In 1984, the U.S. and Canada finalized an agreement that allows a person to qualify for both U.S. Social Security and Canadian retirement benefits. This made it easier for people who worked in both countries to qualify for retirement benefits…
Read More Qualifying For U.S. Social Security, Canada CPP and OAS (Totalization Agreement)
A client recently told me that he was planning on taking the lump sum pension because he heard from Dave Ramsey this is the best option. Are you kidding me?! You are making one of the biggest financial decisions of…
Read More Disagreeing with Dave Ramsey Regarding the Lump Sum Pension
$4,000 per month for the rest of their life or $745,000 now in the form of a lump sum. This was the decision that Dan and Sharon had to make as they approached retirement. The truth is that Dan and…
I’m writing this is the midst of another “polar vortex”. The car read negative twelve as I made my way through the icy wonder that is Michigan in February. The conversation with my parents at their Florida home didn’t help…
Read More Michigan Snowbird: Should You Make Florida Your Primary Residence?
I have good and bad news for those of you that live in the U.S. but have a Canadian RRSP from when you lived in Canada. The good news is that there is a really good chance your taxation here…
If you earned $50,000 per year in a 35-year career, you would have paid around $110,000 in social security taxes. Also, let’s not forget that your employer would have paid the same amount of taxes on your behalf, which means…
You have saved and saved throughout your working years and now it is time to start taking some money out. You didn’t think the government was going to let you have all of that money tax-free, did you? A lot…
Wait, Democrats and Republicans can actually agree on something? Well, every Democrat and Republican running for governor of Michigan at least. The Michigan “Pension Tax”, is so unpopular with Michigan retirees, that it actually brought together people on both sides…
Read More Analyzing The 2019 Proposal to Eliminate the Michigan Pension Tax
According to the University of Michigan website, it costs over $30,000 per year to attend UofM. Michigan State is not much cheaper with a year costing $25,000. Even scarier, if the trend continues it will cost nearly $270,000 for my…
Read More MESP vs. MET: What’s the Best Michigan College Savings Plan?
If you worked in both the U.S. and Canada, there is a good chance that you will have both U.S. social security and a Canadian pension. Unfortunately, this brings an added wrinkle regarding when you should turn on each benefit.…
Read More Social Security Strategies When You Also Have a Canadian Pension
