Monthly wealth management checklist

MAY

If you're taking steps to save money for the future, figure out how much of your salary you were able to save and invest last year. Realistically, you should expect to save at least 15% of your income, but you should aim for more if your household income is high.

You should also keep an eye on how your retirement savings are progressing. If you're already retired, check last year's expense ratio to make sure it's sustainable. Take this time to prepare for your annual meeting, when we'll assess whether you're on the right track, no matter what stage of life you're in.

Focus on maximizing your investment returns. Think of the big picture. This includes traditional investments, but also debt repayment. Capital allocation is unique to each individual. It's based on factors like interest rates on debts and how they compare to potential returns, stage of life and the potential tax advantages you'll get from borrowing vs. investing.

JUNE

We believe that managing your portfolio without an investment policy is like building a home without a plan.

You need to make sure you have a good idea of what you want to achieve, what your financial goals are, when you hope to reach them and what your asset allocation policy is. Once that's done, we'll review your investment selection criteria and determine how we'll manage any rebalancing and at what frequency. It's time to review your investment policy to make sure it's a good fit for your current situation.

JULY

July is the continuation of the process we started in June. We'll assess the viability of your portfolio and plan. The middle of the year is a good time to review your portfolio. We'll focus on analyzing the fundamental aspects of your plan and portfolio, including asset allocation, making sure your savings and expenses are taken care of and accounting for any major changes to your assets.

We'll also go over your costs. Reviewing your portfolio is also about assessing the fees you're paying. We'll take a closer look at them and translate any percentages into dollar amounts.

AUGUST

Create or review your estate plan. No one likes thinking about death or the prospect of becoming disabled, and that's probably why most people would prefer to clean their gutters than create an estate plan.

No matter how old you are or how much money you have, it's important to have a basic plan that outlines who will inherit your property, who will take care of your minor children and who will make important decisions on your behalf if you're ever unable to do so.

We can help. We take into account special situations that require a personalized estate plan drafted by an attorney. For example, this could be relevant if you have family members with special needs, if you own a business or have a complex family situation.

Create a digital heritage plan. Do you have a plan for your digital assets, like your social media or online messaging accounts? Most people don't. Our team can help you create a digital estate plan to accompany your general estate plan.

Consider the less formal aspects of your estate plan. For good reason, legal documents tend to get a lot of attention in estate planning discussions. But in addition to taking care of the administrative details, you should also take some time to think about the more personal aspects of your plan:

Who should inherit important assets that aren't necessarily precious?
Have you thought about whether you'd like to have a funeral, a celebration of life or nothing at all?
What about your pets?

These are issues you should discuss with your loved ones. Doing so will make it easier for them to make any difficult decisions on your behalf if and when the time comes.

SEPTEMBER

With back-to-school season in full swing, September is the perfect time to think about education financing. If you have children or grandchildren, you might be shocked by how fast they grow. Have you thought about how they're going to finance their higher education?

Sophia Bouchard can help you with this process.

OCTOBER

It's time to review your long-term care plan.

No one likes thinking about this. Unfortunately, once you get to the stage where you're wondering whether you should take out insurance or start liquidating your investment portfolio, there are no easy answers.

To make an informed decision, you need access to information that will help you understand the odds that you might need such care and for how long, and what these types of services cost. You also need to understand the jargon that's used in this industry. With this information in hand, you'll be able to create a long-term care plan that's tailored to your situation.

Take a closer look at your insurance. Most employers give you the option to take out health insurance and other benefits at the end of the year. This is also a good time to review your other insurance policies, such as P&C insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, etc.

NOVEMBER

Keep an eye on your capital gains. Mutual funds generally distribute capital gains in December, but companies often announce what they expect upcoming distributions to be as early as November. It's usually a good idea to avoid buying into a fund right before distributions are paid out.

Perform a tax audit. If your taxable assets have generated significant capital gains distributions in past years, see if you can make some tax-efficient adjustments. Consider the capital dividend account (CDA).

DECEMBER

December is the season of giving. If you're planning on giving your loved ones cash gifts this year, you can be extra generous without subjecting them to extra tax. That's because donations aren't taxable. This is true whether you make them during your lifetime or after you die.

The end of the year is also a good time to make charitable donations that could reduce your tax burden.

It's always a good idea to conduct a year-end portfolio review. Even if you've already been keeping an eye on your portfolio throughout the year, December is a good time to review everything in depth. If you hold investments that have lost value in a taxable account, you can trade them to generate a capital loss that you can write off on your taxes. For some people, this can be a silver lining.

Finally, all investors can upgrade their portfolio by transferring it to a tax-sheltered account, where any gains won't be taxable as long as they remain in the account.

Each Desjardins Securities advisor named on the front page of this document, or at the beginning of any subsection hereof, hereby certifies that the recommendations and opinions expressed herein accurately reflect such advisor’s personal views about the company and securities that are the subject of this publication and all other companies and securities mentioned in this publication that are covered by such advisor. Desjardins Securities may have previously published other opinions, including ones contrary to those expressed herein. Such opinions reflect the different points of view, assumptions and analysis methods of the advisors who authored them. Before making an investment decision on the basis of any recommendation made in this document, the recipient should consider whether such recommendation is appropriate, given the recipient’s particular investment needs, objectives and financial circumstances.