top of page

Blog by Trusha Desai aka Trusha Pandit

Writer's picture: Trusha DesaiTrusha Desai

Chart courtesy thismatter.com

When the stock market is in a bullish frenzy, we are all in the game of nabbing capital gain (so that at the end of the year we can write off losses ~ if that is our protocol). We ignore the dividend yield and dividend growth strategies that we had carefully crafted, for gain is instant gratification while dividends are only a quarterly or monthly (or perhaps an annual) phenomenon. For who knows whether the dividend yield that is posted will change in either direction before the next dividend is announced: if yield goes up, we spend it all on a dinner, if gain goes down, we buy frozen dinners and glare at the reality television shows that yesterday were our favorites.

Through all these roller coaster rides of stocks, commodities, currencies, futures, options, we forget the inherent safety net (other than cold hard cash) of bonds.

We have looked at ladders, we have studied ask yields and ask prices, but have we wondered why there are some bonds that do not have corresponding bid yields and bid prices? Ask yields are a conglomerate of the posted interest and ask price. Therefore, other than going for a high-risk, high-yield strategy of what is commonly termed “junk bonds”, we might invest in ETF’s (Exchange-Traded Funds). However, with ETF’s mushrooming in every corner of the investment world, we must study their MER’s (Management Expense Ratios), distribution yields and performance. As always, we must remember that all investment strategies carry risk: and bonds may provide a safe haven, in terms of a hedge, when the rest of the portfolio crashes (or hopefully not).

Please contact your investment adviser for more discussion and recommendations. We are available to provide you with a second opinion and investment analysis. We prepare extensive Capital Gain schedules (Schedule 3, T5018) for Canadian personal taxes. #TrushaDesai.com

15 views0 comments
Writer's picture: Trusha DesaiTrusha Desai

Trusha Desai Innovation Management: bookkeeping, GST, small business

Something that millennial millionaire investors may not know about is the phenomenon called Sell in May and go away. For we do not know go away. Not per se as in the olden days of vanishing off the face of the earth for a week or more: incommunicado, out of bounds, no mail, no phones. And of course, before the advent of email.

Now, whether we are at a beach or at the cabin in the mountains, we are perennially in touch. God forbid if we do not instantly respond to that email that asks for a quote. For an auto-responder that we are on vacation does not work anymore. We must respond within twenty-four hours (if that is corporate policy) to any and all business email. And as we are anyway sitting with tablets and laptops and smartphones while we are purportedly on vacation, we might as well peek at our investment portfolio and see what it’s up to.

Did we lose 1% yesterday due to fluctuation in currency? Or was the market simply getting jittery due to employment numbers? Is GDP trending downward again? Will that require puts? Let that golf bag remain stationary for a bit while we attempt to make big money all over again.

So, we are not going away anywhere soon, whether in May or August, cruise or just a stayvacation. And as we are here, right where we always are, in touch through technology, let’s just buy some shares and cover them complacently with puts, that are our insurance, almost better than that travel insurance we bought at the airport.

Please contact your investment adviser for investment recommendations. We are available to provide a second opinion and investment analysis. We prepare extensive Capital Gain schedules (Schedule 3, T5018) for Canadian personal taxes. #TrushaDesai.com

16 views0 comments
Writer's picture: Trusha DesaiTrusha Desai

As the Canadian personal tax deadline approaches, if we haven't gathered our receipts for the year, there is no time like the present. An ideal way of ensuring that all receipts are always on hand when required, is to keep an annual tax folder, and as receipts arrive in the mail, they should be tucked away in the folder.

What do we do about electronic receipts? Receipts for donations, and other claimable expenses are frequently provided online when we pay by credit card. These maybe (a) printed out immediately on arriving in the inbox, (b) segregated in a separate folder in the cloud (preferably, in the event of a hard drive issue) marked "Taxes - 2016" or (c) both.

With tax software getting more user friendly every year, and software offering skinny deals, it might seem the obvious solution to netfile one's own taxes (or one's family's). However, is this always the correct decision? When there are more than five receipts, it might be worth our while to consult a tax professional, or ask a tax preparer to efile them for us. We may discover little known credits such as the family tax credit or children's fitness credit that should have been applied for. In lieu of payment of a fee, we may arrive at a larger refund than we had deemed possible. We must remember that Canada Revenue Agency requires that our taxes be filed accurately. Taxes must be filed on time when we owe tax. We would also be required to file taxes when we intend to claim a GST / HST credit.

Please contact us rightaway to efile your Canadian personal taxes. I have over ten years' experience in efiling / filing tax returns in Vancouver, BC using a multitude of different tax software. #TrushaDesai.com

23 views0 comments

Trusha Desai Innovation Management Inc.

Trusha Desai aka Trusha Pandit (La femme, શ્રીમતી) 

Founder & CEO

BSMT-7436 Sherbrooke Street, (Unit Basement)

No walk-ins: Please do not disturb neighbours

Vancouver, British Columbia, V5X 4E4 Canada

 

© Trusha Desai Innovation Management Inc. 2024

We live and work on the unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), Tsleil-Waututh Nations, and elsewhere

Trusha Desai is a Certified Professional Bookkeeper
bottom of page