(Matti, Thomas and Jennifer celebrating their partnership)
The beginning of August is upon us already and this sees me close out almost 31 years of being in the Insurance and Financial Planning industry. September 1st is the start of my 32nd year. My how time flies. Along the way I have been honoured to work with absolutely tremendous people which has helped add to my success and that of our firm. Two of the most loyal, hardworking and dedicated individuals I have had the privilege of associating with is Matti Allas and Jennifer Harris.
Matti joined me from the Bank of Montreal in January of 2001 to assist in running our Retirement and Wealth Management division and has done an absolutely admiral job of guiding us in the right direction ever since. He is tremendous at what he does, a true professional who has the patience of Job, and his guidance to me and our clients is second to none. Jennifer joined me in April 2002, believe it or not from an employment advertisement in the paper, and after spending several years managing our Life and Living Benefits division she moved over in 2013 to accept a new challenge heading our Employee Benefits division. Jennifer is one of the hardest working, intelligent and loyal people I know. She is supremely reliable and will go through a brick wall to help our clients with claims. Seldom in today's marketplace do you see individuals stay in one job for as long as Matti and Jennifer have and I have been a very lucky recipient of their dedication.
Today I am thrilled and honoured to announce that Matti and Jennifer have become Partners in our firm. There are some points along one's life where you must stop and take stock and that has certainly happened to me in the past year or so. Not that I am planning on going away anytime soon - you are stuck with me - but I thought this was the right time to reward Matti and Jennifer for their many years of dedicated service. I also wanted to insure that should anything ever happen to me that the firm would continue on in the same stalwart direction I sent sail in back in September 1985. They are exemplary individuals in every way and I am humbled to have them as Partners. I hope you will raise a glass and celebrate this milestone with us!
Cheers,
Thomas O'Neill
PS: We encourage anyone who is, or has ever considered, purchasing a Whole Life policy to act now. These new rule changes by Revenue Canada will take effect on January 1, 2017. It will have a tremendous impact on the amount of funding you can place into new policies going forward and as such limit some of the effectiveness of tax sheltering. Policies must be approved, issued and in force prior to the year end deadline so time is of the issue.
While an individual will primarily buy a permanent life insurance policy because they
require long term protection for their family and/or business, Whole Life and Universal Life policies also provide the significant advantage of allowing tax-sheltered cash accumulation. This can be extremely valuable from a tax-planning perspective.
CRA sets specific limits on how much cash is allowed to accumulate tax-sheltered within a life insurance plan - this is referred to technically as the "Exempt Test" or "MTAR Limit". The reason for the limitation is that CRA wants to ensure that the policies are still being utilized for their original objective as an insurance vehicle, and not an investment product.
Group benefits programs have come a long way over the past decade. Long gone are the days of paying for expenses out of pocket, having to mail paper claim forms and receipts to the carriers, and waiting for a cheque to return. Most employees today take advantage of the Pay Direct Drug Cards and online submission of claims. But do you have the app?
If you are dealing with a loss or expecting an inheritance, the following article may help you plan the next steps through a very difficult process. This article provides a helpful overview when you are handling a loved one's financial affairs, or your own. Please feel free to contact us to further discuss your Estate Planning needs.
(Chris Mobius, Craig Mobius and Carey Mobius at the Garibaldi Glass Red Party on June 10, 2016)
Thomas and Jennifer were thrilled to attend the 50th anniversary celebration for Garibaldi Glass, our long standing valued clients and friends. Garibaldi Glass was originally founded by Bernd Mobius, and is now owned and operated by his three sons, Carey, Chris and Craig. With a state of the art manufacturing facility in Burnaby, Garibaldi Glass is now one of North America's most innovative and respected custom glass fabricators. Congratulations to this fantastic team on 50 years of excellence and we wish you many more to come!
Congratulations Jeff & Shonika!
(Jeff and Shonika Gopal at their wedding ceremony)
Congratulations to Jeff and Shonika on their marriage! Team O'Neill was honoured to attend their wedding on July 8 & 9th. We wish you an amazing life together, filled with happiness and love.
The team from Thomas O'Neill & Associates celebrating Jeff & Shonika's marriage
