Q1 Portfolio Commentary
Follow the cash, forget about the noise – January was ugly. Crude oil’s merciless slide took it briefly below $30 a barrel, the Canadian dollar touched 68 cents against the greenback, and the S&P 500 suffered its worst start to a calendar year – ever. Not unexpectedly, this tempest summoned the usual parade of pessimists, many who’ve now been forecasting a market crash for well over half a decade.
Click here to read more: DM-Portfolio-Commentary-Q1-16-1
Taxation of Life Insurance – New Rules Offer a Window of Opportunity
Permanent life insurance, such as Whole Life or Universal Life, has long been accepted as a tax efficient way of accumulating cash for future needs. Soon the amount of funds that can be tax sheltered within a life insurance policy will be reduced by new tax rules which take effect January 1, 2017. These changes may make 2016 the best year to buy cash value life insurance.
The changes to the tax rules regarding life insurance have resulted in an update to the “exempt test” which measures how much cash value can accumulate in a policy before it becomes subject to income tax.
Highlights of the new rules and their effect
For Cash Value Life Insurance: Read more 
Employers tweaking corporate health plans to appeal to millennial workers
During his three-year tenure as a financial analyst at one of Canada’s biggest banks, Devon Wright never once used his company health plan.
“There was just nothing there that was of any interest to me,” says Wright, 28.
So when Wright quit his job in 2012 to launch technology company Turnstyle Solutions, he decided to create a benefits package tailored to his needs. Read more
DM Monthly Report
Displays of Confidence – When stocks fall sharply, as they did at the beginning of this year, it’s useful to gauge whether the decline reflects and actual deterioration in business conditions, or just a bout of elevated investor pessimism. If it’s the first scenario, a more defensive position in equity portfolios might be warranted; it it’s the second, reconfiguring one’s stock allocation is likely to do more harm than good.
Click here to read more: DM-Monthly-Report-Mar-16
