DM – Q3 Portfolio Commentary
Best Economy, Worst Market – In last quarter’s edition of this report, we lamented that Canadian stocks hadn’t been doing much for investors in the months preceding, despite our economy having posted some of the strongest growth in the developed work. We also noted, however, that the silver lining of this stall in prices was that the valuation of the TSX has been pushed down to an uncommonly attractive level relative to the S&P 500, which we felt would eventually catch the attention of capital allocators around the world. Up until the last 2 weeks of September, though, it looked like the Canadian equity story would be little changed for this report.
Click here to read more: DM-Portfolio-Commentary-Q3-17
Private Corporations in the Cross Hairs
If you are the owner of a private corporation you should be concerned about the commentary that is coming from the Department of Finance. In the Federal Budget of March 2017, Finance expressed their concern that private corporations were being used by high income Canadians to obtain tax advantages that were not available to other Canadian tax payers. That concern has led to the release on July 18th 2017, of a consultation paper along with draft legislation. Finance is currently asking for input from interested parties and stakeholders and has stated that the consultation period will end on October 2, 2017. At this point, whatever happens after that date is anyone’s guess, but speculation is high that changes will be introduced to close what the Department perceives as abusive practices relating to private corporations.
Specifically, there are three specific tax planning strategies employed by private corporations that the department is most concerned with:
Sprinkling income using a private corporation
Income tax paid on income from a private corporation can be greatly reduced by causing that income to be received in the form of dividends by individuals who would pay tax at a much lower rate or not at all. These dividends are usually paid to adult children or other family members who are shareholders of the private corporation or to a family trust. By “sprinkling” the income in this manner the amount of income tax paid can be greatly reduced. Read more 
Credit 101 for Your Undergraduate
By Melissa Cassar, VISA Canada
If you’ve got teenagers heading off to University or College in the Fall, I hope you’ve done a good job educating them about the importance of personal financial responsibility and how to build a strong credit history. If not, better do it now.
First year students and young adults entering the workforce encounter many unfamiliar expenses – and temptations – so it’s important to help them avoid early financial missteps that could damage their credit for years to come.
Probably the most fundamental tool for helping students manage their finances is a chequing account with a debit card. A few tips: Read more
Cardinal Update – September 2017
WHAT’S YOUR MONEY MAKING? – Amidst the political drama south of the border and geopolitical tensions dominating the news headlines, it’s easy to lose sight of how the underlying global economy is actually doing. But as the proverb goes, ‘no news is good news’ now applies to most global economies including the European Union and Japan. After struggling to recover post financial crisis, many European economies are now expanding.
Click here to read more: Cardinal Update – September 2017
