Summer is quickly coming to an end and I hope you’ve been making the best use of the Summer so far. Tomorrow, I will be joining others here in Oakville for a multicultural festival organized by the Nigerian Community in Halton. So, I invite you to join me and many others to experience the food, music, dance and all the goodies from different cultures - Nigerian, the Caribbean, Asian, Spanish and other African communities. Enjoy this issue where I share some valuable insights for your Summer pleasures. Please remember to share this with everyone in your network:

1. What is a Perfect Investment?

In this short video, I discuss my top 10 characteristics for the perfect investment/financial vehicle and I also evaluate different investment vehicles against these top characteristics. This video is an excerpt of the full video I shared with members of our Tax-Efficient Wealth Membership Network.

2. Why Business is a great tool for Wealth Building

One of the tools I recommend in combating taxes is owning a business. Why? Because businesses in Canada pay one of the lowest tax rates, approximately 12% in Ontario compared to a marginal personal tax rate of over 50%. If you’re a full-time employee, you have very limited opportunities to reduce your taxes so starting a side business is a critical step in managing your overall tax exposure. In this video, I outline what it takes to start a business and also give you an opportunity to watch module 1 of this 10-module training I created to help you launch your profitable side business. To enroll, go here.

3. How Tax-Efficient Are You?

One of the undesirable outcomes of earning a lot of income or making a ton of money is taxes. And no matter your position on taxes, one thing is certain - taxes impact your wealth. The good news is that we all have the opportunity to minimize taxes and achieve financial freedom. This is why I wrote the book, Tax-Efficient Wealth, to provide you with an easy-to-implement blueprint that will enable you to build and grow your wealth in a tax-efficient manner. After reading this book:

• You will have a solid knowledge of the key wealth drivers to build wealth and uncover the money mindset required to win the money game.
• You will have a blueprint and a step-by-step plan to start your journey on building and growing your wealth tax-efficiently.
• You will save taxes, have more money, and have the confidence to shatter all your money worries for life.

You can grab a copy of the book here and start your journey to tax-efficient wealth.

4. Where Is My Money?

It is not uncommon to earn income and wonder why you don’t have a penny of it saved or invested at the end of the month. One of the major reasons for this is what we call lifestyle inflation. A concept where our expenses grow in line with our income as we are wired to live just like the guy or gal next door. Another reason for this, which is not always obvious, is the impact of taxes. Taxes and certainly lifestyle inflation can negatively impact your ability to build wealth. In one of the chapters of my book, Tax-Efficient Wealth, I share some of the main obstacles to building tax-free or tax-efficient wealth. One of the obstacles I discuss is taxes. If you ask most Canadians what their biggest expense is, they will most likely say it’s housing costs. However, I think taxes are likely your biggest expense. According to a recent report from the Fraser Institute, the average Canadian family spent 43.6 percent of their income on taxes in 2018, more than they spent on housing and other expenses combined. Can you imagine that? This is significant. The average family’s total tax bill at 44 percent is likely more than the amount they’re paying on housing costs each year. Get more details on this in this article, where I also recommend an exercise you can undertake now to get a sense of where all your money is going.

5. Four Common Excuses Why People Don’t Invest and How to Avoid them

One of the best ways to build and grow your wealth is to invest, yet, many don’t invest. Over and over again, surveys done reveal a number of reasons why many Americans and Canadians don’t invest. And here are four common excuses: I Don’t Have Enough Money; I Will Invest Later; I Don’t Know Where To Start; and I’m Afraid I Will Lose Money. Read the full article here.