5 things you may not know about TFSAs

In Springtime, people are often renewing a mortgage… When taking out a mortgage with a lending institution you should cover off that debt with an insurance policy. Not all coverage options are created equal. Let’s look at the highlights of the two options available to you. Control Individually Owned Term Life Insurance: You own the coverage and choose who receives the death benefit Mortgage Insurance from lender: Lender owns the policy and they are the beneficiary Individually Owned Term Life Insurance: Guaranteed Premiums Your rates are guaranteed for the life of the policy Mortgage Insurance from lender: Mortgage insurance rates are not guaranteed and can increase Portability Individually Owned Term Life Insurance: Coverage remains intact if you switch lenders Mortgage Insurance from lender: You need to reapply for coverage if you move lenders Level Coverage Amount Individually Owned Term Life Insurance: Coverage amount stays the same even as your mortgage decreases Mortgage Insurance from lender: Coverage declines as your mortgage is paid off. Premiums stay the same Comfort Individually Owned Term Life Insurance: Underwritten at the time of application. No surprises at the time of claim Mortgage Insurance from lender: Underwritten at the time of death, possibility of denied claim. Reach out to me today if you want to explore the benefits of individually owned life insurance Stephen J. Hall, CCS Financial Security Advisor Advisor In Group Insurance & Annuities Certified Cash Flow Specialist Mutual Fund Representative with Hub Capital Inc. Click here to book a meeting with me HUB Capital Inc. Client Login Click here to get started on your Behavioural Cash Flow Strategy™ today!

Overdiversification: too much of a good thing? When you invest in mutual funds, you get instant diversification as your money is spread across the securities held in that fund. But can diversification get out of hand? And if so, is it actually harmful for your investing goals? Diversification is a time-tested way of dealing with investment risk. The idea is that by spreading your investments across a number of securities or types of investments you limit the effect of a decline in holding just one type. Most investors will know the most basic kind of diversification as holding fixed-income funds as well as equity funds so that a drop in one will be mitigated by the other. Diversification can also be achieved across asset types, geographic regions, company size, bond durations and many other factors. Getting out of hand But just as diversification mitigates the loss, it can mitigate the gain as well. That’s the first way that overdiversification can present a problem. Imagine that an equity fund holds the stock of 50 companies. If five of those perform exceptionally, it can provide a big boost to the performance of the fund. However, if the fund holds shares of 250 companies, the effect of those five outperformers may be blunted (depending, of course, on what percentage of the fund is held in each security). A similar thing can happen within your own portfolio. When starting out you may have held just a few funds or even a single balanced fund. Over time, as you had more money to invest, you may have added new funds to increase your diversification or to take advantage of new opportunities or new investment products. Sometimes this may be compounded by the structure of the funds themselves. Some funds such as balanced funds have diversification build into the fund itself. Other multi-manager funds or “funds of funds” have diversification happening within individual funds and diversification happening at the fund of funds level. Left unchecked, your portfolio can end up with needless duplication and unnecessary complications and administration. And you may be blunting the effect of the high performers in your portfolio. This is over diversification, sometimes called “diworsification” because it’s making things worse. True diversification So, should you just simplify by cutting the number of funds you hold? While it certainly will make things less complicated, remember you want to maintain the benefit of true diversification: to manage risk by investing in a variety of investments that don’t behave in the same way. One way to get closer to true diversification is by looking at how correlated this behaviour is by different types of investments. Mutual fund professionals can do this by looking at correlation coefficients. Using this measure, two asset classes that are perfectly correlated, meaning they can expect to move in tandem, score +1.00. Those that are reversely correlated score -1.00, meaning they will move together but in opposite directions. A score of zero means there is no relation between the two variables. For average investors, these correlations can show some surprising results. When looking at correlations with the S&P500, a broad measure of U.S. stocks, in the decade 2010 to 2019, Guggenheim found that International Equities (MSCI EAFE Index) had a score of 0.85 while Global Equities (MSCI World Net TR Index) scored 0.97.1 While both asset classes provide geographic diversification with the U.S.-based S&P500, they likely provide much less true diversification. While surprising to most of us, professional asset managers know that in today’s globalized economy and investment markets, asset classes are more correlated than they have historically been. This illustrates an important point for investors: while diversification is a relatively simple concept to understand, achieving meaningful diversification in your portfolio requires more knowledge and skills than ever. What to do To avoid overdiversification, remember that diversification is not just a matter of “more is better.” In today’s world, it takes skill and access to information to get the benefits of true diversification. Professional portfolio construction provided through your investment funds advisor is the best antidote to this predicament. Source: 1 Guggenheim Investments, Historical Correlation of Various Asset Classes vs. S&P500 January 2010-December 31, 2019. © 2020 Jackson Advisor Marketing. This newsletter is copyright; its reproduction in whole or in part by any means without the written consent of the copyright owner is forbidden. The information and opinions contained in this newsletter are obtained from various sources and believed to be reliable, but their accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Readers are urged to obtain professional advice before acting based on material contained in this newsletter.

Life-stage retirement planning: It’s never too early (or too late) to start In a study last year on retirement prepared-ness,[i] the Conference Board of Canada found that six out of ten Canadians didn’t think they had put enough away for their senior years. Notably, those aged 55 through 64 admitted they had not saved adequately, and were worried about making ends meet through retirement. Perhaps it’s something you’ve worried about, too. Or if you’re younger, perhaps you’re wondering if you should be worrying. What’s the best way to feel confident about achieving your retirement goals? Whether you’re 30 years from retirement or three, a diversified, well-managed portfolio of funds can help provide the mix of security, income, and growth you need, as these examples show. The building years “Go for growth” are likely to be your investing mantra at this stage of life. Thanks to kids, mortgages, and a propensity for accumulation, these years tend to be typified more by spending than saving. However, time is totally on your side. With a long investment horizon, you can focus on growth-oriented equity mutual funds, knowing that you’ll have plenty of time to ride out any temporary market downturns. You’ll also benefit the most from compound investment growth. Whatever else is going on at this busy stage of life, let’s look at beefing up your holdings with funds that have the best potential for long-term capital appreciation. Because building your nest egg is your primary objective, we need to ensure that you have an optimal cross-section of domestic and international equity funds. We might also want to investigate country- and sector- specific funds to enhance diversification and to capitalize on specific opportunities, currencies, or economies. Peak earning years At this stage in your life; you may be mortgage-free (or close to it) and be earning the highest salary of your career. Your children have left home and are independent. With more income and fewer expenses, these are typically your biggest earning years and (not coincidentally) your biggest tax-paying years. For most people at this stage, there’s still lot of time for the growth potential of equity funds. That said, it’s a good idea to investigate funds that can also minimize your tax bill. Corporate class mutual funds, for example, offer all the investment choices you want with the added benefits of tax-efficient distributions and easy, tax-smart asset re-allocation within the fund family. It goes without saying that this is also the time for us to make doubly sure you’re taking full advantage of tax-advantaged accounts, including Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs). Pre-retirement years With retirement on the horizon, this is the stage when we want to start gradually shifting your fund portfolio away from capital appreciation and towards capital preservation and income generation. In the same way that dollar-cost-averaging (buying in small increments on a regular basis over time) is a smart way to acquire mutual funds, it’s an equally smart way to transition out of them. Now may be the time to use this approach to start moving into the funds that will provide your retirement income stream. This doesn’t mean selling off all your growth-oriented funds. But by starting well in advance, you can enjoy the luxury of slowly re-balancing. Even if your anticipated retirement is 10 years away (or more), let’s talk about what’s next and set up the steps we’ll need to implement your plans. Whatever life stage you’re in, remember that we’re here to help. We can help you clarify your short-, medium- and long-term goals and craft a mutual fund portfolio to help you reach your financial objectives. Over time, as your life evolves, we can make sure your portfolio stays aligned to your changing needs and objectives. [i] Conference Board of Canada, A Survey of Non-Retirees and Retirees in Canada: Retirement Perspectives and Plans, October 2014 EDUCATION PLANNING Will an RESP be enough? A Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) is a great way to save for a child’s education. But it’s not the only strategy and, depending on your child’s situation, you might want to bring other effective ways to set money aside. Consider these questions… Is it possible your RESP payments will fall short of your child’s expenses? RESPs have age and contribution limits. If you missed out on contributing while your child was young, if your child ages out of eligibility, or if your contributions didn’t meet your expectations, there are other investment vehicles that can help you reach your goal. Is your child considering post-graduate studies? If your child opts for a career in medicine, law, architecture, business, or engineering, expenses will go far beyond those associated with a four-year undergraduate degree. You may want to investigate alternative investments to defray at least some of the additional costs. Is your child keen on an Ivy League school? If you want your child to have the option of attending a prestigious U.S. university or studying abroad, an RESP will cover only a fraction of the cost. If any of these situations might be part of your future, we can show you how to enhance your RESP with other investments such as Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs), non-registered holdings, or in-trust accounts. MONEY MANAGEMENT When a saver and a spender live under one roof A recent Nielsen survey found some interesting differences between how men and women spend, and how they save. Among consumers polled, 43% of men said that now is a good time to spend, compared with just 36% of women. When a spender and a saver pair-up, decision-making may become a source of stress but, it doesn’t have to be that way. Savers and spenders are simply people with different expectations. They may ultimately want the same things, but they have different timelines for those acquisitions. Believe it or not, it’s entirely possible for Ms. “Live for today” to find harmony with Mr. “Save for a rainy day. “ Compromise, candour, and balance are the keys. Perhaps you can agree on a savings/spending split? “If we set up a PAC that puts $350/month into our TFSA, we can earmark $150/month as mad money.” Make it more tempting by agreeing that mad money not spent this month gets rolled into next month’s slush fund. After all, even spenders can be encouraged to save, with the right enticements. And rest assured, savers and spenders do agree on some things. In that same study, men and women both said that when it was necessary to cut back, it made sense to start by reducing holiday spending, phone plans, and gas/electricity costs. We have a lot of experience helping couples navigate their saving and spending goals. If this is a source of stress or conflict in your family, we would be pleased to help. ■ 1 Nielsen Insights, “Money may make the world go around, but men and women have different spending priorities,” March 2015. RETIREMENT PLANNING Increase your after-tax income and leave money for heirs An often-heard concern among those about to retire is how to increase after-tax income from investments, yet still have enough money to leave behind for the kids. There is one planning solution that can help you do both. Here’s how it works: Step 1 Use your capital to purchase a prescribed insurance annuity. You’ll earn a higher after-tax income than if the same capital were invested in Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs). Step 2 Use a portion of your annuity income to purchase permanent life insurance, with your heirs as beneficiaries. Advantage, annuity A prescribed annuity guarantees you regular payments for life that are a blend of non-taxable capital and taxable interest. This generates a higher after-tax income than if the same capital were invested in GICs, which generate fully taxable interest income. Here’s how these two scenarios compare. Income from GICs If you were to invest $150,000 in GICs and earn 3.0% interest annually, you would have $4,500 in taxable income. In a 45% tax bracket, you would be left with $2,475. However, you would still retain your original capital, which you could spend or leave to your loved ones. Income from annuity Alternatively, you could use your original capital to buy a prescribed annuity that might pay something like $12,000 a year. The “prescribed” component is tax-efficient because it ensures that the taxable portion is the same each year. Since only part of the annuity is taxable, you would end up with more after-tax cash — perhaps $10,000 or four times as much as the GIC route. However, all of your capital will have gone into the annuity, leaving nothing for your estate. Leave something behind To help you leave a legacy, you use a portion of your annuity income to purchase permanent life insurance. Coverage lasts for life, and the tax-free insurance proceeds can go directly to your named beneficiaries. If annual premiums for the insurance policy were to cost about $5,000, or half of your after-tax cash, you would still be left with twice as much income as if you had invested in GICs. Other considerations With an annuity, payments are guaranteed for life, so you don’t have to worry about reinvesting at a lower rate as you would with GICs. The downside, of course, is that you won’t benefit if rates go up. Once you take the annuity route, you can’t go back. Generally speaking, the older you are, the more annual income the annuity will provide. However, life insurance premiums also increase with age. We can review your situation, taking all pertinent factors into account, and help you determine the approach that makes the most sense for you. LIFE INSURANCE Divorcing? Review your life insurance needs For divorced single parents, support payments are often essential in helping to cover the costs of raising children. But those payments could disappear overnight if an ex-spouse dies. Your former spouse’s estate is not obliged to continue support payments if they aren’t stipulated in a divorce agreement or will. If you’re navigating through a divorce, make sure this scenario never becomes a possibility. Protect your children’s future One of the best routes to a secure future is to ensure that your ex-spouse has life insurance coverage that will leave money for you and your children in the event of his or her death. It should be a condition of your divorce agreement. Without a legal stipulation as part of a divorce, there is no obligation to protect support payments with life insurance. You need insurance, too In addition to insurance on the life of your former spouse; you should have coverage on your own life as well. Your children’s financial future depends not only on your ex-spouse, but on you. Life insurance coverage can provide the funds needed to support them until adulthood. Going through a divorce is stressful for all involved. We can help you explore your life insurance options and make the decisions that provide you and your children with the financial protection you need. This newsletter has been written (unless otherwise indicated) and produced by Ariad Communications. © 2015 Ariad Communications. This newsletter is copyright; its reproduction in whole or in part by any means without the written consent of the copyright owner is forbidden. The information and opinions contained in this newsletter are obtained from various sources and believed to be reliable, but their accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Readers are urged to obtain professional advice before acting on the basis of material contained in this newsletter. Readers who no longer wish to receive this newsletter should contact their financial advisor. ISSN 1205-5840.

Who should contact me? Do you own your home? Are you new parents? Are you a few years away from retirement? Perhaps you are self employed, or own a business? If you fit in these categories, give me a call!

Making sure your coverage still fits your life Just as you go to your dentist regularly, take your car in for maintenance, and re-balance your investment portfolio from time to time, it’s important to revisit your insurance coverage on a regular basis to make sure you have the amount and type of coverage that’s right for you. Your needs will change over time, as your personal circumstances and priorities change. You may find it helpful to take a life-stage approach to insurance planning. Young family Suppose you and your spouse have been together for a year or so. You have one child and are hoping to expand your family soon. At this stage, you’re likely to have a lot of expenses: mortgage, car payments, regular bills, and so on. But protecting your family is crucial. What would happen to them if you were no longer there to provide financial support? Term life insurance offers affordable coverage for a predetermined term of five, 10, or 20 years. The younger and healthier you are, the lower the premiums, and they don’t go up over the term of your coverage. Working years As you get older and your children grow up, your needs for protection change. Your mortgage could be paid down and your kids may be financially independent and living on their own. Does that mean you no longer need insurance? Not at all. At this stage, insurance plays a key role in protecting the legacy you want to leave for your children. For example, you might own a vacation property or a sizable investment portfolio. Chances are you’ve saved up a fair bit in your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). If you were to pass away, these items could be subject to tax, leaving less for your heirs. But with sufficient life insurance, the death benefit could be used to cover the taxes and keep your legacy intact. You may want to consider the benefits of permanent insurance over term. Permanent insurance combines protection with a tax-deferred investment component, enabling you to build up a cash value in the policy. This can increase the death benefit or you can tap into it to increase your income in retirement, for example. Retirement When you’re retired, there’s another kind of insurance product that you may find especially useful — an annuity. An annuity can provide you (or you and your spouse, if you choose) with a guaranteed income stream for as long as you live. If philanthropy is important to you, you may want to explore the many uses of life insurance as part of a charitable- giving strategy. Protection that evolves with you No matter what stage you’re at, we can help you find coverage that fits your family, your lifestyle, and your budget. As your needs change over time, we’ll always be here to make sure your insurance coverage keeps pace. For more information or a comprehensive review, please feel free to connect with me at: 514.747.6565 or info@sjhfinancial.ca Please visit: http://sjhfinancial.ca/insuranceservices.php This newsletter has been written (unless otherwise indicated) and produced by Ariad Communications. © 2015 Ariad Communications. This newsletter is copyright; its reproduction in whole or in part by any means without the written consent of the copyright owner is forbidden. The information and opinions contained in this newsletter are obtained from various sources and believed to be reliable, but their accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Readers are urged to obtain professional advice before acting on the basis of material contained in this newsletter. Readers who no longer wish to receive this newsletter should contact their financial advisor. ISSN 1205-5840

2018 Has Arrived, Time to Review Your Financial Plans and Reduce Debt. As January begins, and the Holiday Hangover has subsided, many of us can look forward to receiving those Huge Credit Card Bills! Yes, dear readers, this is often a time of new beginnings with new debts. So, what to do about it? Most of those I speak to hadn’t planned on having new huge debts to tackle, before the big February football final down south… The task can seem daunting, stressful and overwhelming… Fear Not! a simple strategy mixed with desire to return to wealth is easier to achieve than one might believe. You are not alone; many people never learned how to manage debt and maximize wealth in school. Most people learned their personal financial skills from a variety of sources that; either extended more credit, thus making the problem worse by giving them a bigger shovel to dig a deeper hole, or encouraged them to buy something on the never-never plan at 0% financing. Or perhaps a well meaning family member who also had poor financial management skills… Seem familiar? This is the perfect time to review all your debts and expenditures and work with a certified professional on minimizing the impact to your future wealth. Q 1.) What is your real mid term goal? a new kitchen? a boat? a trip around the world? you get the picture… Do you have a plan in place to finance that goal? Q 2.) What is preventing you from realizing that goal? Q 3.) Would you be interested in working with a professional to help you get there? As a Certified Behavioural Cash Flow Specialist™, I am trained to help people reach their goals and build their wealth by creating a personalized Behavioural Cash Flow Plan™. This strategy helps reduce inefficient debt and build wealth faster than trying to go it alone… Thus, finding financial freedom faster! A Behavioural Cash Flow Plan™ is NOT a budget. It is a plan that helps manage your day-to-day cash flow. It is a plan that considers financial obligations. A Behavioural Cash Flow Plan™ also provides guidance on future costs like purchasing your next vehicle, handling emergencies and planning for major expenses such as renovations. Most importantly, a Behavioural Cash Flow Plan™ quickly helps you FIND the money to fund your short-term dreams while saving for the future. 10 Reasons for A Behavioural Cash Flow Plan™ 1. Your retirement plan is not fully funded, meaning you can’t prove for sure that you have enough to retire. 2. Your retirement goals and plans are based on replacing a percentage of pre-retirement income rather than based on your actual expenses projected into the future. 3. You have not maxed out your Tax-Free Savings Account. 4. You take out car loans and you are 10 years into your career. 5. You have a major life goals that require saving for. 6. You’ve turned down insurance recommendations, because they are cost prohibitive. 7. You have withdrawn money from an investment, or stopped an investment strategy, for reasons or purposes other than what that money was being accumulated for. 8. You are not stinking rich and cannot burn money for fun. 9. You are retiring in the next 10 years and will have to live at least partially off invested assets. 10. YOU DON’T HAVE A BEHAVIOURAL CASH FLOW PLAN™! The fact is, most people need a Behavioural Cash Flow Plan™ and rarely have one. Instead, we most often deal with issues of cash flow after trouble has already hit. We buy the fire extinguisher when the house is already engulfed in flames. So, get a Behavioural Cash Flow Plan™ now, because everyone can use one, and you’ll be on the road to financial freedom. Stephen J. Hall, CCS™ is a Certified Cash Flow Specialist™ From the Money Finder, A Financial Training Company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. To Book an Appointment for a 15 Minute telephone consultation email: info(at)sjhfinancial(dot)ca or visit https://sjhfinancial.ca Stephen Hall is a licensed Financial Security Advisor in Quebec and Ontario, Canada.

What is: Financial Security Planning? Building and preserving Wealth! by Stephen J. Hall Financial Security Planning; covers many aspects of your financial world including: Life Insurance, Mortgage Insurance, Disability Income replacement and Critical Illness Insurance. Did you know that all these types of plans can be custom designed for your individual needs and budget? Furthermore, some plans can be temporary and others permanent. Building Wealth: In order to build your wealth, you should be using all available tools at your disposal. These tools include: RRSP, RESP, TFSA, RRIF, LIRA, in addition to, corporate class Non-Registered investment plans. Many of these types of accounts are also tax deferral tools used by investors to maximize their growth and wealth over time. As a matter of fact, some of these types of accounts may be helpful to ones overall estate planning. In case you were asking, there is no one magic solution to getting rich overnight, so if anyone tells you otherwise, you should have a second opinion before jumping in. Risk Management: Take a moment to ask yourself the following: How long can you live on your existing savings? What must happen for you to be ready to retire? What would happen if your income were to stop tomorrow due to sickness or injury, what is your plan B. Would your finances and lifestyle survive? What will your family or loved ones do if your ability to work was diminished or ended altogether? Did you know that many Canadians have very little if any insurance coverage for disability or critical illness… Having a proper Financial Security Strategy in place; including all the important instruments (Life, disability and critical Illness Insurance) and Financial accounts (RRSP, RESP, TFSA, RRIF, LIRA, Non-Registered investment plans) will help you in times of unexpected need, and give you the peace of mind to rest easily at night. Can you take the time to evaluate your existing plans? here is another option, contact me directly! A telephone preview meeting will help you and I, determine if our services are a good fit, why not call today? If you are a Parent with children under 10, or someone within 10 years of retirement, you need to give me a call for an evaluation of your plans. 514-747-6565, I’m always happy to hear your thoughts!