There are various issues to consider:
a. Your Will
Usually couples make each other the beneficiary of their Wills. When you get divorced, any provisions in the Will where the former spouse is left assets or made the Executor are revoked. Therefore, you will need to reassess the provisions in your Will. Consequently, if you are drafting a new Will after a marriage breakdown, you should make sure that any dependent children are properly provided for on your death. The Family Law court can step in and overrule your Will if you don’t. Take the opportunity to review 2bempowered Will planning checklist on important issues to consider when creating a Will, and complete this 2bempowered personal record keeper to help you gather and update important information that you can share with loved ones including your executor or executrix.

b. RRSPs and RRIFs and Life Annuities
With these investment structures you can (and should in most circumstances) have named beneficiaries. When your relationship breaks down you will need to look at these to determine if the beneficiaries are still appropriate in your new situation.

Insurance
In many cases, married couples name each other as the beneficiaries of their life insurance policies. If you are becoming separated or divorced, you may want to reconsider who you name as your beneficiary. If you do not contact the insurance company, your former spouse will continue to be the beneficiary of the policy. In the case of relationship breakdown, you may want to change the insurance coverage on your life in order to provide for your children should anything happen to you.
Depending on the nature of the separation agreement, you may be required to buy life insurance with your former spouse and/or children named as the beneficiaries. This is typically the case where spousal and/or child support is being paid by the primary income earner. This ensures that if the supporting spouse dies, there would be enough money to support the children. In the case of this type of policy, the beneficiaries are ‘Irrevocable’. That means the beneficiary cannot be changed to someone else without the written permission of the current beneficiary.

Jay F. Llave
“Create and Protect Wealth”
Insurance and Financial Advisor
Creative Planning Financial Group
(416) 487-5210 ext. 5317
http://www.jayllave.com About me
http://www.jayllave.com Our BLOG

2bempowered’s Personal Records Keeping:
Make sure that your spouse/siginificant other/children/executor know where the following Documents and Information Is:
* your will
* the family passports – for each person
* Birth Certificates OR Landed Immigrant Status Papers OR Citizenship (if new)
* Health Card for all family members
* CPP information
* RRSPs – what are you invested in?
* Name and number of Children’s doctor: family, eye, dentist, specialists
* What bank(s) do you and your significant other deal with – all accounts
* Name of your financial advisor(s) – what does he/she financially control? There may be different people that you deal with.
* Investments – mutual funds? Insurance? Reits? Where is the money invested?
* Name of accountant(s) and lawyer(s)
* Who is your mortgage registered with – what is the status: renewal date, how much owing on it, etc. Whose name is on the mortgage? Is there a lien on the house?
* Car leasing information
* Property taxes – are you paid up to date?
* Personal taxes – is your spouse paid up to date?
* Personal Bankruptcy- will this affect the estate?

2bempowered’s Will Planning Checklist:
* in the case of joint custody, if you die before your ex-husband/wife the children will go to the custody of the living parent. In a case where both parties are gone you must think about who you want to leave your child/children to – who will be the most responsible, parent in the way that you want, and loving to your child/children.
* in the case of sole custody then naming a person to care for your child/children is imperative. Again, think about the most responsible, a person/couple who parents in the same way you do, and one who loves your child.
* Make sure that you have enough life insurance for your children so that they can live in a lifestyle that they are used to. Term insurance is inexpensive. Name your child/children the beneficiaries
* In a will you have a financial executor – choose wisely, one that will work in the best interests of the child/children, you can trust with the money that is left, and will honour your wishes. I have spread out the distribution with 25% at age 21, 25% at age 30 and the remainder at age 35. I am concerned that if my children are left with too much money at a young age they will blow it. The executor will have discretion to distribute for what is necessary – education and so on.
* In a will you also have a medical executor – make your wishes known to this person – Do not want to have heroic measures done? Do not want to live in a vegetative state? Make sure that your beliefs are known to this person so that they will carry them out.
* In the case of property – make sure that all your taxes are covered so when the property is transferred to the child/children (young or old) that they do not have to worry about this. In many cases, property – second homes, cottages, condos, apartment buildings, etc. are passed on and there is a capital gains tax that if not financially considered can make the property too expensive for the child and will need to be sold. (This is in Canada – other countries may have different rules).
Make sure that they are the beneficiaries of your property.
* RRSPs – make sure again that you have the taxes covered for your investments. RRSPs work because they are a deferred tax – someone will have to pay for the taxes.
Make sure that the child/children are listed as the beneficiaries.
* Insurance – make sure again there are no tax costs – and make sure

I strongly suggest that you sit down with a lawyer and discuss what your needs are. A will doesn’t have to cost a lot of money – $300-$400. It is a worthwhile investment and will give you peace of mind.

Depending on what country you live in you will have to find out the laws around transferring property (primary and secondary), RRSPs (registered retirement savings plan) and so on.

Don’t wait do it now!

All my best,

Sandra

Canada has now put in place a way to check and see whether your financial advisor has the credentials they claim or has had and run-ins with regulators, the self-policing agency for the brokerage industry. The Investment Industry Organization of Canada (IIROC) has created an online search where simply typing in the advisor’s name and following a link pulls up a record of qualifications and any disciplinary action taken by the agency.

With recent frauds and Ponzi schemes that have victimized investors underscore the need to give investors better tools to verify that their financial advisor is registered and regulated by the securities industry regulator. For employment information you can go back to 2003 and for disciplinary action to 1997.

Know that the one weakness is that if an advisor has had a run-in with another regulator, it may not show up in the report unless the advisor discloses it to IIROC. In addition, an advisor who has left or been expelled from the business won’t generate a report. The system relies on self-disclosure. It is likely that some will choose not to disclose. There is more work to be done however it is a good start.

Some want this type of checks and balances to be standardized across the whole regulatory sphere in Canada – insurance industry and Mutual Funds Dealers Association. It needs to be integrated across the provinces and then Country.

If you are from another country you may want to consider lobbying for this type of regulation – checks and balances. It is time that the people stood up for their rights and are heard!

Good luck. To learn more goto IIROC

Whatever it means to you .. enjoy this last weekend of summer. It has been a great summer weather wise here in Toronto. I accomplished much of what I wanted to and and working feverishly to finish up stuff before my boys come back to me Sunday.

I also know that the “white” rule no longer applies – there really are no hard fast rules in fashion today – everything goes.

This is true for business. The rules of yesteryear do not apply to today. The next decade will bring so much change to our world – the power house countries, the emerging markets and the opportunities that they present, the role of our youth, the role of our baby boomers and so on.

I will enjoy this last weekend – continue on in my work however at a nice pace.

Whatever you choose to do this long weekend I hope you and your family enjoy themselves.

Take some time to dream about what you really want – come back ready to make some changes!

All my love,

Sandra

Improving your posture article

Please watch video on new CPR- Chest Compression

Like all people we have our life stories — each and everyone of us and EACH ONE HOLDS VALUE.

Barbara Walters’ memoirs provide a truly human experience – she is not a demi-G-d, she is not super human, her life is not perfect, the path wasn’t straight to the top RATHER, she “fell” into TV at a time when it was not fully respected nor understood, she found herself coming up against her male counterparts (there were some supporters) in an ALL male industry, she had three marriages that ended in divorce, she travelled a lot in her career which did impact her daughter even though little Jackie was surrounded by loving people, and finally her drive was not driven initially or even many years into her career by her ego and success RATHER she was driven by the need to support her family – mother, father and mentally challenged sister. She carried a lot of guilt and fear – two forces that riddled her life. The title of her book is very telling: AUDITION. As her family moved around a lot due to her father’s type of work – he was in show businesses and created large spectacular shows – she felt with each move she needed to audition for new friends, at a new school and so on. This skill, good or bad, I believe assisted her in her life and success.

Why do I tell you this? When I finished the book and read about her failures, her triumphs, her persistence, the knowledge and experience she gained, how she broke through many barriers for future women in television even if that wasn’t her initial reason d’être, her life showed me that “if she can do it so can I”.

THIS IS WHAT I PASS ON TO YOU … If you want something enough you will find the strength to follow your dream even when others tell you that you cannot do it.

My work is about shifting paradigms that “push” against the current systems. There were many times I resonated with Barbara and saw how she stood alone in her fight to be heard and listened to. She did find her supporters and through her persistence and hard work, her intuitive knowing as a journalist – she became and is an amazing interviewer. She knows how to ask good questions and more importantly she knows how to listen!

The economy is shaky and many are concerned with their jobs, putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their head. To me this is the perfect time to start to think about what you really want to do. I am not saying to quit your job rather start to volunteer for something that you are interested in, start writing at home a few hours a week .. take the time and start to invest in your dreams. The path and road are never straight. If you did this and became derailed then put yourself back on the track and continue from where you left off.

Harland “Colonel” Sanders took his chicken business to new heights at the age of 65 when he began to franchise Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The summer is coming to a close and with September the mind begins to shift to work, school for the kids and the last quarter for businesses.

It is also the time to put your dreams into action. Go for it.

If you are on holiday this week with your family, enjoy. Have a wonderful weekend.

All my love,

Sandra

Watch this and see what inspires you: Will’s Wisdom

These artisans of the disadvantaged countries want to improve their standard of living, take back their power and begin to direct their own lives – make good choices for them and their families. Two women, 31 year old, Farah Malik, and 30 year old, Dana Arbib, both from New York City are doing just that. Their company delivers handcrafted high style while providing a better life for women artisans in troubled regions of the world.

You can find silk scarves crafted by Afghani widows, cashmere wraps from a women’s co-op in Nepal, jewellery hammered by Kurdish refugees in Turkey… and so much more. A Peace Treaty.

What I find fascinating is how these women have transcended their political and cultural difference – one is a Libyan Jew and the other A Pakistani Muslim – to come together and make a difference in the world.

I just finished a meeting with a mentor and he kept referring to “bottom line profit” – he tells me that is all companies are concerned with. Yes profit/bottom line is important however there is a shift happening in the corporate world – there is a new breed of employee emerging – the youth – one that is not driven solely by money and profit – rather they want to earn money AND make a difference in the world/their communities: a win/win for all parties.

Corporations will be wise to know the trends that will impact their companies in the coming decade:

* a labour shortage which will open up opportunity for the most talented and sought after to “name their price”
* retaining those that work for you now and supplement with new incoming talent.
* the youth will not work 24/7 – they want a work/life balance and will accept less money to do so
* the youth want to work in creative and innovative environments
* the youth are more inspired by companies that “walk their talk” and know who they are/are aligned with their mission and vision statements
* they will question and push the status quo

How long will it take for companies to realize that the more aligned your corporate mission and vision statement is to how your operate your business, “walk your talk” internally and with clients/customers – the greater your success is- PROFITS! There is a natural flow to your business: building relationships, communication, teamwork, overcoming obstacles, respect, and meeting the needs of your clients.

Like all of us we sometimes get derailed from our goals and life dreams however not for long. I even question the word derailed as life is a journey and never a straight line. I was watching a fashion show from Istanbul and the designer set the runway up with jagged lines. When asked about this she said — life is never full of straight lines.

Take a look at her video(s) and site:

http://www.youtube.com/donnasirianni

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