|  Some personal news: I wrote a book! A few weeks ago a Money123 reader wrote in with a very nice note, saying, among other things, “If you ever write a book about personal finance I’ll be happy to purchase it.” Well, what do you know — I did write a book. Money Like You Mean It, which will be out on Dec. 9 with Dundurn Press (one of Canada’s largest indie publishers), has been my pandemic labour of love. It’s a book about how a changing reality is complicating personal finance. We live in a world of ultra-cheap debt, super-expensive housing, elusive job stability, disappearing workplace pensions and uber-accessible investing options (which has pros and cons). And then there’s climate change, which is starting to have a real impact on people’s bottom lines, starting with insurance. With Money Like You Mean It, I wanted to provide a roadmap to this messy money universe. The book blends the big picture with practical advice to provide a deeper understanding of the bigger forces shaping common money struggles and how to overcome them. I talk about debt, housing, making money, retirement, investing, managing money as a couple and planning for a baby, insurance and the oh-so-touchy subject of financial help for adult children. The book is primarily aimed at millennials like me and the older generation Z, but there is plenty in there for any age group — and I sincerely hope it helps. (If you’re interested, Money Like You Mean It is available on Indigo, Amazon, and many local bookstores. And, of course, you can borrow it from the library.)  Holiday shopping and ‘buy now, pay later’ You may have noticed when shopping online these days that you are sometimes offered a choice at checkout: would you like to pay for that $150 pair of shoes in one go or in, say, three monthly payments of $50 each? Buy now, pay later (BNPL) used to be about financing things like mattresses, furniture and appliances. But the new BNPL apps and services, which caught on in Canada during the pandemic, now allow you to do so for much smaller purchases. In the run-up to Black Friday, Global News is running a short excerpt from Money Like You Mean It where I talk about how BNPL affects your brain and can make it psychologically easier to overspend (and, I argue elsewhere in the book, harder to budget).  Prepare for CPP shock in 2022 On a completely different topic, there are some big changes to Canada Pension Plan coming down the pike. The annual cap on pensionable earnings is increasing at the highest rate in 30 years. The change has nothing to do with the Liberals’ plan to enhance the CPP. It is, in part, the product of the pandemic, which inflicted disproportionate job losses on lower-wage workers and distorted an earnings formula used to calculate the earnings ceiling. But this bizarre pandemic effect does add to the CPP rate increase that was already scheduled as part of the gradual phase-in of the Liberals’ CPP enhancement plan. The good news is new retirees who start to claim their pension in 2022 or later will see a bit of a boost. The bad new is it will be a hit for workers and employers and especially the self-employed. Here’s more. ________________________ – THE QUESTION – “I will be inheriting a lot of money once the estates are settled. I plan on giving my nieces and nephews $500,000 each. What are the tax implications for each of them and myself? Also, I have been named the executor for three estates that I am working on. Who takes over should I pass before those estates are settled? Would it be the executor that I have named on my estate?” — A Money123 reader “There is no ‘gift tax’ in Canada. Any resident of Canada who receives a gift or inheritance of any amount will not have to include this into their income. As for being named executor for three estates, you are in for a big job. Has the testator left you fully prepared? Do you have a team of professionals to work with (i.e., an accountant, a lawyer and a financial adviser as a start?). Do you know where all the important papers are kept including digital assets, which means passwords and logins? Each legal will should designate who is next in line to take on the executor job if you are not able to do the task. You can't name who should be the next executor for someone else's will. This is another conversation you need to have with the testator. If there is no one else named then the courts will get involved. The biggest danger and problem that will cause you stress is an unorganized estate. This usually entails dealing with creditors and just spending a lot of your time on settling the estate. Expect some drama from the beneficiaries. Be prepared for unexpected claims against the estate and have a plan to deal with them. That's why it is good to have a lawyer part of your team. A lawyer will help ensure you won't pay out money until outstanding issues are settled. And most importantly you will be able to sleep at night.” — David Edey, certified executor adviser and author of Executor Help – How to Settle an Estate Pick an Executor and Avoid Family Fights ___________________________ Want your money question answered by an expert? Get in touch! | 
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