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!