March 2018
Spring is here! A new season brings warm weather and exciting news for our HollisWealth office. We have outlined some recent changes and updates. If you would like to discuss anything you read in our newsletter feel free to call our office or stop in.
We ask that during the hours of 9:30 am and 10:30 am that if you call to please leave us a message on our voice mail and we will get back to you after 10:30 am, as at this time slot we are in our daily office meeting and will not be able to answer the phone. This time allows us to review previous day’s work, client follow up, review the rates and markets and prepare us for the day ahead.
RRSP and Tax Season:
Another RRSP season has passed. We worked hard to reach out to clients and ensure that all contributions were made by the March 1st deadline. We are aware that the mailing of tax slips were behind, mainly due to the merger of data from Scotiabank into Investia Financial Services Inc.. We have been advised that things will be much improved in 2019. Data this year during the merger was double if not tripled checked for before the mailing of the tax slips out to clients which unfortunately caused the mailing of slips to be delayed a bit longer than usual.
On a positive note clients that had signed up to their Client Portal were able to print out their tax slips online much more quickly instead of waiting an extra week to receive their tax slips by Canada Post mail. If you are interested in signing up for the Client Portal, please contact Ashley as she can help you register and sign in. Here you can find old statements, transactions slips, tax slips and Annual Statements from 2017 onward. These will be maintained indefinitely in case in future you should require to reprint.
If you have yet to receive any receipts, contribution or tax slips please contact our office as soon as possible as the 2017 April 30th tax deadline is fast approaching. We will be happy to track down any missing document for you. Should you have any confusion with documents received do not hesitate to contact us. Ashley has also completed all Capital Gain/Loss Reports for the 2017 Tax Year. If any client is yet to receive theirs or has any questions please give her a call.
Around the Office:
Education
Ashley has taken steps towards educating herself with regards to travel insurance, health and dental coverage assisting Roman to better help our clients with their needs, help in providing quotes, as well as helping our clients through the process. She has also learned how to create RRIF & LIF calculations in order to show our clients projections of how long their funds will last within their RRIF & LIF accounts.
Roman will once again be attending several different conferences in order to stay updated and current with recent events and changes. In May he will be attending meetings with Portfolio Managers from Dynamic Mutual Funds to better understand what the managers themselves are thinking, direction of the markets and how recent tax changes may affect us. In June Roman will be attending the EPC (Elder Planning Counselor) Conference where this year’s theme will be “Changing Times.. Changing Processes”. This conference will focus on our aging demographics, the “Changing Times,” and how to adapt to them to best serve the aging population.
Health & Dental
A lot of baby boomers are coming to the age where they are starting to prepare for their retirement, and when they retire most people will not be able to keep their health and dental benefits. This means they will now have to pay for any medications, vision or dental needs. Depending on how their health is, medications alone can cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year, this could cause people to stop taking their medications due to the financial restrains or burn a hole in their pockets and not leaving them with much money after the cost of their medications.
To combat this, Manulife has developed their FollowMe health and dental plans to help those retiring continue with their health and dental benefits right after retirement. With this plan there is no medical questionnaire or exam needed as long as you apply within 60 days of your group plan end date. They have a variety of four different types of plans to best suite your budget so you will pay for what you really want and need.
If you do not have any health or dental benefits and still are on the verge of retiring, Manulife also offers their three Flexcare plans to choose from to help you with your budget. With Flexcare you can customize it to add on addition vision, dental, drug, travel and hospital coverage to help give you more of what you will need.
We all know as we start getting older our health starts to decline and some of us start depending more our bifocals to read, or some of our medication to help keep our health in check so we are still able to do what we love during those retirement years with our family and friends. Unfortunately brand name medication and glasses can be costly now a days and having to pay a few hundred dollars every one to three months can hurt some peoples’ finances, this may take away from what they can put towards their savings, rent, groceries and more. By purchasing health and dental benefits, it can alleviate the cost and help you put your money towards what is most important to you.
Economic and Trade News – Michael Rutka
As most of you are well aware there has been a recent pick-up in market volatility over the last couple of months. One of the major items of uncertainty which seems to be in the news every day is the protectionist stance of the United States with regards to NAFTA or North American Free Trade Agreement. A lesser followed trade deal that hasn’t made as much news but shines a positive light on the Canadian economy is called the CPTPP or Comprehensive Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. The original 12 country agreement (formerly called the TPP or Trans-Pacific Partnership) was signed in February, 2016 but the United States immediately withdrew after the US presidential election. The 11 remaining members restarted negotiations and reached an agreement which was recently signed on March 8, 2018. Members include: Canada, Japan, Brunei, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Mexico, Chile and Peru. Now that the agreement is signed it will come into effect once at least 6 countries have ratified it. Canada will stand to benefit greatly if it were to be one of the first 6 to ratify because it would enable access the other markets and gain a bigger market share than countries that are still in the ratification process. Once all 11 members are on board, the agreement will comprise 6.7% of the world’s population and 13.4% of world GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
Conversely, Canada could lose market share in countries with which it already has established trade agreements. These countries include Mexico (through NAFTA – 1994), Chile (1997) and Peru (2009). With 11 CPTPP countries set to compete on an equal footing, members could ultimately replace some of their Canadian imports with goods and services from any of the 11 members. Domestically, with the removal of tariffs on imports, Canadian companies selling within our borders could lose some of their market share. With respect to Canada some key economic sectors affected by the new agreement will be agriculture and forestry, automotive, textiles, services, capital investment and various dispute resolution mechanisms. Canadian consumers stand to benefit with lower prices for goods and enjoy a larger variety of products from the agreement zone.
In conclusion, Canada becomes the CPTPP’s second largest economy after Japan. The agreement offers potential gains for Canada by expanding and diversifying its international trade structure. Although the impacts could be uneven in some sectors, the agreement generally remains advantageous. All in all, the CPTPP will form Canada’s third largest trading partner, behind NAFTA and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union. The agreement aims to eliminate 95% of inter-country tariffs and Canadian companies that export goods and services to CPTPP members could avoid an estimated $426M in tariffs.
Happiness, your brain, your health, and your productivity!
“When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work. This isn’t just an empty mantra. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe.”
Shawn Achor, Crown Business, “The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work, “September 2010
Your Smile
“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
This newsletter was prepared by Roman A. Groch who is a registered representative of Investia Financial Services Inc. (a member of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada and the MFDA Investor Protection Corporation). This newsletter is not a publication of Investia Financial Services Inc. and the views and opinions, including any recommendations, expressed in this newsletter are those of Roman A. Groch alone and not those of Investia Financial Services Inc.
Investia Financial Services Inc. does not provide income tax preparation services nor does it supervise or review other persons who may provide such services.