The McClelland Financial Group

Remember March 2020? Markets fell over 30% in weeks. It felt like the floor was gone.

But in this week's episode, we discuss why the size of a market drop is the wrong thing to be watching for.

🎧 Ep. 372: Episode 372: Recession-Ready: The 14-Minute Financial Defence Plan - Watch the full episode, link in bio.

📌 Wondering if your portfolio is built to ride out a downturn, however long it lasts? Call us at 905-771-5200.

Source: Dimensional Fund Advisors, U.S. bull/bear market data since 1926

Your OAS may have shrunk this July, and you might not know why. 💸

Old Age Security gets recalculated every quarter, but July is the big one; it's when the government uses your 2025 tax return to set your OAS for the next 12 months. If your net income crossed $95,323, the clawback started eating into your deposit. No letter. No phone call. Just a smaller amount.

✅ The fix isn't earning less. It's restructuring where your income comes from: TFSA withdrawals, pension splitting, and smarter timing can keep the same lifestyle without the same tax hit

The good news? Your 2026 income determines next year's clawback, and that window is still open.

Comment "OAS" if you want to find out whether your retirement income is heading into clawback territory. 👇

🎥 Full episode on our YouTube channel: "Your OAS Just Got Recalculated This July - Did You Lose Money?" - find the link in the comments below

Speaker: Carlo Cansino, Senior Financial Advisor at The McClelland Financial Group of CI Assante Wealth Management Ltd.

Quick question: if you're retired or close to retirement...could you explain the difference between CPP and OAS?

Not "kind of." Not "I think so." If a friend or family member approaching retirement asked you right now, could you do it with confidence?

Most people can't. And when retirement hits at 60, 65, 70, all these decisions land at once, and CPP/OAS becomes a giant question mark.

🎧 Full breakdown in this week's episode - link in bio.

📌 Have questions about your own CPP/OAS timing? Contact us - Find the link in the comments 👇

A few money habits are harmless in your 30s and 40s... but they get expensive fast once retirement is close. ⬇️

Here are three that could cost you the most:
❌ Living without a budget:
❌ Staying in "save it and don't touch it" mode
❌ Letting expenses run on momentum instead of need

The fix?
✅ Pull the last 12 months of your bank and credit card statements and total them up; that's your starting number
✅ Map your withdrawal order (RRSP, TFSA, non-registered) before you take your first withdrawal; it affects your tax bill and whether you keep your full OAS

Save this for later, or send it to someone who needs to hear it.

Speaker: Gabriel Zitoli, Financial Advisor at The McClelland Financial Group of CI Assante Wealth Management Ltd.

Two retirement plans. Same savings, same goals, same investments, but one of them costs $200,000 more in taxes. Here's why. 💸

We modelled two retirement plans side by side for the same client profile, $2 million across RRSPs, TFSAs, and non-registered accounts, with the same lifestyle and investment assumptions. The only thing that differed was how the income was structured.

The results weren't close. 👇

✅ Plan A: lifetime taxes paid were approximately $642,000
✅ Plan B: lifetime taxes paid were approximately $436,000, more than $200,000 in savings
✅ Plan B also retained more OAS benefits and produced a larger estate value by age 90
✅ None of it came from better investment returns; the difference came entirely from how withdrawals, CPP timing, and account structure were coordinated

🎥 Full episode on YouTube: "Two Retirement Plans, One Paid $206,000 More in Taxes" - link in the comments.

Comment "plan" if you want to see whether opportunities like this exist inside your own retirement plan. 👇

Speaker: Carlo Cansino, Senior Financial Advisor at The McClelland Financial Group of CI Assante Wealth Management Ltd.

Your business can't be an ATM.

CPA Peter McCarroll sees this constantly: owners dipping into the account whenever cash is needed, then scrambling when a tax bill lands.

His fix is simple: plan your cash flow before you need it, not after.

Be honest: do you check your bank balance before spending, or do you actually plan it out? 👇

🎧 New episode is live now 🏃‍♂️‍➡️ link in bio.