Jerome Bitun

Here are the personal tax changes from the Federal Budget yesterday. TFSA The TFSA was introduced in 2009 as a way to save and invest for your future on a tax exempt basis. Contributions to a TFSA is not tax deductible but gains, income and withdrawals are tax free. Originally, the TFSA started with a $5,000 limit subject to inflation adjustments of $500 increments. Because of this, the TFSA limit from 2009 to 2012 was at $5,000, but changed to $5,500 from 2013 to 2014. The new 2015 budget proposes to increase the TFSA annual contribution limit to $10,000 effective immediately and going forward. However, the annual contribution limit will no longer be indexed to inflation but will be increased only if legislated. So if you have never contributed into a TFSA, you can now contribute up to $41,000 as long as you have been 18 years old since 2009. You can invest your TFSA into a variety of investments like stocks, bonds, GICs, mutual funds and segregated funds. RRIF A RRIF i...

Last week, my son wanted to buy the Star Wars Transformer he's been eyeing for the last month. My wife finally relented and they went to Toys 'R Us. My wife called me up and told my son to talk to me to see if I'll allow him to buy it. I told him that he can buy it as long as he pays for it. Being 4 years old, he doesn't really understand the concept of money and exchange yet. But I thought this might be a perfect way to teach him the value of money. So my wife paid for it and I told him that I will take the money he spent for the toy from his piggy bank. So last night, I sat him down and we counted out the money he spent. At first I took out the the Dollar coins and quarters, but when I counted out $22 worth, it barely reduced the content of his piggy bank. Since he's only beginning to learn how to add, it's a little difficult to get him to understand if I took the actual amount. So I decided to count out the pennies and nickels instead, now we're talking!...

Here's an interesting article on CNNmoney.com on how the rich and powerful teach their children about money and not to grow up with the entitlement mentality. A couple of examples like part of their allowance is expected to be given to charity and to savings. Another where they are given a budget for shopping and a limit is set, if that limit is used up, tough luck. To read more, visit this site .