CommonSenseWealth.com
Our Goal is simple, to make you money, find you money and save you money.               Call Us at (250) 380-1447
  
 

 

PSC and its associate companies manage over $3 billion in assets for over 30,000 clients. PSC specializes in developing long-term strategies for our clients to help them achieve their goals. Your financial success is our first priority.

At Portfolio Strategies our name says it all. We believe in balanced and conservative investment strategies that help clients manage risk.

Selecting a financial advisor can be a daunting task, especially in today’s environment. With investment scandals surfacing all over the country, it is as important as ever to make sure the advisor you hire has only your best interests at heart, as we are tied to your success by the way we are paid.

Getting started is easy with us.

The first step in becoming a client is to meet with one of us for a free initial consultation, at our office in Saanich. We will review your current financial picture, define your goals, answer your questions and provide you with no-strings-attached recommendations.

Choosing to work with us is a two-way street: we want to make sure we can perform the right job for you just as much as you want to make sure hiring us satisfies your needs. We find that clients who benefit most from our services have greater than $100,000 in investable assets or are nearing retirement. If you are not quite there yet, we hope you will take advantage of the free educational resources we offer in the "how do you make money" section of our website to help you on your way.

To request a free consultation with an advisor, call us at 250-380-1447, we look forward to speaking with you.

Mutual funds are offered through Portfolio Strategies Corporation. Other products and services are provided by Andy & Shelley Thackray.

Current Stuff


The Regular Guy’s Tax Shelter:

The TFSA

Tax shelters are not just for the rich. The Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) is for the regular guy or gal, like you and me. You and I are now allowed to put aside $6,000 a year into a TFSA and while there is no deduction off your taxes, the money does grow tax free inside a TFSA.

Further, you can withdraw from it at any time and pay no taxes when you do so. Contribution limit this year, carried forward, is $81,500, so a couple can put $163,000 into a TFSA. You can take out any amount and put it back in the next year. Keep a good record as over contributions are subject to a one percent per month penalty!

This is different than the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) where you get a deduction and do pay taxes when you pull money out.

It’s actually quite a good program for a number of reasons. If you invest in mutual funds that have growth potential and you realize say a 6% rate of return in the long term, all of that growth is tax free, i.e. you pay no taxes on it even  if you keep it for 10, 20 or 30 years.

Then when you start an income from your TFSA, it all comes out without any taxes. Further, it does not affect eligibility for any government programs such as Old Age Security (OAS). With an RRSP, all the income is taxed and can cause the government to “claw back” some of your OAS income.

There is no such problem with the TFSA. Some savvy investors are using both. They invest in an RRSP to defer taxes and put the tax savings into a TFSA.

Which should you do? Should you use only an RRSP? Only a TFSA? Or a combination of both? This will depend on your situation and that is what we do here: look at your specific circumstances and make a recommendation as to what is best for you.

One example where the TFSA may make more sense than an RRSP is where a person is young and just getting started in the work force. There income may be lower at this time and therefore the amount of tax deferred with an RRSP is not as much as a mature worker. Often for them, a TFSA is the wiser choice.

If you have not yet had a TFSA vs. RRSP discussion with us, now is a good time.