Author Archives: Amanda Ashwood

Digital Assets
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I recently had a meeting with a Tax & Estate specialist who spoke about Digital Assets, and the importance of covering these assets through your Will (and Powers of Attorney). Even 5-10 years ago, these assets were not of much value, and certainly were never thought to be included in your estate plan. So, What are Digital Assets? Digital Assets are essentially your financial footprint in the online world. Do you collect grocery points, airline rewards, credit card rewards, gas station points? It might seem silly, but there have been studies that have found by the year 2020 (not so…

Be Mortgage-Free Faster
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Every home owner dreams of being mortgage free. In today’s environment, home prices are some of the highest they have been, and with that, mortgage sizes are significantly larger. Today’s home owners tend to feel it is the norm to always have a mortgage and never pay it off completely. The truth is, there are many opportunities to paying down your mortgage more quickly, and this could save you tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage. Accelerated Mortgage Payments Do you pay your mortgage monthly? Call your lender and ask to switch to weekly or accelerated…

The Birth of Your Baby
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The birth of your baby is the perfect time to review your financial life. You want your loved ones cared for if something were to happen to you or your partner, and be in the know regarding benefits and savings options available for your new bundle of joy. I am sure you and your partner put a lot of time and research into what went on your baby gift registry, and read every review under the sun regarding car seat safety, and what perfect shade to paint the nursery. Wouldn’t you agree that you should plan to keep your little…

Disability
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Today we continue with our Life Events series, and discuss planning tips for dealing with a disability. A disability for you or a close family member creates new challenges for you and your family. Have you ever considered what would happen if you or the main breadwinner in the family was no longer able to work? Would that income stop? Could you survive on only one person’s income? Would this cause issues for the care of your children? You should also consider the impact disability would have on a stay-at-home parent. This is a hugely important role, which may not…

Happy Holidays
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Wishing all of our clients a very Merry Christmas. We hope you enjoy the holidays with family & friends and get some well deserved rest. We look forward to seeing you in the New Year!

Death of a Loved One
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The perception that our jobs, as financial advisors, is just about money and investments is far from the truth. Our clients lean on us for help with constantly changing life events; such as death, disability, marriage and divorce, leaving a job, buying a house, and new parenthood. We encourage them to do so. It is far simpler to prevent mistakes rather than trying to fix things after bad decisions are implemented. In the next several blog posts, we will discuss some of these topics, and how we can help when a major life event happens in your life. In this…

Market Outlook
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We are sharing this short video with you to answer some common questions about the current state of the world’s economies and markets. Myles Zyblock is the Chief Investment Strategist at Dynamic Funds. Myles has some interesting insights on the future of the Eurozone, Brexit, the U.S economy and more.

Cottage Ownership & Taxes
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Don’t fool with the taxman when transferring your cottage By Tim Cestnick Last week I took my son, Win, to Dairy Queen on his eighth birthday. He was half-way through his ice cream when he said: “Dad, people who have a plastic leg have to be careful not to eat too much ice cream – it can hurt them.” Now, I’m no expert on prosthetic limbs. But I had to believe there was a flaw in Win’s thinking. “What makes you think that?” I asked. “Well,” he continued, “I read it in a book at school.” “So, what happens if…

New Year | New Website
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We are thrilled to announce the launch of our brand new website: Crawford • Ashwood Financial First, we’d like to thank all of our clients for your wonderful feedback of our Ten Cent Nickel blog over the past few years, and for sharing our articles with your family and friends. Our business grows solely with the referrals we receive from our wonderful clients, and we appreciate your ongoing support and trust. Our blog is now wrapped all-in-one to our new website, so you will still receive our new post notifications via email; however we suggest that you update your browser…

2016 TFSA Limit
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Our new government has kept their promise to reduce the Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) limit back down to $5,500 per year. But don’t worry; you aren’t losing any contribution room that has already accumulated. Anyone opening a brand new account today would have a limit of $41,000, and that will rise by another $5,500 on January 1st, 2016. So, new accounts or maximums for previously opened accounts will be $46,500 in the New Year. We recommend you check with your accountant or tax preparer, or log into your CRA My Account online, to ensure you don’t over contribute if…