want to make the kind of sacrifices this requires, it is an interesting idea! Heres a primer: http://www.usatoday.com//extreme-early-retirement/1997363/

What are you reading? This is the book that I wish that I had written. Highly recommend it if youre trying to get out of debt! http://www.amazon.ca/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Ge//ref=sr_1_1

Groceries are a HUGE part of our monthly budget - how about you? Got some tips to add? Do you meal plan? http://www.kittenagogo.com/2013/03/grocery-spending.html

Earlier this month (March 4) I posted a story on a father (who happens to also be a financial planner) who got a $22,000 phone bill. He recently got that whittled down to $200 - heres his guide on dealing with phone cell companies: http://openmedia.ca/negotiating-telecom-customer-service

Some good thoughts here on preparing for the worst. http://www.boomerandecho.com/on-job-security-and-preparing/

Ive been a Dave Ramsey fan for a long time. This is some good stuff - if youve had a hard time creating a budget, this FREE ebook could be what youre looking for! http://www.daveramsey.com/tools/guide-to-budgeting/

Wow - parents planning on paying for kids tution with their retirement savings? (When reading this article, remember that a US 529 plan is similar to our RESP) http://www.learnvest.com///parents-prioritize-college-123/

Heres some investing insights based on Warren Buffet. http://www.theglobeandmail.com//the-fatal-/article9621194/

Education has been one of those things that was easy to justify going into debt for. Heres an interesting article I found on a blog geared towards students (Studenomics!) What are your thoughts re: student loan debt? http://studenomics.com/debt-reducti/student-loans-crushing/

One of the questions I get asked alot is what retirement actually looks like. Boomer and Echo have a guest article that talks about their experience in retirment. I think its a great idea to have these kinds of discussions with people who are already retired and how theyre managing the changes. http://www.boomerandecho.com/how-this-couple-spends-their-/

Interesting thought on working from home - maybe not always a good idea? http://business.financialpost.com//why-working-from-home-/

Are you getting the idea that I think cashflow management is important? Heres a great article on teaching the basics to your kids. http://www.moneycrashers.com/make-family-budget-kids/

Budgeting has got to be the single most important aspect of financial planning. Put simply, there is NO LEVEL of income you cant outspend. Weve all heard of the professioinal athletes/etertainers making millions that declare bankruptcy. Heres just one quick way to try and save a few hundred dollars/year. In the words of Jim Rohn, take care of the small things and the big things will follow. http://www.boomerandecho.com/how-i-saved-over-300-on-my-ca/

Danielle and her family of 4 live on $14,000/year! Its amazing how little it takes to live when you have NO DEBT! Im not suggesting that we should all get this $14,000/year point, but Im sure theres some places we could find some savings. Her first point is a budet. What do you think? http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com//how-does-she-live-on-b

I asked the question a few days ago about "planning" - heres an article that I found that talks about some general Retirement Planning questions to ask yourself, and some things to think about. http://www.boomerandecho.com/5-misconceptions-about-retire/

For the last couple of years it seems like every week brings another announcement of an insurer increasing premiums. Today it was Desjardin. "due to the continued low interest rate enviroment..." If youre looking for permanent insurance, sooner is better than later.

YIKES! Can you imagine a $22,000 cell phone bill? http://news.ca.msn.com//5-ways-to-avoid-excessive-roaming-

I was reading some material today on how to stick to a financial plan (some really good articles that Ill post links to over the next few days) and the thought struck me - how many of us are just "getting by" without a plan? Are we so focused on getting through this month that were not planning, are we coasting? Not putting any effort into planning the next step? Just some thoughts on how important PLANNING is.

Baby its cold outside! So, what to do? How about looking at some of the logjams?? Great article here: http://www.thesimpledollar.com//02/21/what-is-your-logjam/

Love the last line: "We need to start hating debt again." http://www.boomerandecho.com/weekend-reading-tedx-talks-ed/

So how long is it going to take me to get to 30 likes so I can get some "insight" into my activity from Facebook?