Insights
Corporate structure, group benefits, group retirement, insurance and estate planning — written for Ontario trades, incorporated owners and real estate investors. No jargon, no sales pitch.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
You have an OPG option statement, a deadline, and a very large number on page two. Here is what the commuted value actually represents, what the tax rules will take, and the order to think it through.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
Annuity buyouts moved billions of pension obligations to insurers, and members are still unsure who pays them or whether to take the lump sum. Here is the plain version.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
The lump-sum option for teachers has a hard expiry, the tax rules cap what can be transferred, and retiree health coverage is on the line. Here is the sequence to work through before you resign.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
You resign, retire early or get restructured out, and a pension option package lands with a deadline. Here is what each box actually means and how to choose without guessing.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
Commute a good pension and part of it may never reach your LIRA. The Income Tax Act caps the transfer, and the excess is taxable that year. Here is how to see it coming.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
Two things quietly wreck locked-in accounts: a beneficiary designation nobody checked, and December 31 of the year you turn 71. Both are fixable today.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
You have money in a LIRA and you want to know one thing: can I get at it? Here are the actual Ontario withdrawal rules, the ages that matter, and the tax consequences of each route.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
Both pay you retirement income. Only one caps what you can take. Here is how a LIF and a RRIF actually differ, and how to draw from both without overpaying tax.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
A one-page letter, a deadline, and a decision you cannot undo. Here is the framework we use to decide whether to take the commuted value or keep the pension.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
Ontario has five legitimate ways to unlock locked-in pension money. Most people use none of them, because nobody explains the tests or the 60-day clock. Here they all are.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
You left an employer, your pension got moved into a LIRA, and nobody explained the rules. Here is exactly what a LIRA is, what you can and cannot do with it, and the decisions that matter.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
Four acronyms, one pot of retirement money, and almost no clear explanation online. Here is how RPPs, RRSPs, LIRAs and LIFs connect — and which one your money is sitting in right now.
Pensions & Locked-In Accounts
A LIF is where your locked-in pension money turns into income — with a floor, a ceiling and rules almost nobody explains before you sign. Here is how it works in Ontario.
Trades
Tax optimization, retirement planning and cash flow strategies for self-employed tradespeople in Canada.
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