Astute Strategies Inc.

North: 101 McIntyre St W, 4th Floor, North Bay ON P1B 2Y5

South: 200 Yorkland Blvd, Suite 960, Toronto, ON M2J 5C1

Phone: 416.262.4944

We provide advice in various ways, including one-off consultations, annual retainer packages for ongoing services, as well as stand-alone engagements for fixed or hourly fees. We offer a number of pre-designed packages that may suit your needs. We can also create customized engagements where required. Contact us today to learn how our astute expertise may benefit you and your family.

Providing financial, tax and estate planning, and more, on an advice-only basis.

Services

Company info

examples of customized reports and analyses

retirement cash flow optimization

What are the various sources of cash available to you in retirement? Sources include a pension plans, government benefits such as the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security, other supplemental retirement plans such as Retirement Compensation Agreements, registered and non-registered savings, and perhaps cash values inside permanent life insurance policies. Specifically for business owners, you may also have cash or other investments inside a corporation. Traditional financial planning software doesn't always do an adequate job modeling this additional complexity, nor does it help you optimize your own situation. Using our customized tools, we analyze your situation in the context of marginal tax rates and OAS claw-back and balancing short-term and long-term tax savings, we can recommend the mix of withdrawals from your various “buckets” to optimize the outcome.

benefits / optimization of incorporation

What are the pros and cons of being incorporated? If you aren’t incorporated now, should you be? If you are incorporated, are you taking advantage of all of the available benefits? Have us answer these questions and more as we provide:

(a) analysis of potential tax deferral

(b) recommendations involving share attributes and initial issuance to owner

(d) analysis of related tax benefits relating to having a corporation pay certain expenditures

corporate structure planning

Often performed with the Benefits of Incorporation, our corporate structure planning provides the following:

(a) analysis of current corporate structure

(b) review of the benefits of a family trust and/or holding company

(d) review of income splitting opportunities, including salary, dividends and director fees

business exit planning

There are a whole host of questions that you’ll have when you are considering exiting your business, whether over a long period of time or all at once. The nature of your business or profession may also create certain opportunities, or limit your available options. In addition, if your business will transition to a new owner or owners, there are different considerations whether it is a third-party sale, family succession, or management team buyout. You may consider different strategies as follows:

i. asset sale

ii. share sale

iii. hybrid sale

iv. estate freeze/succession or wind-up

We can help you understand your available options or give you a second opinion on what your other professional advisors may have structured on your behalf. And just as important as your exit from the business is what happens next. We can bring you piece of mind regarding how your financial life will work in retirement and beyond.