Make your purchases count with credit card rewards + MORE Apr 29th

The new documentary, White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch, is not just a nostalgia trip back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, when potent-smelling A&F stores were found in malls across North America. The film, recently released on Netflix, tells a story of how the retailer—and its former CEO Mike Jeffries—turned whiteness, sex and youth into a multi-billion dollar brand. The retailer notoriously catered to thin women and muscular men, and workers say they were often told to recruit good-looking people from sororities and fraternities on college campuses. That same recipe of exclusivity ultimately led to A&F’s decline.

In 2003, A&F, which had nearly 700 stores including its offshoot Hollister at the time, was hit with a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of former employees and job applicants who alleged racial discrimination by the retailer. The plaintiffs said the company hired predominately white people and kept workers of colour off the sales floor, designating them to stock-room and cleaning jobs…

If you’ve been using the same no-annual-fee credit card for years, you could be missing out on a wealth of rewards. Credit cards with rich rewards programs often charge a higher annual fee, but if you shop around, you can find one of those rare cards that offers both great perks and a $0 annual fee. Here’s how to pick the right card for your lifestyle and start turning your everyday purchases into valuable rewards.

Choosing the best rewards card for your lifestyle

If you’re thinking about carrying a rewards credit card, you’ll want to do some research to make sure you choose the best option for your lifestyle. Every card is different, but there are several general factors to consider.

What kinds of reward types do credit cards have?

Rewards can come in many forms, and you should make sure you’re collecting the most valuable type for your lifestyle and your spending habits. For example, keen travellers will be interested in travel rewards that can be redeemed for flights, hotels, car rentals and more…

It’s been a tough couple of years for buyers looking to break into the real estate market with massive price jumps and low real estate supply. However, Canadians have been finding another way to get a “new” home: making home renovations. 

At the beginning of the pandemic, when everyone was on lockdown, the desire to spruce up your home was hard to ignore. Many embraced the idea of taking on a non-essential reno project for the sake of aesthetics or simply to keep busy. By fall of 2021, a survey found that 27% of Canadians had renovated their homes since March 2020, and 20% planned to do so in the “near future.” 

That reno itch hasn’t gone away in 2022. A recent Scotiabank survey found that 59% of homeowners plan to stay put and renovate their homes this year—up from the 56% who said the same at the peak of the pandemic in 2020. And, of the 60% of Canadians who expect to get a tax refund this year (in the average amount of $2,400), 9% say they have renos in mind for that money…

We’re in the market for a new home, but we aren’t sure whether we should sell our home first or buy first. We’ve had people suggest both, and we’re wondering what might be best in the current real estate market.

Should you buy or sell first in real estate? 

Whether you should buy your next home first or sell your current home first is a perennial question in real estate. 

If you buy a new place first, you might be unable to sell your current house before the closing date. Then you’ll have multiple mortgage payments to contend with. Bridge financing—a temporary loan option designed for situations like these—can sometimes help, but not everyone qualifies for it. 

If you instead decide to sell your current place first, you might struggle to find and close on your next home before you have to move out. Either way, you could end up being rushed into making an enormous life decision—one with significant financial implications. 

So, what should you do? The right answer is specific to each individual, their financial situation and their risk tolerance…

I’ve realized that my large RRSP would generate a very large income tax bill if I die in the near future. I don’t have a spouse, or anyone who qualifies as a beneficiary to my RRSP on a tax-deferred basis. How can my executor pay my income taxes if it takes a year to get probated?—Carol 

Probate and the impacts on estate expenses

Thank you for your question, Carol. This is something I’ve seen many executors face when administering an estate. Let’s start with reviewing what probate is, what the process looks like, and the effects on the estate’s cash flow for paying taxes or other estate expenses, which can include taxes on income from registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs).

What is probate?

Probate is a term that most of us have heard before; however, the official name in Ontario is Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee with (or without) a will. How’s that for a tongue twister? 

Since the terminology eats up most of my word count for this article (joking of course), I will continue to reference it as probate…