How the election affects your savings: Mayers + MORE Oct 27th

Estate planning doesn’t have to be done all at once. We break it down into steps.
Estate planning: A guide to protecting your legacy »
Step 1: Asset List
Go through your home (inside and out) and make a list of all items worth $100 or more. Then add the non-physical assets you own, such as bank accounts, investment accounts and insurance policies. This is your asset list.
Step 2: Debt List
Next, list all your outstanding debts, such as mortgages or auto loans, as well as all active credit cards or lines of credit without balances.
Step 3: Membership List
The next list is for all the organizations you are a member of: the CAA auto club, Costco, your health club and your college alumni association. Lawyers will charge $150 or more to notify each association or organization of your death: provide a list, however, and your family can do it for nothing. Moreover, some associations offer life insurance benefits to their members.
Step 4: Name Charities
List the specific charities close to your heart if you want donations made…

TFSA rules are unlikely to change before the new year, but if you have the money to use the $10,000 limit, best do it by then.

As the world ushered in the new millennium, naysayers of the automotive world dismissed hybrid vehicles as unproven technology with batteries that would either electrocute early adopters or drain their bank accounts with premature replacement costs. Fast forward 15 years and today there are more than six million hybrids happily motoring about the world’s highways and byways. Prices have come down in recent years and with that in mind we asked our automotive panel to review five hybrids from a wide variety of styles and price points.
Best deal: Toyota Prius C
$21,055-$26,055
Although all five of our featured vehicles have their own merits, we’ve chosen Toyota’s tiniest hybrid as our top pick this issue because of its winning combination of value, style and fuel savings. “It’s priced right, super fuel efficient and its small footprint makes it an excellent city car,” says Tim Dimopoulos. Honda actually introduced the first mass-produced hybrid in 1999, but it was the original Prius (which debuted the following year) that took flight and is still the sales leader with more than three million worldwide…

The Liberals are forming the next Canadian government, with newly-minted Prime Minister designate Justin Trudeau to announce his cabinet on November 4th. It’s a time of great anticipation as Canadians are waiting to see how the new leadership will move forward with the bold economic changes promised during the Liberals’ campaign.
Will there be big changes for your household finances? We’ve gone over the major money promises made by the now-majority government, and how they could play out .
A Change to Income Tax Rates
One of the biggest changes will be how much income tax Canadians pay, particularly those who make less than $89,401 and those who make more than $200,000.
The middle income-tax bracket rate will drop from 22 per cent to 20.5 per cent, and the Liberals claim those with a taxable income between $44,700 and $89,401 will save as much as $670 per year on their income taxes under their so-called middle cut tax plan. However, the opposite will be true for those in a higher income bracket…

TFSA rules are unlikely to change before the new year, but if you have the money to use the $10,000 limit, best do it by then.