Tax

How to buy U.S. real estate

Prepare clients for all costs of owning, renting or selling property.

By Suzanne Yar Khan |March 7, 2014

7 min read

Client collapses trust to fund daughter’s education

Elsa Koertig, 48, is a single mom and schoolteacher in Moose Jaw, Sask. She earns $65,000 annually and her daughter Ingrid is heading to university. Ingrid’s straight As and clean sweep of provincial and national science fairs caught the attention of Ivy League schools, and her heart’s set on Princeton. She’s earned generous scholarships, but even after factoring in RESPs, the family faces a $10,000 annual shortfall. Elsa’s coming off a messy divorce and is saddled with mortgage, car and other debt payments. But if she could access the $100,000 stock-and-bond portfolio her deceased parents left her in trust, she’d be able to send Ingrid to Princeton. Elsa’s foggy on the details. She knows how much is in the trust, and remembers her parents saying they wanted it to fund her retirement. Can she tap the trust sooner?

By Dean DiSpalatro |March 7, 2014

4 min read

Help a wealthy client who’s lost her job

One of your wealthy clients tells you her company downsized and she lost her job. She wasn’t given much advance notice, so she’s in shock. She wonders how she’ll pay bills, and is worried about her future. How can you help?

By Rosemary Smyth |March 7, 2014

2 min read

When capacity’s in question, what can you tell the kids?

Planning ahead for a client’s mental or physical incapacity isn’t always possible. Here’s how to protect yourself.

March 7, 2014

3 min read