October, 2009
Volume 2, Issue 5
In This Issue
MFG FINANCIAL DISPATCH
A Monthly Publication of MacIntosh Financial Group Ltd.
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Win One of Two $25 Starbucks Cards
Discovering Your Primary Aim
Bits and Pieces
Win One of Two $25 Starbucks Cards
Who couldn’t use a $25 Starbucks card? Once again we’re giving away a $25 card to each of two lucky people.
Simply by clicking on the word “WIN”, answering just four multiple choice questions based on information in the articles in this newsletter and having your name randomly drawn from the correct entries, you could find yourself sipping several lattes on us.
We want to congratulate our two Starbucks card winners from our September draw - Chris Stewart and Don Olson. This month’s draw will happen on October 20th. All the best!
RRSPs 101
There is often confusion as to how an RRSP works and what happens to your RRSP when you retire. Over the next couple of issues we’re going to look at the very basics of registered plans (RRSPs and RRIFs). This will be new information for some and a refresher course for others.
An RRSP is a registered account that allows you to make tax-deferred contributions towards your retirement nest egg. Subject to certain limits, each dollar you contribute to the plan lowers your taxable income by the amount you invest. Also, your investments inside the RRSP can grow tax-free until withdrawn. So in effect, you have never paid tax on any amount in your RRSP as long as it remains in an RRSP. The goal is to defer your tax payments on the money you contribute until you’ve retired, at which point you will most likely be in a lower tax bracket.
The maximum amount you can contribute in any year is based on your earned income from previous years. Your Notice of Assessment from Canada Revenue Agency for the 2008 tax year shows your 2009 RRSP deduction limit. You can make your contribution in a one time lump sum at any time during the year or on a monthly or sporadic basis. The deadline for making contributions to be deducted from your 2009 income is March 1, 2010.
There are many investment alternatives for your RRSP including: cash, GICs, mutual funds, stocks and bonds. Because RRSPs are generally viewed as long term, the most appropriate investments are long term investments within your tolerance for risk.
Your RRSP portfolio should be designed for you, based on your objectives and your preferences. It is our goal to co-ordinate your RRSP program to fit into your overall financial plan. We can provide to you, through several different financial institutions, products and options, to meet all your RRSP needs. Please call us if you would like more information.
Discovering Your Primary Aim
In his business book “The E-Myth Revisited”, author and small business guru Michael Gerber talks about discovering your “Primary Aim”. Your Primary Aim as Gerber describes it is the essence of your life, as you would like it to be - now and in the future.
This is so relevant in the process of financial planning because it provides purpose to the process. If you don’t know what you want from life, just accumulating wealth is rather meaningless.
This is the type of “pause to reflect” exercise that can be energizing to do and to revisit every now and then. In order to begin to articulate your Primary Aim, here are some thought-provoking questions right from the book that you may want to ask yourself:
· What do I wish my life to look like?
· How do I wish my life to be on a day-to-day basis? - What elements would you want to be present, what elements would be best absent?
· What would I like to be able to say I truly know in my life, about my life?
· How would I like to be in my life - with my family, my friends, my business associates, my customers, my employees, my community?
· How would I like people to think of me?
· What would I like to be doing two years from now? Ten years from now? Twenty years from now? When my life comes to a close?
· What specifically would I like to learn in my life - spiritually, physically, financially, technically, intellectually? About relationships?
· How much money will I need to do the things I wish to do? By when will I need it?
These are just a few of the questions we can each ask ourselves in the creation of our individual Primary Aims. This doesn’t need to be a long, complex process but it can be an ongoing process of self-discovery. The rewards of going through a process like this can be invaluable.
The answers we come up with become the standards against which we measure our life’s progress. In the absence of such standards, our lives could drift aimlessly, without purpose, without meaning. Your Primary Aim is the vision necessary to make life’s short term and long term decisions.
When it comes to financial planning, knowing what you want in life is really the first step in deciding what financial resources you will need now and in the future, and how best to obtain them.
We’re here to help you through that process and to provide solutions so that you can adequately fund your dreams and goals. Please contact our office if you would like us to review your financial plan with you.
Bits and Pieces
Home Improvement
If you are planning on having any home improvements done, don’t forget that in order to be eligible for the 15% non-refundable home improvement tax credit, the work will need to be done by February 1st, 2010. The credit may be claimed on the portion of eligible expenditures exceeding $1,000, but not more than $10,000, and will provide up to $1,350 in tax relief. Now may be a good time to start getting some quotes.
Put a Smile on Your Face
If you have about 4 minutes and you want to watch something that’s bound to put a smile on your face, follow the link to this youtube clip: http://bit.ly/ufrl2 . (If the link doesn’t work, just go to youtube.com and type in “Dance Train Station Belgium”)
Personal News From Peter MacIntosh
My wife Jacquie and I have reached a significant milestone – we’re celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in October. In the first twenty-five years we have been truly blessed and we’re both looking forward to the next twenty-five.
MFG Financial Dispatch is our monthly email newsletter designed to keep you up to date on timely financial issues that may affect you and to pass on timeless information and advice regarding financial issues. Archived issues are available in the Client Centre on our website (macintoshfinancial.com).
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Our website address is macintoshfinancial.com . If you are on your smart phone you can also find our contact information on our “.Tel” page at macintoshfinancial.tel.
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