investment

With a few weeks to go before the year-end, you may wish to think about some moves you can take now to save you some taxes for 2016.

Along with the usual advice to do any tax loss selling before December 23rd on any equity investments to offset any capital gains earned in other investments during 2016, there are a few new tax planning strategies that you can take advantage of.

It is next to impossible to know when you might be impacted by a financial emergency; therefore, it is important to be prepared for something unforeseen in the future. Most people have heard the saying about saving money for a "rainy day". With the right forward planning, there is a great chance of being able to avoid a financial crisis should this present itself at a later date.

How much emergency funds are enough?

There are very passionate views on both sides of the debate as to whether it is better for individual investors to use active investment managers versus using an index approach, with its main selling feature being lower fees.

The media in general has a tendency to take an idea or story and run with it until the original context or point is lost in a wave of misinformation, taking a form of its own. At that point, the idea can become very dangerous to you as an individual working to build your own financial wealth and assets.

While we have covered the role of your behavior in contributing to your investment success in past articles, let us explore this idea that selling all of your investments as a tactic, in more depth.

A constant dilemma for Advisors working with clients to help them realize their goals and dreams is striking a balance between the tyranny of immediate current events with the need to stay focused on your longer term goals.

The recent Brexit vote in the U.K. is a case in point. The media created a firestorm of hysteria, speculation and anxiety with its constant and overwhelming coverage of the impending vote and its aftermath.

After speaking with many clients and potential clients over the years, a pattern emerges in the direction that the interview takes. There is often a sense of give and take with the client wanting to get certain questions answered in their mind, giving out small bits of information, but withholding the rest as if to keep control of the situation. Perhaps there is a sense that full and complete disclosure can be used against them since information is often thought of as power.

It is not uncommon for an individual or organization, such as a charity or community tennis club, to consult a financial planner or investment advisor regarding investment returns that can be generated on some spare cash that is not needed in the immediate future.

Canadians, like many nationalities, have a home bias when it comes to investing. The majority, if not all of their investments, such as RRSPs, real estate, mutual funds and businesses, are in Canada and are tied to its future economic growth.

These Canadian investments could see reduced returns in the future, however, due to a growing shift in the balance of economic power towards China and the East and away from the U.S. and Western countries.