Life insurance is to replace an economic loss resulting from the death of an income earner. For almost everyone, that's the sole purpose of life insurance. It's not retirement savings, education funding, or some sort of weird bank...none of that. Cold, hard truth.

Structured products are designed to offer some degree of principal protection and participation in the upside of risky assets. This seems like an attractive proposition, but have you ever wondered why the banks are so eager to sell them?

Which country's stock market performed best from 1900-2022? Bet you guessed the US. It's South Africa, followed by Australia. The US ranked 3rd in real, local currency terms and 2nd in USD. So why would you invest your money in just 500 US companies?

"I would rather be certain of a good result than hopeful of a great one." - Warren Buffett That's why you diversify. Making concentrated bets in your portfolio is a terrible idea for the vast majority of people. Get rich slow.

Working at PWL Capital for 10 years, I have talked to thousands of individual investors, and interviewed the smartest people in psychology, finance, and economics on Rational Reminder Podcast. Based on that experience, these are the lessons I think everyone should learn about investing:

My wife and I each have $2M of term life insurance. Why $2M? Because that's how much it would take for us to ensure the survivor is financially independent for life. Want to know how much life insurance you you need? Well, let me tell you.

Federal Budget 2024: Capital Gains inclusion at the personal level. The first $250K of capital gains annually will still retain a 50% inclusion rate. Any additional capital gains will have a 2/3 inclusion rate. This also has many downstream planning implications 👇🧵

Capital gains tax rates in Canada are a function of the capital gains inclusion rate and the income tax rate. Budget 2024 proposes increasing the inclusion rate to 66.67%, up from 50%. The result is a top capital gains rate of 35.69% in Ontario, among the highest in history.

The ARK Innovation ETF - ARKK - had a maximum drawdown of -77% from February 2021 through December 2022. That drawdown has only improved to -63% as of March 2024. Should the people holding on expect it to recover?

Realizing a large capital gain before June 25 may be tempting, but pre-paying tax now - even at the lower rates - might make you worse-off in the long-run. We modeled this trade-off and made our model available to the public. Link below.

The four most dangerous financial traits are: - FOMO - Demanding certainty when none exists - Impatience - Gullibility

The US must have seen how well received this was in Canada... 😂 forbes.com/newsletters/an…

Incorporated business owners and professionals will not want to miss this webinar. It covers: -Salary vs. dividends -Notional accounts (CDA, RDTOH, GRIP) -Managing the passive income limit Link ↓

2021: "Value investing is dead." The value premium since 2021:

If you receive compensation via Stock Options you may be impacted by the proposed changes introduced in the 2024 federal budget. I wrote a piece covering what you should be aware of. DM me if you have questions specific to your situation. pwlcapital.com/2024-budget-op…

1) Trusts are subject to AMT in 2024 & onwards. 2) Unlike individuals, trusts have no AMT exemption on their first $173k of income. 3) 50% of interest expense (and carrying charges) is added back to income for AMT purposes. What does this mean? If you have a trust that

Covered calls: most of the downside risk of stocks without all the upside. Why do people want this?

I'll tell you a secret Your financial advisor almost certainly can't beat an index If that's their value proposition, you should be asking a lot of questions of them

If you have young children, you need a will. It doesn't matter if your net worth is negative or you have no significant assets - you need a will. Without naming guardians, the Government largely determines who will raise your kids. And it may not be the person you hoped for.

Capital gains increase deferred to Jan. 2026! canada.ca/en/department-…