Nearly two months into living in some form of isolation, watching retirement savings take a hit, and having to take additional health precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, eligible seniors are set to receive a one-time tax-free payment of up to $500.

“There’s no question that COVID-19 has been taking its toll on seniors both emotionally and financially… our government is taking action to alleviate some of the stress they may be feeling,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, adding that there’s still work ahead to find long-term solutions to how Canada’s elderly are cared for.

Who is eligible for the Canadian government’s new COVID-19 aid for seniors?

Any senior who is eligible for the Old Age Security (OAS) pension will receive a $300 payment, and an additional $200 is being sent to seniors eligible for the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). No application is required to receive this one-time payment.

Seniors are a demographic that continues to be hardest hit from a health standpoint by COVID-19, with deadly outbreaks in long-term care homes across the country. Others are facing additional economic challenges as many live on a fixed income and have expressed concerns about their ability to make ends meet during this time.

If you, or someone you know, have investments that have suffered during this pandemic the Reverse Mortgage which allows you to access your equity without penalty might be the solution you’re looking for. Contact us at callateam@dominionlending.ca for more info.

Learn more about the seniors’ aid here.

Angela Calla is a 16-year award-winning woman of influence mortgage expert. Alongside her team, passionately assisting mortgage holders get the best mortgage, and educating them on The Mortgage Show on CKNW for over a decade and through her best-selling book The Mortgage Code available on Amazon. To purchase the book click here: The Mortgage Code. Proceeds from all sales will be donated to Access Youth Outreach Services. Angela can be reached at callateam@dominionlending.ca or 604-802-3983.

If you have questions about mortgages or financing in today’s current environment this is an excellent resource for you.

We are very pleased to have been selected by Canadian Mortgage Podcast as one of the top mortgage professionals in the country.

During the episode we cover some very important information for Canadians.

We discuss what is required today to get a new mortgage.  We also cover important information for Canadians looking to refinance.

There are also some insights on the current environment and how you can approach your personal finance right now.

If you have any direct questions or know anyone looking to buy, sell or refinance please feel free to reach out directly by emailing us at callateam@dominionlending.ca.

Listen to it here

Angela Calla is a 16-year award-winning woman of influence mortgage expert. Alongside her team, passionately assisting mortgage holders get the best mortgage, and educating them on The Mortgage Show on CKNW for over a decade and through her best-selling book The Mortgage Code available on Amazon. To purchase the book click here: The Mortgage Code. Proceeds from all sales will be donated to Access Youth Outreach Services. Angela can be reached at callateam@dominionlending.ca or 604-802-3983.

We had the privilege of donating some coffee tumblers to our health workers on the front lines at the Eagle Ridge Hospital. What a wonderful group of people! We’re so happy we could help!

Angela Calla is a 16-year award-winning woman of influence mortgage expert. Alongside her team, passionately assisting mortgage holders get the best mortgage, and educating them on The Mortgage Show on CKNW for over a decade and through her best-selling book The Mortgage Code available on Amazon. To purchase the book click here: The Mortgage Code. Proceeds from all sales will be donated to Access Youth Outreach Services. Angela can be reached at callateam@dominionlending.ca or 604-802-3983.

The next phase of British Columbia’s COVID-19 response will allow residents to host a small group of friends for dinner, get a professional haircut, and play low-contact sports.

The plans unveiled by B.C. Premier John Horgan on Wednesday make it possible for a wide variety of businesses and services to reopen as early as mid-May, including pubs and restaurants, retail stores, salons and barbershops, libraries, museums and art galleries.

Crucially, they also promise to bring back elective surgeries, and let dentists, physiotherapists, registered massage therapists, speech therapists and others in the health services sector return to work.

LEARN MORE

Angela Calla is a 16-year award-winning woman of influence mortgage expert. Alongside her team, passionately assisting mortgage holders get the best mortgage, and educating them on The Mortgage Show on CKNW for over a decade and through her best-selling book The Mortgage Code available on Amazon. To purchase the book click here: The Mortgage Code. Proceeds from all sales will be donated to Access Youth Outreach Services. Angela can be reached at callateam@dominionlending.ca or 604-802-3983.

Canadian banks are expected to tighten access to home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) when coronavirus-linked government assistance programs end in a few months, as lenders seek to limit credit to already-stretched borrowers, industry watchers said.

Such lines of credit — which allow homeowners to borrow back equity in their properties — have seen limited drawdowns since the coronavirus outbreak sparked an economic collapse, with many struggling borrowers using the federal government’s stimulus measures and banks’ loan payment deferrals to get by.

We saw similar changes to HELOCs back in 2008. Now’s the time to review yours if you haven’t already.

Please note lenders reserve the right to change their terms at any given time.

READ MORE

Angela Calla is a 16-year award-winning woman of influence mortgage expert. Alongside her team, passionately assisting mortgage holders get the best mortgage, and educating them on The Mortgage Show on CKNW for over a decade and through her best-selling book The Mortgage Code available on Amazon. To purchase the book click here: The Mortgage Code. Proceeds from all sales will be donated to Access Youth Outreach Services. Angela can be reached at callateam@dominionlending.ca or 604-802-3983.

How You Can Access Online all your Interactions with your CRA and Service Canada Accounts Online, Anytime!

My Service Canada Account (MSCA) is a secure online portal that lets you apply, view and update your information for:

• Employment Insurance (EI)
• Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
• Old Age Security (OAS).
• And now also any of the many COVID-19 benefit programs for Canadians.

If you do not already have one, start by creating your Service Canada ‘My Service Canada Account’ here .

Within your ‘My Service Canada Account’ you should first setup or to confirm that your direct deposit account information is correct to facilitate the receipt to your bank account of any Government of Canada benefits, from CPP to OAS and EI and any of the many COVID-19 benefit programs.

To do this, login and go to ‘Service Canada account services’ and in the View/Change tab click on Canada Pension Plan (CPP) / Old Age Security (OAS) link and then click on ‘Payment information’ and then click on ‘2020’ and it will then display the payments you have received for both pensions by date.

Connecting your ‘My Service Canada Account’ with your CRA ‘My Account for Individuals’

From your My Service Canada Account, you can also securely access your income tax and other benefit information by clicking on the Canada Revenue Agency “My Account” button. This will connect you to your Canada Revenue Agency account without having to login or revalidate your identity. And if you have not yet registered for your online CRA ‘My Account for Individuals’ you can do this here Registration process to access the CRA login services

Learn how you can also sign in to your My Service Canada Account from your bank account login

My Service Canada Account: Register with your bank

Link between My Account and My Service Canada Account

The link provides you with a convenient connection between the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) My Account for Individuals and Employment and Social Development Canada’s (ESDC) My Service Canada Account.

If you are registered for CRA’s ‘My Account for Individuals’ you can securely access ESDC’s My Service Canada Account without having to login or revalidate your identity. The link will take you directly to your My Service Canada Account within a single secure session, without having to sign in or register with MSCA.

Using the “Tell Us Once” feature you can now update and share your direct deposit banking information with both CRA and ESDC in one easy step.

Individuals receiving a Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefit, will be able to update their banking information with one department and can choose to share it with the other. Canadians can choose to share direct deposit information through multiple service channels including:

How to get your CRA ‘statement of account’

Your Statement of Account is what you will need when applying for a mortgage in order to prove you have paid any money showing on your NOA as owing to CRA.

Login to your CRA ‘My Account’ and you will land on the ‘Overview’ page.  In the Accounts and section of that page click on ‘View statement of account’ and then print that page or save it as a pdf file.

Angela Calla is a 16-year award-winning woman of influence mortgage expert. Alongside her team, passionately assisting mortgage holders get the best mortgage, and educating them on The Mortgage Show on CKNW for over a decade and through her best-selling book The Mortgage Code available on Amazon. To purchase the book click here: The Mortgage Code. Proceeds from all sales will be donated to Access Youth Outreach Services. Angela can be reached at callateam@dominionlending.ca or 604-802-3983.

Gary Mauris recently spent an hour on a live zoom webinar with “The Wealthy Barber David Chilton”.

WATCH THE FULL WEBINAR HERE

Summary of the conversation:

David believes residential mortgage rates are going to remain low for a very very long time and he says he does not like to make predictions but this one he feels comfortable with.

He thinks there may be a reset on people wanting to buy luxury items.

He said that he believes People that live within their means are happier with their lives. Everything has its limits. “When the tide goes out you see who is swimming naked.”

Buckle down and fine-tune those items that are not causing us happiness. Most people will find joy from not having financial pressure.  Live within your means.

We have to stop defining ourselves by what we own.

Steps to dig ourselves out of the COVID-19 crisis.

Each family has its own unique scenario.  A lot of families are still earning an income and they are saving a ton of money because they have not been spending money! He praised the Canadian Government for getting monies into the hands of Canadians.

AirBnB has dried up. This is going to hurt those that relied on this income. Anything tied to these properties with AirBnB will probably see these properties listed for sale once the COVID crisis ends and a flood of real estate listings in this space.

Equity Markets: Opportunity of a lifetime? or a Risk? 

He does not move in and out of stocks… he has typically not been a trader… he is long term. He Believes the Canadian Banks are a strong investment but it depends on how quickly the crisis passes. He is not a great trader and believes there may be one more downturn.

Individual sectors

Governments will be looking for ways to jump-start the economy and spending money in certain sectors. He thinks Gold is something to have in your portfolio as “insurance” 3 to 10% of the portfolio.

Should people leverage – borrow to buy stocks?

Do it within reason and you have to be psychology ready to deal with this.

The reluctancy to shop online is virtually now eliminated.  Retail? The compound effect is brought forward which doesn’t make him feel good about Retail.

The energy sector is under tremendous pressure: his take on Oil

He said This is the most negative about any investment opportunity ever. He said it is probably a decent buy. He does not think oil is going anywhere soon. There is too much reliance on it, but he thinks it is an excellent buy opportunity but long term it may not be good. With solar cost and alternative fuels, the oil sector will feel pressure in the long term.

The Principals from his book “The Wealthy Barber” written 30 years ago are still applicable today and worth the read.

I hope this is helpful to you as it was for me.

Angela Calla is a 16-year award-winning woman of influence mortgage expert. Alongside her team, passionately assisting mortgage holders get the best mortgage, and educating them on The Mortgage Show on CKNW for over a decade and through her best-selling book The Mortgage Code available on Amazon. To purchase the book click here: The Mortgage Code. Proceeds from all sales will be donated to Access Youth Outreach Services. Angela can be reached at callateam@dominionlending.ca or 604-802-3983.

Reduction in RRIF Minimum Withdrawal

Minimum withdrawals must be made from an individual’s Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) beginning in the year after the RRIF is established. These minimum withdrawals are based on the individual’s age and are calculated as a percentage of the fair market value of the RRIF assets at the beginning of the year. For 2020 the government is allowing a reduction of the required minimum withdrawals from RRIFs by 25%. Individuals who have already taken out funds will not be able to recontribute.

What this means for you:

• More tax-deferred growth: If you do not need the full distribution from your retirement account(s), you now have some more time to earn tax-deferred growth before full distributions are required again in 2021.
• You still may want to take the full distribution:
  • You may still want to review your withdrawal strategies with your financial advisor and tax professional to see if it makes sense to withdraw 100% of the funds this year, depending on your income needs and tax bracket.
  • If you have access to a combination of taxable accounts, traditional retirement accounts, and Tax-Free Savings Accounts, accounts, you may want to review which is the best to take withdrawals from, considering both your current tax situation and your desire to leave assets to your heirs.

If you would like to update your existing payment schedule now or delay a payment later in the year, review and complete the payment request change form with your financial advisor.

Delay in Tax Filing Requirements

The federal income tax filing date has been extended to June 1, 2020 for individuals (other than trusts), while the June 15, 2020 deadline continues to apply for self-employed individuals and their spouses/partners. The deadline to pay any balance due for your individual income tax and benefit return for 2019 has been extended from April 30, 2020 to September 1, 2020, and from April 30, 2020 to September 1, 2020 for self-employed individuals or those who have spouses or common-law partners that are self-employed.

What this means for you:

We recommend the following when considering when to file your taxes.

• Are you expecting a refund or to owe taxes?
  • If you are owed a refund, it may be best not to wait to file to ensure you receive your refund as soon as possible.
  • If you owe taxes and have more immediate expenses, this gives you additional time to pay. That said, you want to make sure you’ll still be able to pay what you owe come September 1, 2020.
• If you expect government benefits (such as the Canada Child Benefit or the Goods and Services Tax Credit) you may want to file sooner in order to ensure your benefits are not interrupted.

READ MORE

Angela Calla is a 16-year award-winning woman of influence mortgage expert. Alongside her team, passionately assisting mortgage holders get the best mortgage, and educating them on The Mortgage Show on CKNW for over a decade and through her best-selling book The Mortgage Code available on Amazon. To purchase the book click here: The Mortgage Code. Proceeds from all sales will be donated to Access Youth Outreach Services. Angela can be reached at callateam@dominionlending.ca or 604-802-3983.

Provincial Government Update: BC Emergency Benefit for Workers