Search found 199 matches

by EmperorCoder
18 Dec 2020 14:39
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: RESP transfer between siblings : too good to be true?
Replies: 9
Views: 2251

Re: RESP transfer between siblings : too good to be true?

That's a wealth of information right there, thanks for the detailed response. I think your advice to escalate support questions is spot on. It is also my experience that the rules don't seem super clear, even for the institution managing the plan itself. I don't want to make a bad decision based on wrong interpretation of the rules :(

Being able to transfer income only would be great, but like you said it seems like a fluke. Otherwise one could start by transferring 100% of the income in order to prioritize drawing down the grants first. This to avoid having to reimburse the grants to the government later in some cases.

I will definetly report back here my experience once I go through the process.
by EmperorCoder
17 Dec 2020 21:41
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: RESP transfer between siblings : too good to be true?
Replies: 9
Views: 2251

Re: RESP transfer between siblings : too good to be true?

Clason wrote: 17 Dec 2020 19:04 Limits are related and proportional to the CESG that was paid. The scenario you describe is less prone to limitations compared to a recipient that would have collected all or most of the eligible CESG.
So if I understand you correctly, let's say my oldest son consumes 20% of his RESP in the next 3-4 years, I could then transfer the other 80% to my youngest's. In this case that would "eat up" 80% of his lifetime CESG allocation (0.8 x 7200$ = 5760$). Thus I should make sure I don't otherwise contribute too much to the youngest RESP early on, in order to never cross the 7200$ grant limit when I make the transfer down the road. Am I correct in my assumption?
by EmperorCoder
17 Dec 2020 15:56
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: RESP transfer between siblings : too good to be true?
Replies: 9
Views: 2251

Re: RESP transfer between siblings : too good to be true?

adrian2 wrote: 17 Dec 2020 15:49 Keep in mind that, generally speaking, there is no need to "justify" an RESP withdrawal amount.
I understand I can withdraw 100% after the first 13 weeks of enrollment. But I'd rather keep the money inside the plan for as long as possible, enjoying tax-free compounding, at least for the portion that is not immediately needed. Hence my interest in carrying it forward to my youngest's RESP.
by EmperorCoder
17 Dec 2020 12:00
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: RESP transfer between siblings : too good to be true?
Replies: 9
Views: 2251

RESP transfer between siblings : too good to be true?

My oldest son (16 yo) is about to start post-secondary education, and it is pretty clear at this point that his RESP (which I manage) compounded well over what his actual needs will be. For the sake of discussion, let's say I've contributed the maximum amount and received the maximum grants over the years into his RESP, and the whole thing is in solid 6-digit territory. It happens I also have a younger 2 yo child who has his own RESP with 2 years worth accumulated of contributions, grants, and investment returns. My question : I want to know if I can transfer a big amount of money (well over the 50k lifetime contribution limit) from my oldest to my youngest son's RESP. If so, is there any limits, tax implications, penalties, or grants I nee...
by EmperorCoder
08 Jan 2020 10:37
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: CPP and QPP Calculator
Replies: 143
Views: 25591

Re: CPP and QPP Calculator

I live and worked in QC for most of my career, but I have a few years of CPP contribution mixed in there. Can I still use the spreadsheet to get a reliable number?
by EmperorCoder
07 Jan 2020 12:15
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Querying RESP lifetime CESG grant from the horse's mouth?
Replies: 18
Views: 1186

Re: Querying RESP lifetime CESG grant from the horse's mouth?

AltaRed wrote: 06 Jan 2020 14:00 I don't think the $7200 limit is affected by special provincial provisions from the likes of SK and BC though. I believe those are above and beyond.
You are correct, I'm from QC and the provincial grants are a separate beast. I meant extended CESG which to my surprise I was eligible for as a home maker with low taxable income.
by EmperorCoder
06 Jan 2020 12:14
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Querying RESP lifetime CESG grant from the horse's mouth?
Replies: 18
Views: 1186

Re: Querying RESP lifetime CESG grant from the horse's mouth?

Thanks for the pointer. I called and it turns out even my latest records were not correct, because I have received additional grants that were not properly labeled so by my provider (Questrade). Therefore I recommend anyone with that provider to confirm the amounts with the government! Additional grants that top off the regular 20% grant do count towards the 7200$ lifetime limit.
by EmperorCoder
06 Jan 2020 11:41
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Querying RESP lifetime CESG grant from the horse's mouth?
Replies: 18
Views: 1186

Querying RESP lifetime CESG grant from the horse's mouth?

Hello,

My older son is approaching the age limit for receiving grants in his RESP. The RESP account was transferred from another broker a long time ago, and I lost the paperwork of the previous account, so I'm at a lost calculating the amount of CESG he received so far. I should have done better book keeping at the time, but now it's too late.

I know the CESG limit is 7200$ and I want to maximize that, yet not overcontribute. Is there a way to get the information directly from the government by calling them? I'm pretty sure the government has this on record somewhere, I'm just unsure if the info is made available to the layman?

Any personal experience or thoughts appreciated.
by EmperorCoder
06 Jul 2018 12:49
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: How did you determine when to retire?
Replies: 127
Views: 18151

Re: How did you determine when to retire?

For me, it was a combination of factors. My job was ok, but I never felt it gave me much purpose. I was attracted by the promise of a stress-free life and increased family time that early retirement could afford me. Financially, the numbers made sense and I was growing tired of paying so much marginal income taxes on revenues that might prove unnecessary in the end because of my frugal lifestyle. For me, retirement felt like a sensible arbitrage trading less stress vs more money. I'd rather take the dive now that I'm full of energy and can still make a difference in my kid's lives, than getting burnt working too late and full of regrets. Oh, and my spouse is pregnant (3rd on the way) so being at home helps a lot with that.
by EmperorCoder
02 Sep 2017 14:30
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: Income taxes pushing me towards retirement
Replies: 102
Views: 7460

Re: Income taxes pushing me towards retirement

Although I don't feel particularly ready to retire, the weight of income taxes in my budget makes me wonder whether I should consider doing so. I wonder if others have felt the same way in the past and how they have reacted to it. I came to the exact same conclusion as you did early 2017. I happen to have a decent non-registered nest egg, on top of maxed out TFSA and RRSP. The non-reg portfolio started attracting a lot of taxes, which put me year after year in increasingly uncomfortable tax brackets, once topped up with my salary. Also, this coincided with the Liberals cutting TFSA room, UCCB and income splitting for families and the general eat-the-rich sentiment in recent politics. Moreover, my alimony payments are based on a sizable tax...
by EmperorCoder
01 Jan 2017 17:24
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Portfolio Returns 2016, along with 5, 10 year CAGR Performance
Replies: 101
Views: 7756

Re: Portfolio Returns 2016, along with 5, 10 year CAGR Performance

StuBee wrote:It is evident from what you have written that you are not cherry picking what yields you are sharing with FWF. I presume that you are not including new capital as a part of your yield. For example, the addition of 25K$ of new capital to a 50K$ portfolio, without any internal growth would give a 1 year "CAGR" (and not IRR) of 50%.
Pardon my sloppiness, I simply copied "CAGR" from the thread's title without looking up the definition :)

I have always been using XIRR function in Excel to compute my returns since 2006. So there is no skewing from capital inflows/outflows like you describe.
by EmperorCoder
01 Jan 2017 14:34
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Portfolio Returns 2016, along with 5, 10 year CAGR Performance
Replies: 101
Views: 7756

Re: Portfolio Returns 2016, along with 5, 10 year CAGR Performance

My overall result this year is 16.9%

Holdings are 100% equities, mostly US-denominated. S&P 500 return was 8.21% this year in CAD, so I am satisfied with my result.

CAGR for various time frames :

1 year: 16.9%
3 years: 20.8%
5 years: 31.8%
All Time (11 years): 20.1%
by EmperorCoder
01 Jan 2016 10:00
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: How did you do in 2015?
Replies: 85
Views: 5629

Re: How did you do in 2015?

My portfolio is almost 100% unhedged US equities.

XIRR accross all accounts I manage myself was 23.9% for the year.

I beat the S&P 500 by a slight margin. AFAIK it performed to the tune of 21.65% when expressed in CAD$, including dividends.

The exchange rate did most of the work, as equities themselves were almost flat for the year.
by EmperorCoder
29 Dec 2015 09:29
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: How Much is Enough 2015
Replies: 168
Views: 21296

Re: How Much is Enough 2015

Because it is a joint account, all of this $210,000 in investment income can be split equally between Tom and Mary.
I believe this is incorrect. Unless they have contributed equally to the account, they would have to report the income proportionally to their individual contribution. I wonder if CRA ever will ever audit these things, after all the fuss around income splitting being "such a bad thing". Can people really get away with that kind of unreported income splitting scheme?
by EmperorCoder
25 Feb 2015 21:40
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: RRSP rollover to spouse upon death
Replies: 5
Views: 417

RRSP rollover to spouse upon death

I read it was possible for a surviving spouse to rollover the RRSP of the deceased into its own, thereby delaying taxation upon the death of the surviving spouse.

In practice, is there anything that prevents the rollover to be repeated ad infinitum if the surviving spouse finds a new (ideally younger) life partner afterwards?

:shock:
by EmperorCoder
10 Jan 2015 13:37
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: Online orders vs provincial sales tax ?
Replies: 3
Views: 528

Online orders vs provincial sales tax ?

I am about to make a big ticket purchase online. The seller is in the USA. The product is to be delivered by mail. However I am pondering the idea of specifying a billing address in Alberta although the shipping address would be in Quebec to avoid the provincial sales tax that applies to my province of residence.

Simple question : is this legal or is there a way to make it so ?
by EmperorCoder
06 Apr 2014 10:20
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: RESP Transfer : Who keeps track of what ?
Replies: 6
Views: 1569

Re: RESP Transfer : Who keeps track of what ?

Thanks for the link, somehow it didn't came up in my research. :oops: Lots in good stuff there.
by EmperorCoder
05 Apr 2014 16:06
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: RESP Transfer : Who keeps track of what ?
Replies: 6
Views: 1569

Re: RESP Transfer : Who keeps track of what ?

No answers ?

I guess not many people have tried transferring RESPs. Or they simply don't know/care what will happen when they start withdrawing from the account a few years from now.

Either way, I will attempt the experience and will report anything I've learned in the process to this thread.
by EmperorCoder
30 Mar 2014 16:25
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: RESP Transfer : Who keeps track of what ?
Replies: 6
Views: 1569

RESP Transfer : Who keeps track of what ?

I am pondering switching to a different provider for my RESP account. After reading a bit, I am under the impression that my current provider should have kept track of things like total contributions I made, total grants the account received, and time since the account was opened. All this info will be relevant the day I decide to collapse the plan or withdraw from it. I am trying to figure out how this information is going to be carried to the new provider after I transfer the plan (and money) to them. Does government keep track of anything or does it trust the providers to do so ? Should I make sure the providers exchange the information properly between them ? And what if they don't ? What recourse do I have, and against who ? I couldn't...
by EmperorCoder
01 Jan 2014 19:27
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: 2013 Investment Portfolio Results
Replies: 127
Views: 6994

Re: 2013 Investment Portfolio Results

ig17 wrote: Congratulations! That's a nice number.

Do you mind sharing your top 5-10 holdings and their portfolio weights?
My biggest winners this year were AIZ and NDAQ but I've completely sold out in the second half of the year. My portfolio is quite concentrated and turnaroud is high as long as I find stocks to replace the ones I believe have reached their intrinsic value. I've been so far lucky that Mr Market recognizes value quite fast.

I have only 4 positions in my portfolio right now : AIG, AIG-WT (warrant 2021 strike 45), BAC, VLKAY.
by EmperorCoder
01 Jan 2014 15:42
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: 2013 Investment Portfolio Results
Replies: 127
Views: 6994

Re: 2013 Investment Portfolio Results

My XIRR for 2013 is 55.1%, including dividends an fees, pre-tax.

Allocation is roughly 105% US equities.

Performance came mostly from financials and insurance companies, magnified by the USD/CAD differential.
by EmperorCoder
01 Jun 2013 21:32
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Where are you in your investing life cycle?
Replies: 64
Views: 4449

Re: Where are you in your investing life cycle?

StuBee wrote:I presume that you are not including personal real estate in your number. Would you mind telling me what sort of IRR (internal rate of return) it took to get you there??
I don't own any real estate, but I plan to eventually when valuations come back to earth.

I track my net worth since 2007. I've enjoyed an IRR of 24% despite a divorce that had pretty much the effect of halving it in 2010.

I also track my investment returns since 2006, which have yielded 21.4% annualized.
by EmperorCoder
01 Jun 2013 18:24
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Where are you in your investing life cycle?
Replies: 64
Views: 4449

Re: Where are you in your investing life cycle?

ig17 wrote:Can you describe your investment style?
Only stocks, with a bit of leverage when valuations are appealing (never more than 10% leverage)

I own 5 to 8 stocks at a time, I do lots of research. I am mostly a value investor. I buy when it's cheap and sell when it's fairly valued. So buy and hold is not for me.
by EmperorCoder
01 Jun 2013 16:41
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Where are you in your investing life cycle?
Replies: 64
Views: 4449

Re: Where are you in your investing life cycle?

As a proud DIYer, my savings have recently crossed the million-dollar mark.

I think my achievement is remarkable in a couple of ways :
  • I'm only 35 years old
  • The money was accumulated solely through saving and investing (no inheritances)
  • I am employed and work regular hours (no business income)
  • A divorce has cut my net worth in half four years ago
I would attribute my success so far to a couple of factors :
  • A desire to learn about financial stuff and taking care of my money
  • Watch my spending closely in the early years
  • Be good at what I do so I could earn more than the average Joe doing the same job
  • Some luck (let's be honest)
by EmperorCoder
01 Jan 2013 17:44
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: So how did you do in 2012?
Replies: 114
Views: 5639

Re: So how did you do in 2012?

My XIRR for 2012 is 45.44%, including dividends an fees.

Allocation is roughly 105% equities (slightly using margin, portfolio was almost exclusiely in US equities over the year)