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Michael Nairne, Financial Post · Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011 Wealthy people have a peculiar problem. Yes, they pay a boatload of taxes, but that alone is not the issue. Much of the income of many high net worth investors is taxed at the highest marginal rate. With top marginal rates approaching 50% on interest and other income for most Canadians, this tax bite seriously erodes investment returns. Take a bond yielding 4%, for example. At a 50% tax rate, the after-tax return is only 2%. That is just the tip of the iceberg. This calculation fails to consider inflation. Net Read more…

  Debt-laden funds. Defined-benefit plans make way for ones with defined contributions   By PAUL DELEAN, The Gazette January 19, 2011     Companies with large pension-fund deficits are starting to play hardball with employees, and it may just be the tip of the iceberg. “Used to be that few employers were ready to fight over it, but times are changing,” Michel St. Germain, a partner at Mercer Canada and pension-fund consultant, told the firm’s annual pension-outlook conference in Montreal yesterday. In Sudbury, a yearlong strike did not deter Vale Ltd. from its plan to switch new employees to defined-contribution plans, Read more…

  By DEREK ABMA, Postmedia News February 21, 2011  Becoming a millionaire in time for retirement is a more attainable goal than most young Canadians think, according to a major Canadian bank. But then again, $1 million isn’t what it used to be. TD Canada Trust Wednesday released survey results showing three-quarters of respondents ages 18 to 34 said it is unlikely they’ll be worth $1 million or more by the time they retire. In fact, one-third said their best bet for becoming a millionaire is winning the lottery, while just one in 10 could see themselves getting there by saving Read more…

Is your main reason for contributing to an RRSP each year the expectation of pocketing a juicy tax refund in the spring? While cutting the past year’s tax bill is the carrot that makes most Canadians max out their RRSP contributions, there are plenty of situations where one may be better off not contributing at all. This is especially the case now that there’s a viable alternative: the tax-free savings account (TFSA) introduced in January 2009. The TFSA is a sort of mirror-image RRSP in that it does not generate an upfront tax refund. Apart from the refund, new investors Read more…

WHAT ARE GUARANTEED INVESTMENT FUNDS? guaranteed Investment Fund product, otherwise known as a segregated fund contract, is an insurance contract offered through an insurance company.

Finance often reflects their personality. If you are thinking about investing in equity mutual funds, consider determining which investment style best suits your own personality – and then mix and match to create a diversified style all your own.