Latest news with #OldAgeSecurity
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
How long to pay off $800K in illegal cigarette fines? 32,000 months, a judge calculates
Nova Scotia provincial court Judge Alain Bégin put a fine point on the absurdity of the situation with some quick math: it will take 32,000 months for the 68-year-old man he was sentencing on contraband cigarette charges to pay off the massive fines that, by law, had to be imposed. On Wednesday, David Barrie confirmed he was pleading guilty to two counts related to possessing unstamped tobacco, charges that stemmed from 650,000 illegal cigarettes discovered by RCMP in a van the man was driving two years ago near Truro, N.S. The violations were under the federal Excise Act and provincial Revenue Act, which prescribe formulas to determine the minimum fine amount, based on the number of cigarettes seized and the tax evaded. In Barrie's case, the calculation amounts to a whopping $886,296.80, an astronomical amount for a man the court was told is disabled, unemployed and lives on an Old Age Security pension. "What's your intention with regards to minimum payment?" Bégin asked him in a Truro courtroom. "Two hundred bucks a month? A hundred bucks a month? What are you gonna do? You pay $50 a month towards your $800,000 bill?" "He was hoping for maybe 25," Jim O'Neil, Barrie's lawyer, replied. "All right, $25 a month on your $800,000 bill," concluded Bégin, who out of curiosity did a quick calculation. "Yeah, 32,000 months to pay off your fine." In an interview, O'Neil said the minimum fines for illegal tobacco charges are set out in federal and provincial legislation, and judges have no discretion. It's an issue, he said, that has long bothered him when it comes to clients who are too poor to pay. In one case involving a single mother, O'Neil said, he sought to challenge the fine based on her poverty, but after researching the case law realized the argument would not succeed in charges involving contraband tobacco. When faced with such situations, he said, the only thing judges can do is "modify the impact" on the offender by ordering them to pay small monthly amounts, with no illusions the total fine will ever be paid off. "An awful lot of people who are involved in contraband tobacco are themselves addicted to tobacco or they're poor," O'Neil said. "For some reason, governments have singled out this particular offence for these huge fines and it's not proportionate to any other wrongdoings we may do as citizens." Revenue from tobacco taxes has dropped significantly in Nova Scotia in recent years. Smoking rates have declined, but a provincial cabinet minister acknowledged this spring that contraband sales may also be eating into the government's bottom line. Provincial tobacco enforcement officers seized a record number of illegal cigarettes last year, although the statistics don't include seizures by police forces. Barrie was arrested on May 27, 2023, after police pulled over a Ford Econoline van at the interchange of highways 102 and 104 outside of Truro, according to an RCMP police release at the time. Officers obtained a search warrant and found the unstamped cigarettes. O'Neil told the court Wednesday that Barrie was only a courier for someone else. "That's even worse. He wasn't going to get the benefit" from the sale of the cigarettes, O'Neil said. "Or the most foolish part, perhaps," Bégin replied. "Worse or most foolish, taking all the risk, going to get the penalty, and nothing to show for it." MORE TOP STORIES
Globe and Mail
20-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Do you need $1.54-million to retire, or is it $2.1-million?
Please, no more polls from financial companies about how much money people imagine they need to save for retirement. These polls reflect pure uninformed guesswork. One recent poll cited an average $1.54-million, while another said $1.02-million. In another poll, the average response from millennials was $2.1-million. The purpose of these polls is to get media attention for the financial companies that sponsor them and initiate discussions on retirement issues. OK, here goes. Generalizing about how much people need to retire is a sure way to turn people off of retirement planning. If you're struggling to save, it's unhelpful to hear a consensus that it takes a seven-figure amount. There's an emerging capitulation theme in personal finance today - 'I'll never buy a home/retire, so why bother being disciplined with money?' Setting high bars for saving perpetuates this. Also, asking people how much they need to retire is pretty much pointless. The more relevant question is, how much do you see yourself spending in retirement? Once spending requirements are set, the next step is to project an individual's retirement income based on current and expected future saving, plus the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and, for the fortunate minority, company pensions. Gaps between expected spending and projected retirement income can be handled. Maybe you ramp up retirement saving, or pare your expected future spending. Working longer can also help with any saving shortfalls, and so can upgrading your skills and seeking a higher-paying job. Another problem with those polls saying people think they need $1-million or more to retire is that they focus attention on investing, rather than planning. Yes, you have to put money aside and invest it for retirement. But planning is how you find out how much you need to invest over the years, and the right mix of stocks and bonds for your needs. What a lot of people hear when those retirement polls are published: 'You're not saving enough.' In personal finance, this kind of nagging rarely works. A better approach is personal empowerment, which means helping people find out where they stand and what they need to do going forward to reach their retirement goals. The federal government offers a very good free tool for getting this discussion going. It's called the Canadian Retirement Income Calculator and it does exactly what the name suggests. Plug in your retirement details and get an estimate of what your income might look like when you stop working. If you need more, there are lots of steps you can take.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Best Approach for Your $7,000 TFSA Contribution This Year
Written by Andrew Walker at The Motley Fool Canada Volatile market action has self-directed Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) holders wondering which investments might be good to buy right now for a retirement portfolio focused on income and long-term total returns. The TFSA limit is $7,000 in 2025. This brings the cumulative maximum lifetime TFSA contribution space to $102,000 for anyone who has qualified since the creation of the TFSA in 2009. Interest, dividends, and capital gains earned inside the TFSA are all tax-free. This means the full value of the earnings can go straight into your pocket or reinvested. TFSA income is not counted toward the net-world income calculation used by the CRA to determine the Old Age Security (OAS) pension recovery tax, or OAS clawback, as it is otherwise known. That is important to consider for seniors who receive OAS and have high-income levels. Non-cashable Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) rates are currently available in the 3% to 3.75% range, depending on the term and the financial institution. That's down from the 5% to 6% investors were able to get in late 2023 but is still comfortably above the current rate of inflation. Markets are at record highs, and tariffs threaten to trigger a global recession, so it makes sense to put some of the TFSA funds into GICs. Dividend stocks can provide better yields, but they come with capital risks. Share prices can slip below the purchase price, and dividends might get cut if a company gets into financial trouble. However, stocks that have good track records of increasing their dividends are worth considering, as each dividend hike raises the yield on the initial investment. Enbridge (TSX:ENB) is a good example of a reliable dividend-growth stock. The company raised its dividend in each of the past 30 years. The stock is up about 28% in the past year but has pulled back a bit from the 2025 highs. Investors who buy ENB at the current price can get a dividend yield of 6%. Enbridge grows through a combination of acquisitions and internal projects. The company spent US$14 billion in 2024 to buy three natural gas utilities. Revenue from these rate-regulated assets tends to be predictable and reliable. Other acquisitions in the past few years include an oil export terminal in Texas and renewable energy developer for wind and solar projects. In addition, Enbridge is a partner in the Woodfibre liquified natural gas (LNG) export facility being built in British Columbia. Natural gas demand is expected to rise in the coming years as new gas-fired power generation facilities are built to provide electricity for AI data centres. Enbridge's gas transmission, storage, and utility assets put it in a good spot to benefit. On the development side, the $28 billion capital program will drive earnings and cash flow higher in the next few years. This should support steady dividend increases. Investors with some cash to put to work in a TFSA can quite easily build a diversified portfolio of GICs and dividend stocks to get an average yield of 4% to 5% today. The strategy reduces capital risk while boosting average returns and provides an opportunity to generate long-term capital gains. The post The Best Approach for Your $7,000 TFSA Contribution This Year appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada. More reading Made in Canada: 5 Homegrown Stocks Ready for the 'Buy Local' Revolution [PREMIUM PICKS] Market Volatility Toolkit Best Canadian Stocks to Buy in 2025 Beginner Investors: 4 Top Canadian Stocks to Buy for 2025 5 Years From Now, You'll Probably Wish You Grabbed These Stocks Subscribe to Motley Fool Canada on YouTube The Motley Fool recommends Enbridge. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Fool contributor Andrew Walker has no position in any stock mentioned. 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A $7,000 TFSA Strategy That Focuses on Dividend Growth
Written by Andrew Walker at The Motley Fool Canada Retirees and other dividend investors are searching for ways to get better returns on savings held inside a self-directed Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA). One popular investing strategy involves buying good dividend-growth stocks that can provide income and boost long-term gains. The TFSA limit in 2025 is $7,000. All interest, dividends, and capital gains generated inside a TFSA on qualifying investments are tax-free. This means the full value of the earnings can go right into your pocket without having to share some with the CRA. The gains can also be fully reinvested, if passive income isn't the core goal. Retirees who receive Old Age Security (OAS) get another benefit. The CRA does not count TFSA income when calculating net world income used to determine the Old Age Security (OAS) pension recovery tax. This is important for seniors with high incomes. Every dollar of net world income earned above a minimum threshold triggers a $0.15 pension recovery tax. The number to watch in the 2025 tax year is $93,454. As such, retirees should consider fully using TFSA contribution space before holding income-generating investments inside taxable accounts. Younger investors can use dividend stocks to build retirement savings inside a TFSA. One strategy involves owning dividend-growth stocks and reinvesting the distributions in new shares. This sets off a powerful compounding process that can turn modest initial investments into meaningful savings over time, especially when dividends increase and the share price drifts higher. Fortis (TSX:FTS) is a good example of a stock with a great track record of dividend growth. The company has raised the payout in each of the past 51 years. Fortis operates utility businesses in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. The company has $75 billion in assets, including natural gas utilities, power generation facilities, and electric transmission networks. Nearly all of the revenue comes from rate-regulated businesses. This means cash flow is normally predictable and reliable. Fortis is working on a $26 billion capital program that will raise the rate base from $39 billion in 2024 to $53 billion in 2029. Revenue and earnings growth from the new assets should support planned annual dividend increases of 4% to 6% over the next five years. New projects are under consideration that could get added to the backlog. This would potentially extend the dividend-growth guidance or boost the size of the increases. Fortis has a dividend reinvestment plan that gives investors a 2% discount on stock purchased using dividend distributions. On the risk side, Fortis is sensitive to changes in interest rates due to the large amount of debt it uses to fund part of the capital program. The stock fell when the central banks in Canada and the United States raised rates in 2022. Rate cuts last year spurred the rebound. Analysts broadly expect interest rates to continue to decline later this year, as long as there isn't a spike in inflation caused by tariffs. Buying Fortis on pullbacks has historically proven to be a savvy move for patient investors. The TSX is home to many good dividend-growth stocks that investors can own to generate income and long-term total returns inside a self-directed TFSA. Fortis still deserves to be on your radar, even after the nice rally in the past year. The post A $7,000 TFSA Strategy That Focuses on Dividend Growth appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada. Before you buy stock in Fortis, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor Canada analyst team just identified what they believe are the Top Stocks for 2025 and Beyond for investors to buy now… and Fortis wasn't one of them. The Top Stocks that made the cut could potentially produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider MercadoLibre, which we first recommended on January 8, 2014 ... if you invested $1,000 in the 'eBay of Latin America' at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $21,345.77!* Stock Advisor Canada provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month – one from Canada and one from the U.S. The Stock Advisor Canada service has outperformed the return of S&P/TSX Composite Index by 24 percentage points since 2013*. See the Top Stocks * Returns as of 4/21/25 More reading Made in Canada: 5 Homegrown Stocks Ready for the 'Buy Local' Revolution [PREMIUM PICKS] Market Volatility Toolkit Best Canadian Stocks to Buy in 2025 Beginner Investors: 4 Top Canadian Stocks to Buy for 2025 5 Years From Now, You'll Probably Wish You Grabbed These Stocks Subscribe to Motley Fool Canada on YouTube The Motley Fool recommends Fortis. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Fool contributor Andrew Walker has no position in any stock mentioned. 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Can Bianca afford to retire at 66 with a mortgage?
Bianca* is 65, enjoys her job and knows her employer would love her to stay as long as possible. However, she turns 66 at the end of this year and thinks this might be the right time to retire – if her investment portfolio can generate $6,000 a year in after-tax dollars. Is this a pipe dream? Would she be better off working an additional year or two, especially given the high cost of living and the fact she has a mortgage? Bianca was mortgage-free until she recently purchased her $800,000 forever home in Ontario to be closer to her daughter. She is making accelerated payments of $2,564 a month at 4.59 per cent on her $232,000 mortgage, which matures in nine years. While Bianca says having a mortgage at this stage in life is not ideal, it is manageable on her annual income of $140,000 before tax. Her current total monthly expenses are about $5,200. Each year Bianca contributes 10 per cent of her base salary and her employer contributes three per cent to a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) that is now worth $825,000 and is invested in bank stocks. The employer portion of the savings plan — $164,000 — is locked in. When she retires, Bianca plans to direct 50 per cent of those locked-in funds into a life income fund (LIF) and 50 per cent to her RRSP, which she will convert to a registered retirement income fund (RRIF) when she turns 71. If she does retire at 66, she will also receive an employer pension of $46,000 a year before tax (the pension is not indexed to inflation) and is eligible to receive $1,377 a month in Canada Pension Plan (CPP) payments. She has delayed CPP and Old Age Security (OAS) because she is still working, and wonders when she should start drawing both government benefits to avoid facing any recovery tax or clawback. 'I do not have any plans for what I will do in retirement and I know that is not a good thing. I think it's why I keep working,' said Bianca. 'My expenses are likely to stay similar to what they are now. I don't see anything changing. Will I be able to maintain a comfortable retirement if I retire at the end of this year?' 'Bianca is asking the right questions and has the right concerns. The effects of inflation over the next 30 years will be significant and since almost half her gross retirement income is from a defined benefit pension that has no indexing, she needs to be confident the other sources of income can bridge this future gap,' said Eliott Einarson, a retirement planner at Ottawa-based Exponent Investment Management. 'A retirement plan will integrate inflation and taxes into all assumptions to determine what's possible given what's available. Without a plan you really enter retirement blind. Often, people neglect to withdraw adequately from their registered assets for retirement income, which can create tax problems in the future for themselves and the estate.' The good news is Bianca's investment portfolio combined with her pension and government benefits will more than meet her income needs after tax. Right now 40 per cent of her income needs are tied to the mortgage. At her current accelerated payment rate, Einarson estimated this will be eliminated about 10 years post retirement, providing increased flexibility and more future savings power — likely double the income she needs in her mid 70s and beyond. Einarson said that, rather than deferring additional registered income to age 71 and then withdrawing the minimum, she should strategically draw down enough registered assets in addition to other income sources to meet her total income goal of $6,000 net per month and maximize TFSA contributions. 'Why wait until age 71? She can benefit now from more income. Once the mortgage is paid she will have more than enough income.' As for CPP and OAS, Einarson said if she does retire at 66 she can start her benefits then and should not be in danger of the clawback on OAS if the income from the RRIF is managed well. Bianca should consider making changes to her portfolio construction to determine if it is appropriate for her future needs, Einarson said. 'If it is all invested in bank stocks, she may want to look at diversifying both geographically and by industry. Canadian bank stocks offer good dividends but investing in only one industry is a major investment mistake.' She may want to consider engaging a firm with a tailored portfolio management approach if she doesn't want to assume the responsibilities of managing her retirement income portfolio when she leaves her employer's plan, Einarson said. Couple approaching 65 with a mortgage worry tariff war will torpedo retirement Couple wonders: Start investing or stick with rental income to build nest egg? 'A good firm will also provide the retirement income planning up front and updates to the plan as her life circumstances evolve,' he said. 'Engaging in retirement planning is going to help Bianca clarify her future and her idea of retirement, while also building confidence. Her biggest risk now might be not taking advantage of her financial position and enjoying these early retirement years.' *Name changed to protect privacy. Are you worried about having enough for retirement? Do you need to adjust your portfolio? Are you starting out or making a change and wondering how to build wealth? Are you trying to make ends meet? Drop us a line at wealth@ with your contact info and the gist of your problem and we'll find some experts to help you out while writing a Family Finance story about it (we'll keep your name out of it, of course). 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