I trust you all had a great Family day long weekend for those of you in Ontario. Next week, we will host a webinar on personal income tax update. There are recent changes you need to be aware of as you prepare to file your personal taxes this season. You will find more information on this including how to register for the webinar in this issue of my Weekly Top 5. I also share other valuable tips and resources. Enjoy and please remember to share this with everyone in your network:

1. A FREE Webinar On Personal Taxes & Tax Planning Tips

Join us for a special webinar as we share some important updates on personal taxes ranging from the extended deadlines for charitable donations, reduction of personal tax rates, disability support deductions, alternate minimum taxes, trust filing, carbon rebates, first-time home buyers GST rebate, personal support workers tax credit, other tax credits/deductions, and many more...

We will also share some important tax planning tips to help you save on taxes.

When: Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Time: 5 PM Sharp

Where: Online

To register for the webinar, go to: gmscpa.ca/personaltax​

2. Three ways to save taxes by changing your facts

Did you know that the majority of tax laws are written to motivate certain behaviors? The government will use tax laws to levy more taxes. But it will also use tax laws as tools to shape the economy by promoting social, agricultural, and energy activities. The government wants the economy to grow. To achieve this goal, the government provides incentives to people to engage in the activities that will drive growth in the economy. The wealthy understand this. So, they take advantage of these tax laws and engage in the activities that provide tax incentives. And by doing this, they save a lot in taxes. The poor and the middle class don’t understand this. They don’t see anything good in the tax law. As a result, they miss out on many tax incentives hidden in the tax law. If you want to save on taxes, you have to model what the wealthy are doing and engage in similar activities.. In this article, I share three ways to save on taxes by changing your facts. Read it here.

3. Let Me Help You Get Ahead In 2026

If you’re looking to accelerate your results in 2026, particularly with optimizing taxes, building more cash flow, improving your business or simply elevating your personal financial situation, I encourage you to consider working with me. As I’ve shared in the past, it’s so tempting to think we know it all. We want to figure things out ourselves. We want to go on the journey solo, not realizing that we can only go so far. Whether it is our pride or ignorance, we hurt ourselves when we don’t seek help from those that have accomplished what we want to accomplish. If you’re looking to achieve a major breakthrough or to simply go further faster, I invite you to consider coaching or consultation with me. A good start is to book a FREE 15-minute Tax Strategy Session with me here to get a taste of the potential results you can get from coaching.

4. Key Expenses to Deduct for Your Rental Property

Are you a real estate investor looking to maximize your wealth? In this short video, I share the key expenses to consider as you prepare to file your tax returns. Capturing all the relevant expenses will ensure you minimize the taxes you pay on your income. Watch it here.

5. What I’m currently Reading and Learning

I believe in lifelong learning. At our firm, I like to say that if you choose to work at GMS, you’ve inadvertently chosen a life of lifelong learning. One of the ways we learn is through the book club we run at the firm. Each week, as part of our firm-wide meeting, we discuss a book we’re all reading together. We’re currently reading Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin. This is one of my favorite books in personal finance as it provides some great insights on how to transform your relationship with money in order to achieve financial independence.

In a chapter we recently read, Vicki Robin redefined “Frugality” using the original Latin meaning of the word. According to Vicki, Frugality is enjoying the virtue of getting good value for every minute of your life energy and from everything you have the use of. She goes on to explain further in the quote below from her book:

“Frugality means enjoying what we have. If you have ten dresses but still feel you have nothing to wear, you may be a compulsive shopper - the thrill of getting is greater than the joy of having and using. But if you have ten dresses and have enjoyed wearing all of them for years, you are frugal. Waste lies not in the number of possessions but in the failure to enjoy them. Your success at being frugal is measured not by your penny-pinching but by your degree of enjoyment of the material world.”

Frugality now has a new meaning for me and I certainly desire to be frugal. What about you?