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A commission-based advisor earns compensation through product sales — typically trailer commissions embedded in mutual fund MERs (Management Expense Ratios). You never see a separate bill because the fee is deducted directly from your fund's returns. This model creates an inherent conflict: the advisor's income depends on which products they recommend, not on the quality of their advice.

A fee-based advisor — like Mynewlife — charges a transparent, disclosed management fee (typically a percentage of assets under management) directly to the client. There are no embedded commissions, no trailer payments, and no incentive to recommend one product over another. Our interests are aligned with yours: when your portfolio grows, our fee revenue grows commensurately. When it declines, so does our compensation. Our average all-in portfolio cost is approximately 0.42%, compared to the 2.1% industry average for Canadian mutual fund portfolios.

The difference is structural, not cosmetic. It determines whether the advice you receive is shaped by your objectives or by someone else's sales targets. Learn more about our approach on our services page.

The short answer: almost certainly yes — but the strategy matters enormously now.

Since 2018, the federal passive income rules reduce access to the small business deduction (the $500,000 threshold taxed at preferential rates) once a corporation's aggregate investment income exceeds $50,000. For every dollar above $50,000, five dollars of the small business limit is clawed back. At $150,000 in passive income, the deduction is entirely eliminated.

This does not mean corporate investing is disadvantageous. It means the composition, asset location, and structure of the corporate portfolio must be designed to manage passive income levels. Strategies include holding tax-efficient equities that generate capital gains (only 50% taxable) rather than interest income (100% taxable), utilizing the Capital Dividend Account (CDA) for tax-free distributions, and considering prescribed rate loan structures for income splitting with lower-income family members.

Julien Marchand and Camille Bergeron work with each incorporated client to model the precise interaction between their corporate investment income, small business deduction access, RDTOH balances, and personal extraction strategy. The analysis is numerical, specific to your situation, and updated annually. Our corporate investment strategy service was built specifically for this purpose.

Cost is the primary reason — and in investing, cost is one of the very few variables within your control.

A typical Canadian balanced mutual fund carries a Management Expense Ratio (MER) between 1.8% and 2.5%. That fee is deducted directly from your returns every year, regardless of performance. On a $1 million portfolio, that's $18,000–$25,000 annually — before accounting for the advisor's compensation, which is often embedded in the MER as a trailing commission.

Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) from providers like Vanguard, iShares, and BMO offer equivalent — and often superior — market exposure at a fraction of the cost. Our average all-in portfolio cost (including our management fee, ETF MERs, and trading costs) is approximately 0.42%. That's a fee savings of roughly 1.4%–2.1% annually. Compounded over 20 years on a $1 million portfolio, that difference can exceed $500,000 in additional wealth.

We also utilize individual Canadian equities where appropriate — particularly large-cap dividend payers that benefit from the dividend tax credit in non-registered accounts. The goal is always the optimal combination of cost, tax efficiency, diversification, and liquidity for each client's specific situation. You can explore the full range of asset classes and geographies we deploy.

We don't attempt to predict downturns. We build portfolios that are structurally resilient to them.

Every client portfolio is governed by a formal Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that codifies asset allocation targets, risk parameters, and rebalancing triggers. Philippe Tran, our Director of Risk & Quantitative Strategy, stress-tests every portfolio against historical drawdown scenarios — the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the 2020 COVID crash, and the 2022 rate-shock environment — so you know in advance what a difficult year looks like for your specific allocation.

Every portfolio maintains a 12-month liquidity buffer — covering anticipated withdrawals and cash flow needs — so equities are never sold at depressed prices to fund near-term obligations. Our disciplined rebalancing methodology automatically enforces "buy low, sell high" by trimming outperformers and adding to underperformers at predetermined thresholds.

Diversification across seven asset classes, multiple geographies, and uncorrelated return streams reduces concentration risk. The goal is not to eliminate volatility — that is neither possible nor desirable. The goal is to ensure that no single market event can fundamentally compromise your financial plan.

It is emphatically not too late. In fact, the five years immediately preceding retirement are among the most consequential in your entire financial life.

Decisions made during this period — CPP/QPP commencement timing, RRSP-to-RRIF conversion strategy, OAS clawback mitigation, pension income splitting, withdrawal sequencing, and asset allocation adjustments for sequence-of-returns risk — can represent hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifetime tax savings and portfolio longevity.

Many of our most impactful client engagements begin within the 5–10 year pre-retirement window. Camille Bergeron builds detailed year-by-year projection models that stress-test your retirement income against adverse scenarios — including early market downturns, unexpected healthcare costs, and the financial impact of one spouse passing earlier than projected. The earlier we begin this work, the more levers we have available. But five years is ample time to make a material difference. Request a consultation to get started.

Robo-advisors perform one function well: automated, low-cost portfolio allocation based on a risk-tolerance questionnaire. For straightforward situations — a young professional with a single TFSA and no complex tax considerations — they can be a reasonable starting point.

Mynewlife serves clients whose financial situations have outgrown that model. Incorporated professionals navigating passive income thresholds and RDTOH mechanics. Pre-retirees optimizing CPP/QPP timing and OAS clawback mitigation. Business owners structuring estate freezes and succession plans. Foundations requiring OCIO governance and fiduciary oversight. Our ten integrated services address the full spectrum of these needs.

No algorithm can conduct a three-hour financial planning meeting, explain the interaction between your corporate and personal tax rates, coordinate with your notary on estate planning, or call you during a market correction to walk you through why your portfolio is positioned to recover. Our six credentialed professionals — holding CFA, CFP®, CPA, FRM, and CIM® designations — are investment professionals who happen to use sophisticated technology. Not technology pretending to be an investment professional.