Peace of mind through financial confidence

AFS Insights: AFS News

Celebrating Financial Literacy Month – Part 2 of 3

Last week, we shared some of our favourite articles explaining basic financial concepts. This week, we have a few tools for you to use to help you better understand and manage your personal finances: Worksheets to Hone Your Money Management Skills A Variety of Helpful Tools and Calculators Guides to Common Financial Questions Tools and… Read more »

Celebrating Financial Literacy Month – Part 1 of 3

November is Financial Literacy Month, an initiative hosted by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada to empower Canadians to achieve their financial goals through better education and understanding of financial concepts. To help you get started, we wanted to share these four articles which do a great job of explaining some basic financial concepts all… Read more »

Two Tips in a Low Interest Rate Environment

Every day we read stories in the media about the impact of low interest rates on Canadians.  It doesn’t appear rates will be rising any time soon.  So, what should we do?  Many of our clients are wondering how low rates will affect them over the short- and long-term.  Following are a couple of key… Read more »

Blockchain

I watch TED talks daily to increase my awareness of what is taking place in technology, education and design fields around the world. I find TED lectures and presentations broaden my perspective and keep me open to new ideas, whether I agree with them or not.  It also provides a break from the financial services focus… Read more »

Fees, Options & Services

It seems over the past year there have been a tremendous number of articles written about the high cost of advisor charges, commissions, trailer fees and the lack of transparency for clients to understand what they receive for them.  In the case of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), a number of changes have been implemented… Read more »

Upcoming Insurance Changes

As of January 1, 2017, changes will be made to the Insurance Act that will impact insurance benefits. New mortality tables and new rules are being adopted in the insurance industry which reflect the fact that people are living longer and their insurance policies will pay out at an older age. Any insurance policies issued… Read more »

Planning for Your Children’s Education

At the start of a new school year, there are plenty of things to keep parents with young children busy (even busier than usual!).  Shopping for school supplies, establishing new routines, and managing those first few anxious weeks as your children adjust to new teachers and new classmates can be exhausting.  But each September you get… Read more »

Health and Wellness is the Key to Growth

Over the past 20 years employee health and wellness has been on the decline (read more about this concerning trend here).  Encouraging your employees to engage in a healthy lifestyle will not only make them more productive on the job, it can also help reduce the costs of your Employee Benefits Program. To help your… Read more »

New Canada Child Benefit Program

Starting this week, the majority of Canadian families with children under 18 will begin receiving tax-free Canada Child Benefit (CCB) payments. Click here to learn more about this new program.

Maximize Idle Cash in Your Company

Many of our clients are holding fairly high cash cushions in their business. This enables them to respond to the unexpected – whether it’s a drop in sales or an acquisition opportunity.  In today’s low interest rate environment, the challenge is getting much of a yield on your short-term cash. Perhaps a bigger challenge is… Read more »