House rich, cash poor in retirement + MORE Oct 15th

When you make charitable contributions, you receive benefits that are both financial and emotional. First of all, you know that you are likely to feel good about your charitable contribution. The feelings that accompany generosity are worth it in and of themselves.
However, our government also likes to encourage generosity, and care for the needy. As a result, it’s possible to receive a tax credit for your charitable contributions. While most of us (hopefully) don’t donate just because there might be a financial benefit, it certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s available to you.
Even better is the fact that you might be able to invest your charitable donations credit and reap further financial benefits going forward.

What Kind of Tax Credit Comes with Your Charitable Donations?
I recently had a question that looked at the tax credit in a way I hadn’t thought of before (I love reader questions; they provide great post ideas, and they can benefit readers beyond the person who asks…

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Q: My wife (58) and I (57) are house rich, cash poor and just got approved for a line of credit for $600,000. We’re planning to retire at 65. We have no savings, no RRSPs and no TFSAs. When I reach retirement, I would like to get about $20,000 per year to spend on top of CPP and OAS. That’s the reason why I applied for the line of credit. Right now I’m still working and my annual income is about $70,000. If I borrow to invest, I could claim the interest on my tax return. Is it the right move or is there a better way to prepare for retirement?—T.
A: In an ideal world, we all go into retirement with a pension, investments and a paid-off house. In the real world, that doesn’t always happen. All you can do is try to plan the best course of action.
First off, the maximum CPP at age 65 is currently $12,460 and OAS is $6,765. Entitlement to CPP is based on years of contributions, while OAS is based on years of residency in Canada. These pensions are indexed to inflation…

Does your credit card cover you if you have to cut your vacation short or cancel it all together? Use this chart to compare some of the cards that can

We’re back after a few days off for a vacation so there is quite a bit to catch you all up on this week! News, Tips & Tricks It appears that as of October 26th Aeroflot will no longer serve Toronto ending direct SkyTeam service to Russia. If you are a SkyTeam flyer you’ll now have to route via Amsterdam, Paris, or Italy to get to Russia. (Source Airlineroute.net) If you are on the Boeing 787 watch, British Airways will be replacing their 777 service to Montreal with the new Dreamliner later this month (Source Airlineroute.net) Exciting news for YEG flyers, after Air Canada choose to cut back Transatlantic service from Edmonton other airlines are filling the gap. First Icelandair was so successful with their Edmonton flight over the summer that summer 2015 will see 6 flights per week from the 5 seen this year while KLM has announced a new 4 times per week service between Edmonton and Amsterdam that are set to start in May! This is KLM’s second city in Alberta and fifth in Canada…

We were in the midst of travelling last week when American Express announced the new update to their Business Gold Rewards card. In the short time we had to get the info out about the new public 30,000 Membership Rewards Points and first year free offer we had forgot to check the refer-a-friend bonus for the card. Well that offer has also been increased and is better than the normal public offer! With our refer-a-friend offer you can get 40,000 Membership Rewards Points along with the first year free. This is a great option for many of you small business owners out there as that 40,000 points is worth $400 with Amex’s TripFlex feature or they can be converted to 40,000 Aeroplan Miles or British Airways Executive Club Avios! You can apply for the card with the 40,000 point bonus here.Tie this in with other first year free offers and you can earn yourself 100,000 Aeroplan Miles for free right now! See here on how you can achieve this.Here are the details for the American Express Business Gold Rewards Card
 • Earn a Welcome Bonus of 40,000 points when you charge $5,000 in purchases to your Card in your first three months of Cardmembership…