As a new grandparent, I began to build a list of the new financial things my son and his partner should consider now that their baby has arrived. So, I figured it would be helpful to share this checklist with you as well. Ideally, you should consider and action some of the things listed here in the first few months of pregnancy. 1. Decide on Your Maternity and Paternity Leave What kind of leave can we take and for how long? Mothers get at least 15 weeks of maternity leave, some of which can be taken before the baby is due. This varies slightly from province to province. In Alberta, for example, maternity leave lasts up to 16 weeks and can start as early as 13 weeks before the mother’s estimated due date. After the maternity leave period, parents are also able to take up to 62 weeks of parental leave. Parental leave is flexible and can be taken by the birth mother (after the maternity leave period), the othe...
To start, let me simply state that if you are Canadian and you have a goal to buy your first home, you should use an FHSA as the best way to save for your down payment. Also, if you are a parent with a goal of contributing to your child’s first house down payment, then helping them with an FHSA contribution is a great idea too. Now that I have your attention, let’s first dive into the details and facts surrounding the First Home Savings Account. Then, we’ll talk about some strategies and recommendations to squeeze maximum advantage from this program. What is the FHSA? The FHSA is a new tax advantaged registered account meant to help Canadians save for and purchase their first home. Like an RRSP or a TFSA, the FHSA is something you must register for by opening a specific FHSA account and then deposit savings into that account. The key advantage of an FHSA is that it provides direct tax savings in three ways: First, when you put money i...