Thank you for using MD Chat
Please fill in the fields below so we can get started.
.jpg?sfvrsn=b7c21d22_4)
Wondering what the proposed tax changes on private corporations are? Here is MD Financial Management’s quick snapshot of the proposals. 1. Income Sprinkling Pre-2017 tax rules Adult shareholders (age 18 and older) could receive dividend income from your private corporation regardless of the nature of their involvement in its operations. This allowed you ...
In a sector scan on health care I published recently, I mentioned that many of our positions within the health care sector were in the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industries. Recently, we have seen a flurry of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in this space—more than $30 billion year to date in 2018, most of that within biotechnology. Here are the factors that have contributed to the intense round of M&A activity among some of the ...
Although it says higher interest rates will eventually be required, the Bank of Canada announced Wednesday that it is holding its overnight lending rate steady at 1.25%. The announcement and the Bank’s most recent Monetary Policy Report point to weaker than expected growth in Canada during the first half of 2018, the result of poor household spending and slow export activity. Although GDP growth was weaker than the Bank had expected, it says ...
Buying a home is one of life’s biggest decisions. And it’s a major financial responsibility, especially if you’re also dealing with debt from your medical training. Once you’ve decided you’re going to buy, you need to determine what you can afford, the required down payment, estimated costs, mortgage basics and how to get mortgage pre-approval. Over the past several years, the federal government has been tightening mortgage rules to try to ...
In an earlier blog post I talked about eating healthy, exercising regularly and following a disciplined investment strategy. Markets started 2018 with a month of positive performance, but since then, volatility has increased to more normal levels and we’ve forfeited those early gains. At MD, we’ve been preparing for this; while we continue to believe equities will outperform fixed income at this time, our equity portfolios were generally ...
On Monday, China imposed tariffs on 128 American products—including wine, pork and pipes—in response to President Trump’s announced plans to implement 25% tariffs on US$60 billion of Chinese imports. Since then, news of a potential trade war has made the front page of The New York Times every day, as the two countries continue to exchange threats of new and increased levies. American businesses caught in the crosshairs, such as vintners in ...
Whether we realize it or not, real estate plays an important role in most of our lives. At some point, most of us will think about owning a home, which means thinking about mortgage rates, resale values, renovations, and many other things. My family is looking to move this summer, so I know how much time and analysis goes into shopping for a new home and getting an old one ready for sale. I think about real estate at work, too, as MD invests ...
The U.S. Federal Reserve announced Wednesday its first interest rate hike of 2018, shifting up 0.25%, increasing the target rate to 1.50% – 1.75%. The announcement capped Jerome Powell’s first meeting as Chairman of the Federal Reserve and expressed growing confidence in the strength of the U.S. economy. With the probability of a rate increase at over 90% before the announcement, the hike didn’t surprise investors. The Fed also provided ...
Over the past 30 years, China has engineered an astonishing rise from underdeveloped country to global economic superpower. It’s easy to forget, in the midst of this phenomenon, that China is not a democratic country. However, we are sometimes issued stark reminders, as we were a few days ago when China’s legislature voted to remove presidential term limits. China has been wrestling with “free-market” economic problems while it also turns a ...
---copy.jpg?sfvrsn=42b71222_4)
When the federal government tables a budget, as it did on February 27 this year, it’s always a busy time for tax professionals. We leap into action, analyzing the proposed tax changes in detail to determine the impact on clients. I know that our physician clients are interested in the potential impact of the federal budget. And while the proposed tax changes don’t actually affect medical residents just starting their careers, you probably want ...
