Schaffer Wealth Management of RBC Dominion Securities

12/25/2024

Saving Basics!

This holiday season, if you are fortunate enough to have a little more and can save for yourself and your family in the new year, buy yourself (2-3 years plus) an S&P 500 index fund ETF, both hedged = (XSP), & unhedged = (VFV).
Do it in your TFSA, do it (both hedged and unhedged) in your RRSP, and do nothing more (other than add to it ESPECIALLY if it falls) for years.
There simply is no better savings vehicle 🚗, at a better cost, with as much liquidity (avoid the temptation to sell).
Hold & allow yourself a longer term horizon
- it pays big dividends - don’t chase those dividends ever - “chase” this savings goal instead!

Merry XMAS 🎄, Happy 😃 Hanukkah 🕎 and a safe and healthy, rich, 2025!

08/24/2024

Mortgages will get cheaper- consider variable rate.
Houses will go back up.
Stocks will continue to do well.
It may get a little worse before it gets better (18 months).
Hold on to your hats 🎩, exacerbating boom bust cycles is a never ending repercussion from dramatic interest rate swings.

Bank of Canada needs to cut 175 basis points more to stimulate Canada's moribund economy. Read more from David Rosenberg

07/09/2024

A home equity tax would be disastrous for us all. More tax is easy, after all CDN’s are taxed to death, but what to do with it is where the “rubber meets the road” and it’s sadly often squandered.

Is a home equity tax a good idea? The short answer is no as Canadians already pay a long list of other taxes on their homes. Read more here.

07/06/2024

Would you like a Trusted Authority handling your money? Recently I read this little book to help re-inforce what clients want!
Trusted Advisors have your best interests at heart, & provide objective solutions to save you tax and grow your wealth. Reach out to us for a complimentary WebEx/zoom to learn how we will make you a better investor.

https://ca.rbcwealthmanagement.com/lee.schaffer/

06/16/2024

How do you maximize the value of your investments?
While minimizing your costs, ensuring you are well diversified, and create peace of mind ensuring your investment will most def. grow over time, what are your best options?

We invest in hedged, and unhedged S&P 500 index funds which have consistently outperformed virtually all other investments, including real estate., especially after factoring in capital costs that real estate possesses.
For a complete analysis and a complimentary, no obligation review of your investment strategy, we invite you to inquire to:
https://ca.rbcwealthmanagement.com/lee.schaffer/

04/27/2024

Seniors Withdrawing RRIF Money Early and More Than The Minimum:

Many advise seniors to do so, though there are meaningful caveats such as…

It is very dependent on the health and age of the annuitants. “Relatively” healthy seniors with both individuals alive should continue to get the tax deferral and avoid the present value cost of higher taxes now (greater than the minimum. withdrawal).
Should one spouse pass (RRIF tax on the 2nd spouse could be egregious when they pass), OR spouses are not healthy, one might consider “paying the govt early” with larger than minimum withdrawals.
However, should there be some life insurance (JLTD) - joint last to die is the cheapest and most effective for estate planning, the 2nd spouses death and taxes could, and should be offset from the insurance proceeds.
Advising clients to pay larger tax now, and not using the RRIF for its intended deferal and longevity could be a bigger tax burden, particularly as well if govt benefits are clawed back from greater than the min. RRIF withdraws.
Not to mention many people today are living longer because of medical science - hence save the tax till later.
Deferral of tax is a good default for most to avoid “paying the govt more now” - unless extenuating circumstances dictate otherwise.
Outliving one’s capital is a real risk these days, hence defer as much as possible your tax sheltered monies by mitigating withdrawals from tax sheltered plans.

04/21/2024

This week the Fed government released its budget and I’m dumbfounded. Here’s why:

- Trudeau is very unpopular. He’s despised. This budget is targeted at Millennials and Gen Z in a bid to buy their vote. It’s the only demographic he stands a shot at winning back.

- The debt/deficit level is staggering. No amount of taxation will make a dent in it. It will be the Millennials and Gen Z left to face that bill for generations.

- In the meantime, this level of government spending will create further inflation with higher costs of living for us all.

- Raising the capital gains tax means that investors will have to adjust their investment strategy. Less investment means less jobs and opportunities down the road. That’s not positive for Canadians or any country seeking growth. This will hurt entrepreneurs most.

- The carbon tax is well meant, but a complete disaster. The increased cost of transportation will hit food, transport and everything else…more inflation. And Canada barely contributes carbon on a global scale. We're just hurting ourselves.

- All of this makes us uncompetitive internationally. Since the budget was released, many people I’ve spoken to are contemplating leaving Canada.

- Canada ranks last in most categories related to healthcare in comparison to most wealthy nations. Yet, our cost per person is tops.

- In many cities, red tape associated with the construction of homes is 50% of the cost. 50% spent on bureaucrats - since Trudeau came to power 7 + years ago there is almost a 45% increase in public sector employees (govt).

We have fallen to Mexico as the US’s largest trading partner. We aren’t competitive anymore.

I don’t mind paying taxes. However, I feel my tax dollars are being wasted and that there's no fiscal responsibility in an overblown Trudeau Government awash in red tape that employs nearly a quarter of the population.

It really comes down to trust and I would encourage liberal voters to consider if their leader has a pathway that will help Canada, or just short term pandering to buy votes.

02/29/2024

This is the 10 year treasury bond in the US; it is without doubt the biggest and most important means to help determine the “price of money” or interest rates.
As you can see, “lower for longer” interest rates are forthcoming!
What will this mean for your money, for housing, for investments, for mortgages?
The last year or two shows a spike in rates, yet this is NOT sustainable - particularly because a U.S. election is forthcoming and rates typically come down to stimulate then, AND because the 10 year is forecasting “lower for longer”.
To learn more about how this effects you and your money 💰, reach out to us in confidence (rest assured we won’t ask you to become a client)
@ https://ca.rbcwealthmanagement.com/lee.schaffer/

02/04/2024

Decentralized finance, of which Bitcoin, Crypto, & Blockchain are instrumental, is “The real McCoy”.
How to learn from it?
How to SAFELY profit from it?

02/03/2024

Focus on TOTAL RETURN not just dividend investing

01/25/2024

When I was a teen my dad died. I had input into a modest few hundred thousand that was managed by a National Bank broker at the time. I instructed the broker to make what I thought were profitabke trades; yet instead were speculative and ended up being highly unprofitable, with meaningful losses - especially the options trades. Overconfidence, "sure winners", shorting puts, covered calls, I tried it all.
Succesful investing and risk management is about what you avoid, not what you buy or sell. To be a good risk manager, and to craft one’s skill as a Portfolio Manager requires experience, temperament, "watching what other seasoned managers are doing", and above all, a keen passion for preservation of capital. I've come a far ways from the "stock jockey" days, and we love to help and empower investors to build and protect their portfolio with these strategies and our tutelage. Reach out to us at https://ca.rbcwealthmanagement.com/lee.schaffer/ if you would like to learm more.
It would be in strict confidence and there is no obligation to become a client - we would need to see if there is a fit between us before, we both would learn more - this I’m confident in 🤣

Schaffer Wealth Management provides personalized service from a team of experts. Careful attention to your needs and assessment of your objectives provides valuable information when planning your financial future. Your complete wealth management involves your investments, financial planning, estate....

01/22/2024

Business Owner Planning



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