todaysfarmer

MONEY MILESTONES: In an ongoing series, the Financial Post explores personal finance questions tied to life’s big milestones, from getting married to retirement.

Parents say having children is among the very best experiences of their lives, but navigating their offspring’s path from infancy to adulthood will put a serious dent in their finances. 

“Don’t kid yourself about the cost of kids,” said Justine Zavitz, vice-president at Zavitz Insurance & Wealth in London, Ont. “You can be a very frugal person, but kids are expensive and you’re going to be allocating more and more of your monthly budget to them than to yourself.”

As interest rates continue to rise, it’s not surprising that many parents are feeling the financial pinch of parenting. According to a survey by PolicyMe Corp., a Toronto-based digital life insurance firm, 70 per cent of parents say Canada is becoming unaffordable, with 47 per cent noting that food is the most expensive and/or challenging child-related spending expense to manage, followed by clothing, shoes and other accessories at 43 per cent.

The financial impacts come even sooner if couples require fertility assistance through medical procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). One IVF cycle can cost from $7,750 to $12,250 plus additional medication costs, and multiple cycles are often required.

“My wife and I struggled to have a child and went through IVF and no one talks about how hard that can be both emotionally and financially,” said Toronto-based personal finance expert Barry Choi, whose IVF journey totalled $20,000.

During the group consultation when the doctor outlined the procedure’s costs, he recalls that some people broke down in tears because they knew they couldn’t afford it. In some provinces, however, some may be eligible for one cycle of government-funded IVF.

My wife and I struggled to have a child and went through IVF and no one talks about how hard that can be both emotionally and financially

Barry Choi

Although there are no definitive numbers on the cost of raising kids in Canada, experts have conservatively estimated it to range from $10,000 to $15,000 a year. If you’re considering private school, bank on another $4,000 to $26,000 per school year.

But Choi said it’s best to consult with experienced family and friends to get a proper handle on what having a child will cost you.

“Everything you read online is subjective, but when you talk to a parent who has dealt with it recently, that’s where you get the real-life information,” he said.

In taking the plunge into parenthood, doing plenty of pre-planning is key. Choi said he and his wife created a budget for the first year, knowing there would be a reduction in income because of maternity/paternity leave. Maternity and paternity benefits allow you to get only 55 per cent of your income up to maximum of $638 a week, unless your company tops them up.

“The nice thing is that we went on that budget even before our daughter was born to feel it out before things got real,” Choi said.

Don’t forget to create some cushioning for some fun stuff either, he adds, so that stay-at-home parents don’t feel guilty spending on occasion even if they’re not “working.”

Zavitz wishes she had done more research on one-off, child-related expenses, such as baby and toddler accessories, early on instead of being backed into finding the fastest — and often more expensive — solution.

We went on that budget even before our daughter was born to feel it out before things got real

“By doing more backward planning and anticipating future needs, you can give yourself time to shop for the best deals,” she said.

Zavitz points to options such as Facebook Marketplace and online community hubs where parents often offload no-longer-needed children’s items at a fraction of their retail price — or for free.

“That’s where I’m buying a lot of my kids’ sporting equipment now, which can save so much,” she said.

Experts also point out that new parents should remember that child-care costs won’t necessarily go down as children get older. After those early years, there are before- and after-school care costs, babysitters, summer camps and extracurricular activities, plus post-secondary education expenses.

Zavitz said government initiatives such as the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) can help offset some of these costs for eligible parents. In 2022, the CCB equals a maximum of $6,997 per year for children until they are five years old, and $5,903 for those six to 17.

For parents who can afford it, she’s also a big fan of the registered education savings plan (RESP) as a tax-efficient way to save for a child’s education. The federal government will add 20 per cent on top of your annual contribution of up to $2,500, though the lifetime contribution limit is $50,000 per beneficiary.

“You can catch up on past grants if you can’t afford it right away, but only to a certain extent,” she said. “It’s also a nice present from grandparents to put money into RESPs.”

Zavitz also advises parents to ensure they put children on their benefit plans within 30 days of their birth to avoid issues around unforeseen medical expenses, and to add children to their wills as soon as possible.

“The trouble is, you don’t fully recognize the pull on the heartstrings until you do meet your kids,” she said. “You’re going to want to give them everything you can to make their life wonderful and that’s going to cost you.”

A couple we’ll call Peter, 41, and Charlotte, 39, live in Ontario with their two-year-old child, Morgan. They bring home $11,200 per month from their jobs, his in corporate development, hers in strategic planning. They have a $2.3 million house, $50,000 in raw land, $65,000 in RRSPs, $20,000 in TFSAs, $25,000 in taxable securities, $37,500 in gold and a $12,000 car. It adds up to $2,509,500. Take off their $820,000 home mortgage and their net worth is about $1.7 million — a very respectable sum.

A couple we’ll call Peter, 41, and Charlotte, 39, live in Ontario with their two-year-old child, Morgan. They bring home $11,200 per month from their jobs, his in corporate development, hers in strategic planning. They have a $2.3 million house, $50,000 in raw land, $65,000 in RRSPs, $20,000 in TFSAs, $25,000 in taxable securities, $37,500 in gold and a $12,000 car. It adds up to $2,509,500. Take off their $820,000 home mortgage and their net worth is about $1.7 million — a very respectable sum.

Email andrew.allentuck@gmail.com for a free Family Finance analysis

Peter and Charlotte, who moved to Canada nine years ago, have succeeded in material terms, but they yearn for the former country with palms, lapping sea shores and no snow at all. Their goal is to achieve a $3,000 monthly retirement income for a retirement spent back home, and they would like to go sooner rather than later.

Investment strategies

Family Finance asked Derek Moran, head of Smarter Financial Planning Ltd. of Kelowna, B.C., to work with Peter and Charlotte. For now, they put cash in excess of spending into various investments — their TFSAs in particular. At this stage of their lives as parents, they could instead build up a Registered Education Savings Plan for Morgan and receive a Canada Education Savings Plan bonus of the lesser of 20 per cent of contributions or $500 per year to a maximum of $7,200. Alternatively, they can use RRSPs that provide a 29.65 per cent tax refund in their bracket.

They should pursue tax-efficient investments, for their combined annual income, $180,000 before tax, leaves them with $134,400 per year or $11,200 per month after tax. They spend $9,100 per month, leaving $3,500 savings for investments or debt paydown. Making good use of that surplus is the key to quitting work long before conventional retirement.

The idea of a RESP for a child who may not be a resident of Canada when it is time for post-secondary education may seem odd, but it will work, Moran explains. Contributions made as long as the family resides in Canada together with the CESG boost will be payable to Morgan no matter where the family eventually lives or he studies.

Retirement income

Like the RESP, Peter and Charlotte will be able to apply for Canada Pension Plan benefits no matter where they are living when they retire. At this point, they would have accrued nine years times 2.5 per cent of annual maximum benefit of $15,043, a sum that works out to $3,385 per year each. The longer they stay and work in Canada the larger that benefit will become. It will be hard to match in their destination, but aside from a withholding tax, there will be no impediment to drawing the benefit.

When it comes to Old Age Security, however things change.  Given their circumstances, to qualify for Old Age Security while living in another country, they will have to have been residents for 20 years. In their case, that means living in Canada to age 52 and 50, respectively. That’s longer than they want to stay. We’ll assume they do not make it to 20 years residence in Canada.

Each partner currently has $80,000 of RRSP contribution room. If they were to leave Canada permanently, they would probably leave the RRSP accounts in Canada and then draw them down via Registered Retirement Investment Funds (RRIFs) subject to a 15 per cent withholding tax. If they leave them as RRSPs and do not shift them to RRIFs, the withholding tax would be 25 per cent, Moran notes.

If they are subject to tax in their home country, which has a tax treaty with Canada, they would get credit for tax paid in Canada. They need to check their personal tax details with a cross border tax specialist, perhaps in their home country.

Moving home

Should they keep their Ontario house after leaving Canada permanently? They might keep the house and rent it out for $5,500 per month or $66,000 per year. Their house property tax is $6,000 per year. Their equity is $1,480,000. The math, however is not on their side: If they charge $66,000 gross annual rent and deduct $22,878 mortgage interest (this does not include principal repayment which goes out of one pocket and into another), $2,000 of maintenance, $3,390 for a property manager with a six per cent bite, their income after these expenses would be $31,732 per year. That’s a 2.14 per cent return. If they are then stuck paying the present Ontario non-resident speculation tax of 20 per cent of their $1,480,000 equity — that’s $29,600 net, their costs would rise to $61,332. That would leave net rental income of $4,668 or a third of one per cent. If they can’t avoid the non-resident speculation tax, which has many exemptions, retaining the property would be unwise, Moran advises. They would then do well to cash in their interest and take it abroad.

In their home country, they might need approximately $25 capital for each dollar of pre-tax income based on foreign inflation and tax rates. Moran estimates they would need $41,400 per year for living costs so therefore they would need to invest $1,035,000 capital. That’s less than their present net worth of $1,689,500, meaning they could move today and have more than enough income to support themselves, though not extravagantly.

They could work full or part-time to top that off if they so choose, or could continue to work and save in Canada for a number of years, adding to their potential CPP payouts down the road and padding their savings.

Depending on the balance they choose, life insurance could add certainty to their finances. The annual cost of a policy with a face value of $1 million would be $660 for Peter and $415 for Charlotte. Costs vary with details. Like a good suit, policies need to be tailored to the client.

Morgan would be able to draw on his RESP even if living or studying outside of Canada. The sums already parked in their Canadian RESP plus what they can save in their low-cost country would no doubt produce a six-figure kitty in the 15 or 16 years to Morgan’s age 18.

Is it feasible to transfer two accomplished lives and their accompanying savings to another country with parallel but not identical retirement systems?  The short answer is yes. There will be a cost in terms of financial security, stronger social safety net and more opportunities to work and earn in Canada, but it isn’t hard to understand the appeal of a decidedly warmer country that feels like home and the potential for a much earlier retirement.

Financial Post

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Retirement stars:  Five retirement stars ***** out of Five

FP Answers: Personal Finance:

By Julie Cazzin with Allan Norman

Q: I paid a fee-based planner for some financial advice, but they didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. I feel like it was a waste of money. Am I missing something? — Caitlin in Penticton, B.C.

FP Answers: Caitlin, hopefully you said something to your planner — for both your sakes. Your question got me thinking. In future, what is the one thing you can do to feel like

By Julie Cazzin with Allan Norman

Q: I paid a fee-based planner for some financial advice, but they didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. I feel like it was a waste of money. Am I missing something? — Caitlin in Penticton, B.C.

FP Answers: Caitlin, hopefully you said something to your planner — for both your sakes. Your question got me thinking. In future, what is the one thing you can do to feel like you’re getting full value from financial planning and it doesn’t seem like a waste of money? Simple: curiosity. Stay curious throughout the planning process and you will get your money’s worth.

Some of the best planning sessions I have had were with engineers who asked me a lot of questions and gently challenged me. I once asked my dad, who was a chemical engineer, why engineers ask a lot of questions, and he told me, “Because a good engineer always wants to know why.”

Caitlin, you need to know “why” as well.

Planning is about learning, making good decisions, dealing with change and building confidence so that you are comfortable living the lifestyle you want without the fear of ever running out of money.

Did you remain curious and ask lots of questions throughout your planning sessions? Did your adviser give you the chance to ask questions? Was your adviser curious about you and your lifestyle?

One thing that helps trigger questions is the use of detailed financial planning software that you and your planner interactively work on together. For example, let’s say you punch in some numbers on an online accumulation calculator and get some results. If you were to give your planner the same numbers to punch into their sophisticated software, they would likely get similar results and you would think, “What a waste of money.”

But a curious adviser will want to know how you spend your money since it’s a reflection of your lifestyle, and will ask you to fill in an expense sheet. I was once working with a client and things weren’t quite working out the way he wanted, so he suggested reducing his retirement income by $10,000. I said sure. But did he want to cut out his trips south? No. What about his fitness spending? No. Some entertainment costs? No.

He wasn’t prepared to give up some of his lifestyle and this led to further discussions of how to make things work. If I had just accepted his suggestion of reducing his retirement income by $10,000, that would have been the end of the discussion and there would have been no learning.

Each planner has their own way of guiding you through the planning process, but there are some general steps. The first is to lay out all your financial chips on the table along with your current lifestyle. This way you learn the truth about your money and what it will do for you. Do you have some gaps? When? Why? Do you have more than you need? Ask questions.

The next step is to see what’s possible. This is where you want to be really curious. “What happens if I buy a cottage? Can I help my kids financially now?” This is also where you want your planner to be curious. They should ask what is important to you about owning a cottage. If you rented the same cottage for two weeks each year, would that satisfy your needs for owning a cottage?

Once you know what is possible, you can set some lifestyle and financial goals and develop a plan that lets you achieve those goals your way. With your goals in place, you need a to-do list, developed by you and your planner. Ask for it if you aren’t given one and make sure the trip to Miami is on there, too. Remember, this shouldn’t just be a financial list. It’s a lifestyle plan.

Finally, your plan needs to be monitored by you or your planner. You can do that by using a net-worth and cash-flow projection itemized annually. Ask your planner for something you can use to monitor your plan. It’s time to review when your actual circumstances start to deviate from the plan’s projections. Ideally, though, you should be reviewing your plan each year.

Think of your planner as your thinking partner or your guide to an amazing life. Meeting on a regular basis and staying curious will help you learn to make good decisions and become more confident with your situation, so that you are in a better position to get the lifestyle you want. Stay curious, Caitlin, and you won’t be wasting your money.

Allan Norman, M.Sc., CFP, CIM, RWM, provides fee-only certified financial planning services through Atlantis Financial Inc. Allan is also registered as an investment adviser with Aligned Capital Partners Inc. He can be reached at www.atlantisfinancial.ca or alnorman@atlantisfinancial.ca. This commentary is provided as a general source of information and is not intended to be personalized investment advice.

It’s often said that cash is king, but it may not always be the best method of payment when it comes to dealing with the taxman, who may ask you some tough questions to justify tax-deductible expenses or, on the flip side, demonstrate you earned a minimum amount of qualifying income to take advantage of various benefits or credits.

For example, there’s been a slew of recent cases dealing with taxpayers’ eligibility for COVID-19-related benefits, such as the Canada Emergency

It’s often said that cash is king, but it may not always be the best method of payment when it comes to dealing with the taxman, who may ask you some tough questions to justify tax-deductible expenses or, on the flip side, demonstrate you earned a minimum amount of qualifying income to take advantage of various benefits or credits.

For example, there’s been a slew of recent cases dealing with taxpayers’ eligibility for COVID-19-related benefits, such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), in which taxpayers had to prove they had earnings of at least $5,000 to qualify for these benefits. If those earnings were paid in cash, and never deposited in a bank account, the validity of various taxpayers’ claims was challenged.

But the difficulty in proving cash earnings can also arise outside the realm of pandemic benefits. Take a recent case involving a taxpayer’s claim for the Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB), since replaced by the Canada Workers Benefit (CWB). The benefit is a refundable tax credit that supplements the earnings of low-income workers, and is available to individuals 19 years of age or older who aren’t in school full time.

For 2022, the CWB is equal to 27 per cent of each dollar of working income above $3,000, to a maximum credit of $1,428 for single individuals without dependents, and $2,461 for families (couples and single parents). The CWB is phased out at a rate of 15 per cent of each dollar of income above $23,495 for single individuals (without dependents), and $26,805 for families. (Note that amounts may be different for residents of Alberta, Nunavut and Quebec.)

In 2018, about 1.4 million Canadians received the WITB. The key to qualifying for the WITB (or the CWB now) is that the individual claiming the credit must have “working income,” which is essentially employment or business income.

But how does one prove working income if you’re paid exclusively in cash?

That was the question before the judge in a recent Tax Court of Canada case involving a Prince Edward Island resident and his WITB claim for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 taxation years. The taxpayer’s claims were denied because the Canada Revenue Agency concluded he “was not actively operating a business” and had “not earned any working income giving entitlement to the WITB.”

By way of background, the taxpayer lives “very modestly” in a trailer with his wife and was described by the court as a man “gifted with an independent spirit.” Throughout his life, he has held various jobs, including as a bar singer in Montreal, as well as gigs in technology and construction and renovation.

In court, the taxpayer was represented by a childhood friend, a tax specialist, who also prepared his tax returns for the three years in question. His friend also happens to own several properties, where the taxpayer carried out all kinds of work, including the renovation of bathrooms, installation of floors, repair of flood damage and construction of galleries and balconies, as well as plumbing and electricity — in short, anything related to renovation or maintenance.

During the tax years in question, the taxpayer only worked during the summer in order to earn enough money for him to spend the winter on a sailboat in the Bahamas. He didn’t need a lot of money because he didn’t have any dependents and had very few personal expenses. The annual expenses for his sailboat amounted to $5,000. Each winter while on his boat, “it cost him nothing to live. He ate what he caught,” and testified, “Life on the sea is not expensive … To live on his sailboat … is … the best possible life; it’s heaven on earth.”

In 2015, 2016 and 2017, the taxpayer declared business income of only $10,000 to $13,500, because he was sailing for six months of the year. He also didn’t incur, nor deduct, any business expenses, as his customers bought any necessary building materials.

His friend paid him in cash, but the taxpayer did not keep any documentation of the income he earned or a register, although, according to the judge, “he has since realized the importance of keeping a record and preserving any supporting documents.” His friend marked the work, or the amounts paid to the taxpayer, on a small calendar and, at the end of the year, did the accounting. The taxpayer didn’t deposit his income in his bank account, but claimed to have declared all his income to the CRA on his returns.

The CRA argued that the income the taxpayer declared was not related to the operation of a business or employment, because he conducted a cash-only business, kept no records, incurred no business expenses and produced no supporting documents to support his claims. The taxpayer and his tax specialist friend relied “almost solely on their memory, which is unreliable in nature.”

The judge acknowledged that “in a self-assessment system like we have in Canada, keeping books and records is very important,” but the failure to keep good records is not, by itself, sufficient grounds to dismiss a case.

Absent good books and records, the burden of proof is certainly higher and the judge must assess the credibility of the taxpayer and any witnesses, such as the tax specialist. As for running a cash business, the court cited prior jurisprudence which concluded: “The use of cash is legal and legitimate … and it does not necessarily lead to a conclusion of tax avoidance.”

The judge weighed all the evidence and was satisfied the income declared by the taxpayer during the years in question did, indeed, relate to the operation of a business, was corroborated by his tax specialist and constituted working income. The judge, therefore, concluded the taxpayer was entitled to the WITB for the three years in question.

Jamie Golombek, CPA, CA, CFP, CLU, TEP is the managing director, Tax & Estate Planning with CIBC Private Wealth in Toronto. Jamie.Golombek@cibc.com