Economy & Commerce

By:  Kian Ghanei, Vancouver

It's always a good thing when an investment pays off. That's why you invest, after all - to win - not to lose. But when you win on an investment, there is almost always a price to pay in the form of taxes.

By Kian Ghanei , Vancouver

Kick a small ball of snow into motion from the top of a hill and by the time it gets to the bottom, it will be HUGE. That’s the snowball effect – and you can get the same growth effect in your investments thanks to the ‘magic’ of compounding.

By:  Kian Ghanei, Vancouver

Don’t pay more taxes than absolutely necessary by taking advantage of all the federal tax credits available to you -- including a number of tax relief measures introduced recently that you should know about.

·         Basic personal tax credit – raised to $9,600.

·         Spousal/equivalent-to-spouse credit – for support of an eligible partner whose net income was less than $9,600.

·         Eligible dependent credit – for support of an eligible dependant whose net income was less than $9,600.

Tax season is looming and if you are currently retired or approaching retirement, you may be wondering if the new pension income splitting tax rules hold any benefit for you. Could be – pension income splitting can be a very effective way to lower a household's overall tax bill … but, as with any tax law, there are specific rules and conditions to pension income splitting that you need to look at very carefully to ensure the most optimal split for your situation.

By Kian Ghanei 

Where will your retirement paycheque come from? Most likely, it will be made up of income from a number of sources. By knowing what those sources are – and the different options available to you – you may be able to pay less tax and help ensure your income will be sufficient to fund your retirement dreams.

The government

By Kian Ghanei

The deadline for making your 2007 RRSP contribution is coming up fast (February 29, 2008) – but not too fast for you to take advantage of a few last-minute RRSP tips that will help you save on taxes this year and  make your retirement more financially comfortable.

A solid return on your investments is always good thing. Paying excessive tax on those returns definitely isn’t.

You can’t totally avoid paying tax but you can reduce those taxes by making tax-wise investment decisions. Here are four simple tips:

In every horse race there is one winner and a bunch of losers. Yet, by nature, we humans are ever optimistic – that’s why we bet on horse races even though the odds are never in our favour. But every once in a while we win – and that’s when another aspect of human nature kicks in: the optimistic tendency to ‘ride a winner.’

Many investors carry that ‘ride a winner’ philosophy into the selections in their portfolios and that is usually a very risky investment decision – here’s why:

By:  Kian Ghanei

the mention of that word makes you uncomfortable, you're not alone. According to a recent survey nearly half of Canadians over age 45 have not talked with their parents about their funeral plans, or leaving a legacy for younger generations in the family. And three out of four Canadians have not participated in a meeting with their parents or siblings to discuss their parents' wills even though children very often act as the Personal Representatives of their parents' estate(s).

That reluctance is easy to understand. People tend to shy away from the difficult topics of death and money until there is an urgent need to have those discussions, usually when their parents are much older. But that's not a good thing because the lack of timely communication can easily lead to regret, hard feelings and a reduction in estate assets.

By: Kian Ghanei,

It's difficult to quantify the value of a post-secondary education. There is the strong potential for increased lifetime earnings, of course. But there are also the invaluable life lessons, experiences and relationships that are an integral part of the post-secondary experience.