The federal government is boosting the minimum down payment for higher-priced homes in Canada effective in the new year 2016. Homebuyers are currently required to put down a minimum of five per cent to qualify for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation insurance — protection that lenders insist on when providing a mortgage worth more than 80 per cent […]
toronto personal finance
We need to save Canadian taxpayers from tax scams
Canadians are receiving a deluge of calls from fake Canada Revenue Agency collectors, warning that police would show up to arrest then after an audit showed they had a whopping tax bill to pay. The scam, which has circulated since January 2014, involves not just fraud but harassment. “You feel very threatened and […]
Don’t Ruin Your Chance to Buy a Home with Holiday Spending
If a new home purchase is in your future, or you’re currently under contract to purchase a new home soon, please read this! ‘Tis the season to spend, spend, spend. It’s hard sometimes not to get overwhelmed with the Holiday gift giving spirit. Shoppers around the country say they are planning to spend an […]
How bonds help cut your risk
It’s been a rocky year for Canadian stocks in 2015. As of the close of trading on Nov. 16, 2015, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 9 per cent for the year, due in large part to a plunge of more than 17 per cent in the energy sector. It would take a huge, […]
Inheritances are about love, money and greed
Mark Goodfield has seen a lot interesting behaviour at the point where family dynamics and inheritances intersect over his 25 year accounting career that has often involved advice on wills and estate planning. Some of it is loving and kind, some of it . . . well, not so much. Goodfield started The Blunt […]
