What are we leaving behind

Have you ever chatted with your teenager about the purpose of money and the different strategies they have available to grow their money?

Well, if you have not you are not alone. Did you know that most typical teenagers can start earning income by the time they are 15? Earlier usually with a basic paper route or, if they are more on the entrepreneurial side, with shoveling snow, mowing the lawn, selling lemonade, etc.

I have had the privilege of raising two of my four children to adulthood, and both of them quite different on their values of money and time.

As parents we take the time to ensure they are understanding their subjects in school, getting enough extra curricular activities, proper health checkups, and hopefully enjoying their childhood.-- but have we taken the time to explain MONEY?

There are way too many tempting gismos and gadgets that make it hard for our teens to understand how to save their money, especially when their average income is $9.00/hr!!!

Where do you start? My first suggestion: to make it believable you should make sure that you believe the system works. There are many books out on the market about how to teach your children the importance of understanding their money and how to save.

A quick and easy technique is to decide together what portion of their paycheque you want to see go into a savings account, RESP (they can start this account before they turn 16), or even an RRSP. Make sure you celebrate the savings, and help them understand what they are achieving by getting a handle on their money early!

APRIL 30TH

Well fellow Canadians, it is that time again where we frantically scurry around the house looking for the 2009 tax folder so we can see if we paid enough to the taxman.

You may decide that you would like to try your hand at your personal taxes or that it is better in the hands of your accountant. Either way it is a good idea to refresh yourself with all the changes and tax breaks you have been granted for 2009.

The first thing I can't stress enough is make sure that you have all of your T4s, T4Es, T3s, etc. Revenue Canada will penalize you and charge you interest for with holding income on your T1. This is not something your accountant/bookkeeper would know!

If you are an employee and have expenses, you must ensure that you have your employer fill out the T2200 - Declaration of Conditions of Employment so that you can claim any vehicle or home expenses that your employer has not reimbursed you on.

If you are a sole proprietor or in a partnership that is not incorporated, ensure that you have all the appropriate expenses that you incurred to run the business. This also means the mortgage interest and property tax that you paid; claim only the percentage for your office space.

If you have children in daycare, make sure that you have the daycare receipt for the year. Should the daycare not be a formal company, you are required to have the caregiver's SIN on the receipt. You can also claim day camps and day sports schools your child participated in.

The government also gives Home Renovations Tax Credit for 2009. Make sure you read what is allowed to be deducted and gather up your receipts.

You have a lot of choices as to who you would like to do your taxes and where you would like to get them done. JUST GET YOUR TAXES DONE ON TIME!

Couples' Reprieve

Money is a hard topic to talk about just on your own, and when you are in a money crisis with your partner it can even break a marriage.

How do you break the ice so that each of you can state your claim, and listen with an open heart and mind to each other?

A few things that my husband and I do...

• Make sure that we have a quiet place to talk. We tend to go to a lounge where we can relax and it tends to keep the loudness down.
• Make a game plan that is manageable and can be split up thru out the week. Remember Rome was not built in a day and neither were your debt troubles.
• Talk about the positive aspects of getting your debt under control; what do you both want to do in a year's time; what do you want to save up for individually and together.
• DON'T TALK ABOUT how you got in this predicament -- you both know that: someone or both of you spent beyond your means.
• DO TALK ABOUT how you will both be accountable for the spending, how you should record it. My recommendation is that you meet on a weekly basis together and tackle this together. This positive and the negative belong on both of your shoulders.

Remember -- YOU LOVE EACH OTHER, and you can conquer this just like anything else you have faced together.

Trust me when I say that if you can work thru this now and together you will have a very fulfilling life together. AND YOU WON'T BE IN MONEY STRESS!

One step at a time,

Your Accountess
Tina Pratt

Electronic Record Keeping

Yesterday I learned something new, and I want to pass it on to you!

IC05-1 - Electronic Record Keeping

You the taxpayer are responsible for retaining all electronic records in a usuable file for the government. That is a loaded statement. What do I mean by that?

You are responsible - Just in case you have a third party (accountant/bookkeeper, e-commerce, internet service provider, outsource payroll, payables or receivables), you must ensure you have the proper documentation should Revenue Canada ever request a review.

Retaining - You must keep these records in the proper format for 7 years.

Electronic Records - As per Revenue Canada, "An electronic record is any information recorded in an electronically readable format."

Usuable - Excel or PDF. Most programs will transfer their data to an Excel or PDF format, and there are third party outsource services that do this, but only for a certain length of time. It is up to you to ensure that you have saved your data with proper backup.

Talk to your Bookkeeper or Accountant, and ask them to make sure all your documents are stored in the correct format, and the back up is done correctly!

TAX DEADLINES

Well it is that time again! No not the yearly checkup, but as uncomfortable! It does not have to be that way if you just make sure you are doing the following:

1.  Organization - It is a good idea, if you have not already been doing ,so to get your records together, organize by month, and, if you feel so inclined, get them entered into a computerized accounting program or at least an excel spreadsheet.


2.  Save Money - Complete your bank reconciliations, get all of the invoices and returned cheques and staple them to the back of your bank statement. If you do not have an accounting program you can still complete this task. YOUR ACCOUNTANT WILL LOVE YOU!

3.  Don't Throw Anything Out - Keep all receipts, your accountant will instruct you on the receipts that can work as an expense. One good practice is to write on your receipt what the purchase was for or who you took out for that meal.

4.  Business Use of Personal Vehicle - As at January 1, 2009, a mileage log needs to be maintained a minimum of one month out of the year and may be requested by CRA in an audit. You are required to complete a milieage log for one month and then it will be averaged for the year. You must keep this information for SEVEN YEARS! You can also claim the business portion of the following: fuel; leasing or financing costs; repairs and maintenance; license and registration; and parking.

5.  Home Office - Make sure that you gather the following information: rent; mortgage interest -- not the principal portion; property taxes; utilities; telephone; and home insurance.  There are other less obvious expenses you should be claiming -- YOUR ACCOUNTANT WILL TELL YOU!

With all this knowledge you should be able to feel a bit more in control when you set up that meeting with your accountant.

TO YOUR SUCCESS!

THE ACCOUNTESS

Get Ready to File

April 30th is not too far away and most of you, if not all of you, should have received your T4s, T3s, T5s and letters for your RRSP contributions for 2009 and the beginning of 2010.

The employer must mail these documents to the employees no later than the last week in February. If you have not received them you should be contacting your employer to let them know you have not received your T4, or any other T you may be expecting.

Do not ever think that you can submit your taxes without all of your papers accounted for. There is a huge penalty if you undersubmit your taxes, even if you have forgotten about one document.

Contacting your previous employer and letting them know that you have changed your address will help you receive your T4's on time. This can be handled as soon as you know you are changing your address. If you find that you move around a lot, tell them you would be happy to pick it up.

Just remember you have until April 30th, to file your personal taxes, to avoid any late penalties. STAY ORGANIZED AND THAT WILL SAVE YOU MONEY!

Know When to Fold Them

I want to talk about a word I have been hearing from a lot of people since the economy turned around and bit everyone in the butt: BANKRUPTCY. This usually will make grown people crumble. However, you need to really evaluate what brought you to this position.

We have become a society of "Give it to me NOW" and we don't really care about the financial consequences afterwards. What has happened, as you are all aware, is that our debt ratio has exploded and we have become mired in bills, collection calls, and the gut wrenching guilt of shamefulness.  There are probably far more people in this situation that not.

I am not condoning this, however I can't help but shake my head when I find out someone has qualified for a mortgage or a car loan that is way beyond their means. I have seen this happen way too many times.

My first challenge to you is to find out if there is a way to crawl out of the credit hole. Usually this means if you are choosing between food or bills then you have fallen in the credit hole. If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel then it may be time to talk to a Debt Counselor. I would think that once you have reached this point you are not concerned about your credit.

Once you have taken this step, pat yourself on the back, as this takes a lot of courage. As long as you stay focused to your financial recovery you can feel good about your decisions with your money again. With the right tools in place you will be able to fill your bucket up again!