Tax Rules for Home Buyers

If you’re one of the many Canadians who dream of home ownership, and you’re working hard to make this goal a reality, you should know that the Canada Revenue Agency has two programs that can help you get there faster.
There is the First Time Home Buyers’ Plan. Because the required down payment on a house purchase can be a stumbling block, the government will actually let you borrow the money to put down on your dream home – from yourself.

Under the rules of this program, you are allowed to take money out of your RRSP to help buy your home – up to $25,000. This money will remain sheltered from tax, so long as you pay it back within 15 years. This is a great way to put your retirement savings to work for you today, without the considerable tax consequences of withdrawing it outright. The only downside is that you won’t be earning interest on your investment, but that might be outweighed by the interest cost saved by using your own money instead of a loan.

Another helping hand for new homeowners from the CRA is the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit on your tax return. It’s a non-refundable tax credit that can put money in your pocket by reducing the amount of tax you owe for the year in which you buy your house.

Both of these programs are for first-time buyers only, and are designed to help you get yourself into the real estate market. If you have questions about these programs (or any other areas of estate planning or financial management), contact YourStyle Financial Inc. We take the financial stability or our clients very seriously, and can help you get your financial house in order, so you can get into the house you want.

We’re more than an investment company – we tailor financial plans individually, to fit each one of our clients. If you’re thinking about jumping into the real estate market, we can help make sure you do it with both eyes open.

Manulife’s Are you ready? – The Call

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Manulife’s Are you ready? – The Meeting

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Women need to take an active role in financial planning

When it comes to money, women’s main concern is working on a budget to lower debt and save more money. The second concern is to develop better skills in investing, and third is to create a financial plan and investment strategy. It’s imperative for women to take an active role in financial planning.  There is a very high probability of women being solely responsible for their finances at some point in their lifetime due to divorce or outliving a spouse. Nearly one-quarter of women say they don’t partake in financial decision making. “Women can make changes to their finances such as lower debt, save money and become good investors.  Making changes to your financial plan doesn’t have to be as difficult as it is perceived to be,” says Doug Buss, President, YourStyle Financial.

Tim Hortons and the Jump to Invest

financial planning dollar? In all honesty it depends on your personality and financial freedom. Within any stock broker’s client base there are two investors 1. Risk Takers – This group would have taken the murmurs that emerged over the weekend about the Tim’s sale and called, emailed, texted or any used any other form of communication to get on the line to buy or sell their stocks (or do it themselves). 2. Safe Players – These are the long-term investors who will go into more of the ‘sure-thing’ stocks, not watch the market as frequently and potentially invest less to begin with. Going into the stock market, in general, is a consideration to be made carefully. Just because you have the money to invest doesn’t mean you should go in. The payoffs can definitely be big, but it comes down to risk/reward, and ultimately your comfort. If you would like to talk further about stock market opportunities or have any questions on investments, please contact us today to set up an appointment to talk about your financial plans.