Search found 1114 matches

by OhGreatGuru
11 Feb 2024 22:18
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Humour (2024)
Replies: 8
Views: 1178

Re: Humour (2024)

A very old joke, but still provides chuckles. The players vary a bit, but the punch line is always the same.
by OhGreatGuru
21 Feb 2023 18:00
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: Gifting of land to an adult child
Replies: 4
Views: 1437

Re: Gifting of land to an adult child

My 1st, 2nd,and 3rd reactions are that there are too many legal issues involved to answer on a general public forum. Get legal advice. Whether or not 'real" money is changing hands is only a minor issue, though it may have a bearing on taxes.
by OhGreatGuru
21 Feb 2023 17:33
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: Dealing with intestate death
Replies: 24
Views: 1399

Re: Dealing with intestate death

... They inquired at his TD branch whether he had a safety deposit box. TD branch refused to answer their question. ... I wrote to the TD branch on their behalf, ... The branch responded by advising that they were referring my inquiry to the head office of TD's estate department. Six weeks later the head office replied: the safety deposit box inquiry would be answered only once probate of the last will of the deceased was granted to sister/father!! And you thought Catch 22 was just a highly imaginative novel! My father knew a widow who went through something similar, though not as serious. She just wanted to get into the SDB where the will was located, and the bank tried to freeze it until after the state was probated! (Maybe the mortuary ...
by OhGreatGuru
21 Feb 2023 17:29
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: Dealing with intestate death
Replies: 24
Views: 1399

Re: Dealing with intestate death

Peculiar_Investor wrote: 06 Dec 2022 15:22 @AltaRed, the OP stated there is no will, which does have the potential to complicate matters.

...
When a person does not have a valid will when they die, it is called an intestacy. When this happens, Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act sets out how the estate is distributed. In general, when a person dies without a will, the people who can inherit their estate include their spouse and closest next-of-kin. A common law spouse does not inherit under the Succession Law Reform Act.
..

The key phrase here is ".. how the estate is distributed..". The JWROS accounts described by OP all pass to beneficiaries or survivors outside of the estate.
by OhGreatGuru
30 Aug 2022 09:58
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: tax mitigation as a GIC matures.
Replies: 8
Views: 947

Re: tax mitigation as a GIC matures.

There was a time when compound interest could be reported on an "as received" basis. But that changed long ago. Now it has to be reported annually on an accrual basis (as earned). Tax slips are issued each year for such accrued interest, whether it was paid out or carried over to a future maturity date.
by OhGreatGuru
21 Jan 2022 19:42
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: Tax Returns for Deceased Spouse
Replies: 32
Views: 2829

Re: Tax Returns for Deceased Spouse

willowberry wrote: 18 Oct 2021 10:36 If I can summarize, check your accounts and assuming you want your spouse to inherit, name them as
TFSA - successor holder
RRSP - beneficiary
RRIF - successor annuitant
LIF - beneficiary
One of the problems I have found is that some financial institution add to the confusion by referring to all of them simply as "beneficiary" on their account statements. (RBC for example). Too lazy to update their system software to use the correct term.
by OhGreatGuru
02 Jan 2021 10:19
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Debt [Outstanding at death]
Replies: 17
Views: 1749

Re: Debt

Cleaver wrote: 30 Dec 2020 11:36
what about in a case where the person is a single renter and their estate only consists of a large retirement account? Upon a terminal illness diagnosis they decide to spend all their retirement savings and go into the debt to carry them until they pass away.
To carry your hypothetical case to its logical conclusion, what lender in their right mind is going to loan money to someone with no income or assets to secure the debt?
by OhGreatGuru
07 Sep 2020 21:07
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: Designated beneficiary of TFSA, RRSP
Replies: 85
Views: 11365

Re: Designated beneficiary of TFSA, RRSP

It still doesn’t make sense to me as to why after Executor discovered that there is designated beneficiary on the registered plan, no official document of any kind can be produced to the estate to prove this is the case; it can be just an offical acknowledge without naming the beneficiary if there is privacy issue. From where I stand, such set-up seems contradictory to the principles of accountability and transparency of being an Executor. Perhaps the privacy policy here is misinterpreted? I think Clason has pretty well answered this. You seem to be confusing yourself with "the estate". The court-approved Executor likely has documents, in order to meet his legal obligations (and his corporate paper trail on the file.) He's just n...
by OhGreatGuru
28 Aug 2020 19:34
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: Designated beneficiary of TFSA, RRSP
Replies: 85
Views: 11365

Re: Designated beneficiary of TFSA, RRSP

Nleng wrote: 26 Aug 2020 12:57 My sister lived in Ontario.
The tax on the RRSP already deducted from the estate. I never meant to fight for the proceed of the accounts, whoever is the designated beneficary is my sister’s wish.
However, it’s hard not to do anything if the executor is acting dishonestly.
See my above comment. The money doesn't pass through the executor's hands, so he can't be dishonest. And as others have noted, you may have a right to know the identity of other heirs named in the will, but persons receiving assets outside of the will are entitled to privacy.
by OhGreatGuru
28 Aug 2020 19:26
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: Designated beneficiary of TFSA, RRSP
Replies: 85
Views: 11365

Re: Designated beneficiary of TFSA, RRSP

As Clason said, AFAIK it is out of scope for the estate and therefore out of scope of the executor . ... Not really. The executor has responsibilities for clearing up a number of assets of the deceased that "pass outside of the estate". It his duty to inform the financial institutions of the death so that they can carry out their responsibilities. Such as the obvious one of informing any life insurance companies, and sending them a death certificate. It would be the same for any accounts with designated beneficiaries. I would assume the institutions have a responsibilty to inform the Executor that "These assets have now been transferred to the designated beneficiaries and the account closed. In the case of taxable assets you...
by OhGreatGuru
03 Apr 2020 20:31
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: TFSA and RRIF - Death of Beneficiary
Replies: 7
Views: 1054

Re: TFSA and RRIF - Death of Beneficiary

It's nice to know that someone thought thought of this problem when they created the beneficiary form.
by OhGreatGuru
01 Mar 2020 20:48
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Dealing with hearing loss
Replies: 216
Views: 6346

Re: Dealing with hearing loss

Just a thought. Maybe you can't stand anything in your ear because your ear canal is full of wax? A hearing check will determine this.

Also, most modern hearing aids are much more comfortable than the old ones. They don't have a big device that has to plug into your ear. The receiver and amplifier go over the top of your ear, with a small ear bud that goes into your ear. These ear buds (domes) come in a range of interchangeable sizes that will be fitted to the size of your ear canal.
by OhGreatGuru
15 Feb 2020 19:10
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: Closing out Dad's TFSA
Replies: 18
Views: 1730

Re: Closing out Dad's TFSA

MyDream states she is the registered beneficiary of the account. So it doesn't even need a will. Just take a death certificate to the institution and they should act on it. Since a daughter is not qualified to become a successor account holder of the TFSA, the TFSA has to be collapsed. And I would think CIBC would redeem the GIC without penalty in doing so. Because my experience with non-registered jointly owned GICs with several institutions is that they will pay them out to survivor rather then insist the survivor hold the GIC to term. To MyDream, this may be more trouble than you want to go to given the state of your father's heath. But you could contact CIBC's customer relations and ask if they have a policy permitting early redemption ...
by OhGreatGuru
09 Jan 2020 20:29
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: parental downpayment on a condo for kid
Replies: 36
Views: 2783

Re: parental downpayment on a condo for kid

You do realize that your daughter is obligated to declare this debt to the lender of her unsecured loan?
And that if she does not she is committing fraud upon the lender?
by OhGreatGuru
01 Sep 2019 14:39
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Central Air Conditioning
Replies: 20
Views: 1449

Re: Central Air Conditioning

There is no good reason for a central air conditioning unit to fail after 6 years unless there is a product or installation defect. There are reports on the net that Rheem has had product problems in recent years. See this for example. https://www.yourlawyer.com/class-action/rheem-air-conditioning/ Maybe they changed they're their manufacturing source to some country where they can't control product quality? The way appliances are manufactured nowadays it's hard to get an assurance of quality. About the best you can do is buy one with a long warranty, so you will at least get part of the cost paid if you have to replace it prematurely. As Shakespeare notes, in most parts of Canada you need to get teh highest rated SEER to be economic in our...
by OhGreatGuru
29 Aug 2019 11:35
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: Using our paid off condo to fund new primary residence
Replies: 5
Views: 1667

Re: Using our paid off condo to fund new primary residence

This is getting well above my pay grade. But you refer to the mortgage interest on the condo as being tax-deductible. Hasn't it been discussed here before that CRA considers this to be a circumvention of the rule against deducting interest on mortgages for principle residences?
by OhGreatGuru
12 Aug 2019 19:07
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Inheritance from USA
Replies: 24
Views: 3631

Re: Inheritance from USA

Here is my understanding regarding the tax implications and the reporting requirements of inheritance from the USA: ... - I am told that there is no required CRA reporting but I suspect that if she deposits a 500K USD cheque in her USD account at National Bank of Canada or in her non-registered USD brokerage account at National Bank Direct Brokerage, the bank (or the brokerage house) has to report such a deposit to the CRA. Right? Just like crossing the border with a cheque in excess of 10K; you are supposed to declare it. I didn't comment on this earlier, because the role of FINTRAC has already been mentioned on so many threads. As a couple of others have now pointed out, nothing has to be reported to CRA. But the receiving bank is obliga...
by OhGreatGuru
10 Aug 2019 17:07
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Inheritance from USA
Replies: 24
Views: 3631

Re: Inheritance from USA

IMHO all of the suggestions to take the inheritance in securities is just going to complicate recipient's life and taxes. Not to mention making things more difficult for executor. Take the money and run. If estate law in this case is anything like Canada's, taxes on liquidating the securities will be paid by the estate. Then there is a simple cash payment to the beneficiary. Your wife's family seem to have figured out that this is the simplest solution, and I don't see what there is to disagree with.
by OhGreatGuru
06 Aug 2019 16:19
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: Tax on inherited pension payments
Replies: 20
Views: 3209

Re: Tax on inherited pension payments

Agreed. I did not properly read the context of Ted's answer.
by OhGreatGuru
05 Aug 2019 15:25
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: Tax on inherited pension payments
Replies: 20
Views: 3209

Re: Tax on inherited pension payments

I'm not so sure. The pension payments would certainly be taxable to the aunt. So I don't see how CRA would agree to make them non-taxable to her estate beneficiary. I suspect "beneficiary" is being too loosely used here. It may be more like "successor annuitant".
by OhGreatGuru
04 Aug 2019 17:56
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Need advice for a joint US and Canadian portfolio
Replies: 6
Views: 2530

Re: Need advice for a joint US and Canadian portfolio

This is so fraught with potential problems you both need to work it out carefully. The union of people with totally different investment knowledge and investor profiles is always a challenge, and doing it at this stage of life even more so. My I suggest: 1. a prenuptial agreement/marriage contract, as you are both entering marriage with significant assets and some pre-existing financial responsibilities; 2. as Ron Mann suggests, consult professional advice on the tax implications of continuing to hold Canadian investments as a US tax resident; and whether or not she even can; 3. some heart-to-heart discussions about merging assets and what the consequences of that are for: support of her family; estate planning; taxation; and joint investor...
by OhGreatGuru
03 Aug 2019 17:46
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: US Address Credit Card
Replies: 18
Views: 3130

Re: US Address Credit Card

AltaRed wrote: 03 Aug 2019 16:44...
Having said all that, I don't know why a US mailing address would be important except to have a Zip code for certain uses like at gas stations.
There are codes that Canadians can enter instead of a ZIP code that will work. I don't know if they are the same for all card issuers - check with your bank.
by OhGreatGuru
03 Aug 2019 17:43
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: US Address Credit Card
Replies: 18
Views: 3130

Re: US Address Credit Card

I think there have been one or 2 similar discussions on this subject. If you are not a tax resident or qualified permanent resident of USA, and do not have a SSN; it can be hard to get an American bank to issue you a credit card. Your better bet is to look at cross-border accounts from a Canadian bank.

The problem then is, why exactly do you want a credit card with a US mailing address? Are you still using snail mail and want your statements mailed to you in the US? You would have to ask the CDN banks if they will do this, but I can see lots of reluctance in them changing your mailing address twice yearly.

But you are using a computer to make this posting. So you should be able to manage your credit card bills on line.
by OhGreatGuru
03 Aug 2019 17:32
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: Fund fee question
Replies: 8
Views: 1660

Re: Fund fee question

SunLife manages so many different types of accounts; not to mention insurance plans; that I doubt you can compare one to another if they are different employers involved.
If they are holding Class I or O mutual funds for example, the fund MER's are substantially lower than Class A. But the RSP investment managers may then add a management fee for their costs.
by OhGreatGuru
29 Jul 2019 13:39
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: Rent your condo to your company
Replies: 5
Views: 1914

Re: Rent your condo to your company

Yes, there is commonly an exception for home-based businesses in most areas. But OP says he has a primary residence elsewhere. So this is not his "home". This where both condo rules and city bylaws come into the equation.