I thought you might find the attached article useful if you come across estate planning discussions with clients. While joint accounts are useful in avoiding probate and planning for the swift transfer of assets they also give beneficial ownership to both parties. This may be undesirable in some circumstances. The article discusses another option, RBC DS’s has the option of Joint Gift of Beneficial Right of Survivorship (JGBRS) which may in many circumstances be a better Joint account option. The terms of the RBC Dominion Securities agreement expressly state that the successor accountholders does not have any entitlement to or control of the account or it’s assets until the death of the primary account holder.

Feel free to call me with any questions. Hope things are well.

 

 

Also some interesting numbers to consider as the Equity markets reach new all-time highs.

 

 

Perspective On All-Time Highs In Stocks

By Joseph Wu, CFA

Despite the general unease amongst investors in their perception of “all-time highs” in stock markets, the chart below from RBC GAM helps to remind investors of how common record highs are:

• Since 1950, the S&P 500 has made 1,127 all-time highs – an average of over 16 per year.
• In 2019 alone, the S&P 500 has reached 18 all-time highs

Insofar as “all-time highs” can present a “psychological hurdle” for putting capital to work, investors should also be mindful of the cost of sitting on the sidelines for a prolonged period of time. The chart below from RBC GAM shows that “even when you only invest at new all-time highs, on average you still earn strong, nearly equivalent results relative to average rolling returns from all-dates in this time period.”

Bottom line: Equity markets scale all-time highs quite frequently and these milestones should generally not be perceived as a precursor for impending sharp corrections