What’s the best way of using your home equity during retirement? + MORE Nov 10th

Strong mortgage volumes throughout the year helped drive third-quarter results for two of the country’s key mortgage lenders in the third quarter.

Canadian mortgage brokers got a resounding vote of confidence today from one of the biggest investors in Canada. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has just announced a sizable investment in the M3 Group (M3), a broker network that bills itself as “the undisputed Canadian leader in mortgage brokerage.” M3 has 8,300 brokers and just posted a record $67 billion in funded mortgages in the 12 months ending September 30. Why the Investment Now? A BMO report in […]

Home insurance can be a tricky topic, and if you’re not reading the fine print, you could be relying on widely-held insurance myths to inform your coverage decisions. Let’s take a look at the home insurance myths and get the facts straight.

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1.MYTH: You must have home insurance.

FACT: Is home insurance required by law? Unlike auto insurance, home insurance has not been made mandatory by the government. However, if you’re asking “Is home insurance required for a mortgage?” you’ll get a different answer. If you own the property and have a mortgage on it, often, your bank or lender will require that you hold an active home insurance policy and name them on that policy. If you do not own the property but are renting it, your landlord may require that you have renter’s insurance.

2. MYTH: If I am away on vacation, my house is covered…

My husband is not working, and I have $50,000 in my RRSP. Can I withdraw that and put it against my mortgage so I can have less monthly mortgage to pay?– SK

Does it make sense to withdraw from an RRSP to pay a mortgage?

Sorry to hear about your husband’s job, SK. The unemployment rate is still higher than pre-pandemic at 6.7% in October 2021, but much lower than the 13.7% peak in May 2020. If he was receiving the Canada Recovery Benefit, that income support recently ended on October 23, 2021. Hopefully, he will find something soon. 

If you have $50,000 in your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), you could take a withdrawal. You do not need to wait until you retire or become a certain age. This assumes it is not a locked-in RRSP that came from a pension transfer. Locked-in accounts have limitations. Regular personal RRSPs do not, however.

The problem with you taking a RRSP withdrawal is that the amount you take out is added to your income. If your existing income for the year is $50,000, SK, you will pay at least 28% tax on your withdrawal and possibly more depending how much you take and your province or territory of residence…