The following post is written by Brian So, a financial advisor and blogger at www.aafsinsurance.com. Image credit: magcom / 123RF Stock Photo While my previous posts focused on the impact of withholding tax on dividends paid from the US and foreign companies, I realize that most people have a high concentration of their portfolio in the Canadian market. Therefore, to wrap up my mini-series on dividends, the last topic will be on dividends paid by Canadian companies. Don’t worry, there won’t be any complex withholding tax rules discussed in this post. Dividends are payments made by corporations to their shareholders. Because dividends are paid out of after-tax profits of corporations, the individual shareholder receives preferential tax treatment to offset double taxation. This comes in the form of the gross-up and non-refundable dividend tax credit. At first glance, the gross-up may seem disadvantageous because it appears you are paying tax on money you didn’t receive. But tax relief ...

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The following post is written by Brian So, a financial advisor and blogger at www.aafsinsurance.com. Since my last post generated a lot of interesting discussion on which account to hold US stocks and ETFs, I’ll follow it up with a post on the impact of withholding taxes of holding international (non US) dividend stocks in different accounts. Canada does not just have tax treaties with the US with respect to dividends paid to Canadians from US stocks. We also have tax treaties with 89 other countries in force and treaties signed but not in force with about a dozen other countries. What this means is that dividends received from shares of companies in these countries will also be subject to withholding tax, depending on which account you hold these shares in. You would be able to claim the foreign tax credit (FTC) to recover the amount withheld, but only in non-registered accounts. By far the most common amount withheld is 15% of the gross dividend paid out, although there are a few exceptions, ...

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The following post is written by Brian So, a financial advisor and blogger at www.aafsinsurance.com. courtesy www.financialpost.ca Hi everyone, this is my first of hopefully many posts on the Dividend Ninja. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Brian So and I have been working with my dad in the financial industry for about 2 years, and helping people with their financial goals. I’ve found my work to be very rewarding and I want to share some of my knowledge with more people. What better way to do this than to guest post on the Dividend Ninja with such a loyal and dedicated following. Now that the intro is out of the way, let me get into the topic on hand: the implications of having US dividend stocks in your RRSP and TFSA. First off, because there are plenty of posts on the internet about what RRSPs and TFSAs are and how to use them, I am going in another direction with my posts to try to delve a bit deeper into the lesser known facts of these savings vehicles. Generally, the ...

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This article was originally published on The Dividend Pig, as part of the Financial Literacy Day campaign, in Why You Should Avoid Mutual Funds. According to Andrew Hallam, from Millionaire Teacher, Canadians are in the last spot at 18 out of 18, paying the highest mutual fund fees in the entire world! (Millionaire Teacher, pg.54) Back in November, as part of the Financial Literacy Day campaign, I wrote about why you should start investing now. My point was to show how easily a nominal $25 per week invested, can grow into a sizable portfolio of over $17,168 in only ten years. For that figure I assumed a very conservative annual total return of only 5%! I also showed how Canadian investors can take advantage of four TD e-Series Index Funds to build a portfolio for only $100 per month, with a purchase of a fund each week at $25. I also showed readers why the TD e-Series funds are such a great deal! There are no commissions to purchase or sell, and the MER (Management Expense Ratio) is less ...

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Do You Know the Future? Another year has nearly passed us by, with all kinds of changes and shifts in global markets. That is certainly nothing new when it comes to investing. Going forward there looks to be more uncertainty to follow, much of which will hinge on the resolution to the Fiscal Cliff in Washington. Of course, it’s the surprise events that no one sees coming that take the biggest hit to investors. The Financial Crisis of 2008 and 2009 is an obvious example. This year the sudden slow-down in China hit oil and gas producers as well as other resource companies. On the other hand, American and European stocks have been soaring! Are we in a long run bull market, or are stock prices topped out and set to tumble? What is the global outlook for 2013? When will interest rates rise? The correct answer is, and the only one that should come immediately to mind is, “I don’t know” or “who knows?” Do You Have a Plan for 2013? With nothing but uncertainty to follow, I believe the ...

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