Manitoba Treasures |
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Manitoba's treasures; the well known and the unsung; those features about the province and our cities and towns that deserve recognition beyond our borders. Those features of the place we live that make those who have moved on come back regularly to fill a void they notice. Or the reasons they remember the province with such fondness. What we say when you're asked, "why do you recommend it". (Note: the agenda for action in the province, will be a subject of another log.)
Created by the Rempel 
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Thursday, November 27, 2003
Life insurance as a planning tool No solution fits all situations Arthur Drache Financial Post Wednesday, November 26, 2003 You may have seen the ad on television. A couple getting on in years is meeting with a financial adviser and the topic seems to be how to deal with the family cottage. After a comment or two which suggests that simply leaving the cottage to the kids will result in a big tax hit, the adviser raises the question of taking out life insurance to pay the tax bill. "Who will pay the premiums," the gentleman asks. "Why the kids, of course," is the answer, with some satisfied looks all around. I happened to see this ad while sitting with some family members and one of the younger ones whose family owns a cottage and has four kids suggested that as a tax planner I probably had a better answer than buying life insurance. I told him that I was a great believer in the use of life insurance as a part of estate planning, in the proper situation. And, I said, this is probably a classic example. Over the years I have advised scores of families on how to deal with cottages. Leaving a cottage to kids seems to be a much more important and emotional issue than is how to deal with the family home. Over the years I have suggested the use of splitting the interest in the cottage between a life interest (for the parents) and a remainder interest for the kids. The Ministry of Finance, a decade or so ago, found that such an interesting technique that it was legislated away. Since that time we have used trusts, corporations and non-share companies to try to pass the cottage to the next generation. Each of these techniques involves costs, some tax payable (either up front or down the line) and a high level of complexity. In the end, you don't have to be an insurance salesman to come up with the idea that the simplest approach is to deal with the cottage as you see fit, leaving it to the kids by will, and having insurance in place to pay the tax bite. Of course, there is never a one size fits all solution. Obviously, if the potential capital gain on the transfer of the cottage is small because it has not increased in value, it may not be necessary to take any planning steps. Second, if it looks like the kids are not interested in the cottage, then the simple solution is to sell it. Of course, insurance premiums may be prohibitive or the owner may be uninsurable. If this is the case, one thing to look at is "second to die" insurance where the death benefit comes only after the second parent dies, the second one perhaps being a better risk than the first. And usually this form of insurance is significantly cheaper than stand alone policies. Many tax planners who are lawyers and accountants have a tendency to find "solutions" to estate planning problems which do not utilize life insurance. And of course there are many, many situations where good planning will significantly reduce or even eliminate tax liabilities. But that having been said, life insurance is simple to use and does the job without undue complications. The death benefit is tax-free and CCRA is never going to raise a question about planning where the upshot of the plan is that the full tax liability is paid in full out of the insurance proceeds. This is not to say that the taking out of life insurance is something which requires no planning. There are always better ways and poorer ways to handle these transactions. And of course, if we were acting for the kids who the ad says are going to pay the premiums, we might want to know what guarantees they will have that the parents will follow through and leave them the cottage. Maybe there will be a second instalment of the ad. Arthur Drache, QC, is a partner in the Ottawa law firm of Drache Buchmayer LLP.; adrache@drache.com © Copyright 2003 National Post National Post Story Link
Is this the year for Gift Certificates? My friends are starting to talk about Christmas. Who is giving what to whom? How much? What to do for my two teenage daughters? My anxiety level is starting to rise. This is a link to a program that I'm involved with that can help with gift certificates for premium seating for the best upcoming concerts or theatre, nba and ncaa basketball, nhl hockey, nfl and ncaa hockey and nascar events. Give it a look if you're starting to think ahead like I am. Gift Certificates for Event Tickets Easy to scan their list of available events. All the hot tickets. (standard disclaimer re affiliation) Recently I had the experience of having my whole car and luggage searched by Canada Customs officials at Emerson. Maybe we appeared too shifty, maybe we looked like we might have bought $5 more than our 24 limit of $100. $50 each per person. The customs officer said to us, "stand in front of the car we're we can see you". I was waiting for the "keep your hands on the hood at all times" line next. In the end, customs officials did their job and we're probably written up somewhere as an example of a successful search and how to spot lawbreakers. Our purchases were below the limit as we stated, yet they found we had 1 small bottle of Aleve painkiller in our possession (an old sports injury) which we had bought in the US over the counter. We learned this product cannot be brought into Canada because it needs to be provided by prescription. There may be many others. We've learned. Ignorance is no defence. Don't be an "aleve lawbreaker". Handing Links for People and Goods Entering or Returning To Canada Sell Yourself With The Right Cover Letter Life is all about selling ourselves, our services or products. This is a handly refresher for job/career application cover letters but can be applied almost universally to other situations we face daily. Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Was looking at the how-to's of keeping your existing cell phone # when changing to a new provider. Here's some information at the Amazon along with a very nice phone, the Sony Ericsson T610. Look part way down the page to Special Offer: keep your existing phone #. Phone offer includes free Bluetooth headset as well I noticed. (standard disclaimer) Keep Existing Phone Number Yes we obviously spent some time on the Associates pages over at Amazon this am. You can click the graphic below to check whether the details of Amazon's credit card work for you. Disclaimer: Our associate id is contained in the linking. Here's a link to the Amazon Gift Store. Amazon.com Gifts Store! Just watch any of that regifting. Small Disclaimer: Yes we have to pay for our costs in various ways so you'll find our id in the link. Friday, October 17, 2003
Popular Event Tickets Sports tickets | Concert tickets | Theater tickets - Check here for Redskins tickets | Super Bowl tickets | Aerosmith tickets | Mamma Mia tickets | Lion King tickets | World Series tickets and more. They specialize in sold out events and provide FREE FedEx shipping* on orders over $299. Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Worth Pondering June 25/03 brought to you by the Rempel Group "Retire Right Plans" "Every generation thinks it has the answers, and every generation is humbled by nature." Philip Lubin "If only God would give me a clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank." Woody Allen Tuesday, June 24, 2003
Quotes For the Day: The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. (Harriet Beecher Stowe) Perseverance is not a long race. It is many short races one after another. (Walter Elliott) Saturday, April 19, 2003
Wednesday, April 02, 2003
Sunday, March 30, 2003
from the "I get all my best material from the sports pages department" Winnipeg Free Press, C3, March 30/03 Sports Illustrated asked Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, Olympic figure skating champions, who have been dating for three years, if they ever get turned on while skating. "You know what I'm thinking about?" Pelletier answered. "I'm thinking about staying vertical, and I'm not talking about the little guy." Tiger Woods won the Bay Hill Invitational by 11 strokes despite getting sick on the final day from bad pasta prepared by his Swedish girlfriend, Elin Nordegren. Says Ron Rapoport of the Chicago Sun Times: "He wants her to cook, too?" and this golf widow funny: Woman whose husband has just died goes into the local newspaper office to get an obituary published. The obt editor informs her there is a charge of 50 cents a word. She reflects and says, "Make it read, 'Bob Smith died.' " Amused at the woman's thrift, the editor tells her there is a seven-word minimum. After thinking it over, she says, 'Let it read, 'Bob Smith died. Golf clubs for sale'." Wednesday, March 26, 2003
There are now about 5 great detailed articles on putting (free-no gotcha's) available at Strictlysports.com If you want to lower your golf score this summer, like I was able to lower mine, I'd recommend you read these articles. Signup at the site for an email that tells you how to download articles. Lower Your Golf Score Wednesday, March 19, 2003
Friday, March 14, 2003
Marketplace: Dating: Meeting Beautiful Women System You can tell not just golf and baseball are on my mind as spring approaches Meet Beautiful Women System Thursday, March 13, 2003
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Sunday, March 09, 2003
Ebay Auctions Page We aim to become on of the largest online sellers of sports and sports related (broadly defined) items over the next 3 years. We have a great auction name and related web domain. Other plans are in place. We will collaborate with most anyone to realize maximum value for their wholesale stock or just a few items. Take a moment and drop us a note (Send me mail)with info on the kinds of items you have in your control and we'll tell you about our compensation or purchase plans. Can new drugs help you get past that afternoon body crash. Or help you feel as well with 6 hours as you would with 8 hours, the minimum recommended for our bodies. Interesting read about the effects of modafinil, a drug now used for narcolepsy. Article Link Friday, October 11, 2002
Thursday, October 10, 2002
I Wish You Godspeed-Jess and Jules ...A Few Lessons I Learned Along the Way That Might Help You. What We Were and What We Wanted To Be Outline: Saturday, January 06, 2001
Difficult as this is to accept as good public policy, this will make our electrical rates, cheapest in Canada, look more attractive to industry and homeowners Manitoba faces record natural gas hike
We're getting closer to digital everywhere in the province and the fuller use of cell phone capabilities MTS launches major digital cellular expansion in Manitoba
Stability is good for many! CENTURY 21 Canada National House Price Survey - Manitoba housing market remains stable in spite of stock marke Sunday, December 31, 2000
One of 21 reasons to think positive about Manitoba-New Business Activity Albchem plans sodium chlorate in Manitoba
Weblog Started December 31, 2000. Our Salute To Manitoba and Manitobans and all things that create the magic about the province and the people. Our salute to those of us who live here on purpose and who live life on purpose. Health and prosperity wishes in 2001! Bob Rempel |
