Drew Ross - Financial Advisor

Over the past couple of years I've strived to make my professional page a source of timely information relevant to the lives of my clients.

To this end I hope I've been successful, but moving forward I will be striving to connect with my clients in a more personal and meaningful way.

While I'm proud of the information I've posted, I will be terminating my professional page.

Hopefully you've found this page both entertaining and helpful. However, I am looking forward to returning to using Facebook solely for documenting the hilarity of my personal life.... mostly for my own amusement.

Your questions, comments and concerns can be sent to me safely and securely at [email protected]

Cheers!

RRSP "Season" is here. PLEASE remember:

1. RRSP is not a product, it is an account. You pick a product and put it into an RRSP to get a tax credit now, and tax deferral on the growth

2. Don't invest in RRSPs because you are "supposed" to. In many households, RRSPs create as many tax problems than they solve. While the RRSP can be the best account to put your investments long term, it isn't always.

3. RRSPs are not better or worse than the TFSA, and vice versal.

Despite its name, the RRSP is not a retirement savings account, it is a tax mitigation tool.

Despite its name, the TFSA is not a savings account, it is a place intended for your most aggressive long-term investments.

They are different accounts with different features, meant to achieve different outcomes. One is not better than the other, how much of what to put where depends on the desired outcome.

4. RRSP vs TFSA vs Mortgage vs Debt... which one?

At the end of the day, the answer to the question "do I invest or pay down debt"... is "yes".

Do the one that you feel most comfortable with. The Advisor's roll is to leverage that decision for maximum impact over the coming years.

I don't care which one you do, I'll easily adjust the plan accordingly, just DO ONE OF THEM if you want your plan to move forward.

Now is a GREAT time to pay against debt due to still low interest rates.

The coming year or or two will also be a FANTASTIC time to add to your investments, as volatility has presented us with ample long-term opportunity.

Conclusion: Do. Something. Anything. Either Or. You'll be glad you did.

For anyone taking money out of their investments for income, the current investment climate is worrisome (if your advisor hasn't built appropriate contingencies in your portfolio).

For everyone else. If you are adding to your investments or holding them for at least 3 years, volatility and "bad" markets are good. In fact, they are better than good, this is opportunity time.

I've been waiting for this environment for about 3 years...

Anyone who says they know when the markets will return, is guessing.

I have no idea when markets will "recover" exactly, but I know that given a 3-5 year window, the fund managers I trust welcome volatility like what we're experiencing, because it is in this environment where you make money.

Ok folks, important timely food for thought.

Part of my role in making sure you keep as much money in your hands as possible, is ensuring it is in the right place, in the right amount.

Earlier this week had a client meeting, to make an annual TFSA contribution.

The clients available contribution room was $6,000.

The Service Canada website said the available room was $11,500.

I track my client contributions carefully, the client had only $6000 of room.

Apparently, Service Canada only updates your information on the page sporatically. After calling to check, Service Canada confirmed they had added her new $6000 of 2019 contribution room to her information, but failed to update the clients $5500 2018 contribution in June 2018.

Had I not been tracking it, the client could have overcontributed by $5,500.... and you can bet that CRA would want their penalties, and fees, and interetest etc for the client's "overcontribution".

Point being, track your contriubtions. Service Canada isn't timely on keeping track for you.