YEAR-END TAX STRATEGIES CAN SAVE YOU MONEY NEXT SPRING
With winter on its way, it seems too early to be thinking and planning for spring. But December is a critical month when it comes to smart financial planning. With year-end just around the corner, there are many opportunities to take advantage of now that will pay off next spring at tax time.
Financial Planners Standards Council offers these quick tips from Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) licensees. These CFP professionals have much more to say about tax-saving strategies and other financial planning issues, and they're available for interviews. If you are interested in exploring this topic further, give us a call and we'll put you in touch with this expert community of financial planning professionals that spans the country and all the financial services sectors. We're quite sure we can find just the right planner, perhaps in your community, to help your readers manage their personal financial affairs.
TIPS Courtesy of Financial Planners Standards Council
Pay all professional dues, accounting fees, deductible legal fees and investment counsel fees before year-end so you can claim them as deductions.
Consider selling securities within your non-registered investment portfolio that have accrued capital losses to offset current capital gains. The last day for settling trades on Canadian stock exchanges is December 24 and for U.S. exchanges it is December 26. Conversely, consider holding off selling any securities with accrued capital gains until after the New Year.
If you plan to make any Registered Education Savings Plan contributions, do so by December 31. The annual contribution limit is $4,000 per child. Likewise, pay all child-care expenses by year-end. The annual deduction limits are $7,000 for children under age seven and $4,000 for ages 7-16.
If you or your parents are turning age 69 this year, you have until December 31 to convert your RRSP to a RRIF. If you planned to make one last contribution, do it by December 31 rather than the usual March 1 deadline. Your tax bracket may increase, so make sure you talk to a qualified financial professional about how you can structure your retirement finances to preserve wealth and minimize taxes.
Don't wait until the March 1 RRSP deadline to review your annual investments. Do this in December so you have time to take advantage of tax-smart investing strategies before the year-end deadline for income tax purposes.
WANT TO HEAR MORE?
Available for interviews:
Kurt Rosentreter, CFP, CA, Berkshire Securities Inc.* (Toronto/GTA) *Member of CIPF
Ivan Chang, CFP, ScotiaMcLeod (Vancouver)
Ross Young, CFP, CA, Peer Financial (Calgary)
To arrange an interview, contact: Eileen Chadnick/Chadnick Communications for Financial Planners Standards Council at 416.631.7437 or e-mail eileen@chadnick.com.
For background information on FPSC and the CFP designation, access our online Media Kit.
CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and are certification marks owned outside the U.S. by Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB). Financial Planners Standards Council is the marks licensing authority for the CFP marks in Canada, through agreement with FPSB.
are certification marks