Daniel MacLean, Associate Investment Advisor at CIBC Wood Gundy

Daniel MacLean, Associate Investment Advisor at CIBC Wood Gundy Associate Investment Advisor, Squires Wealth Advisory Group at CIBC Wood Gundy. CFA charterholder.

Helping families, business owners, and professionals make informed decisions with their wealth.

My favourite band, by far, is The Tragically Hip.My friends and I grew up listening to Gord et al. Their music was somet...
08/27/2026

My favourite band, by far, is The Tragically Hip.

My friends and I grew up listening to Gord et al. Their music was something we bonded over, and I was lucky enough to see them perform live in Halifax in 2015.

They have so many great tunes that I still find myself discovering new gems to this day. Their lyrics are poetic, relatable and quintessentially Canadian. That distinctly Canadian identity is a big part of why they are so loved here. It’s also often cited as one reason they never quite broke through internationally.

There’s an interesting parallel here with the way Canadians invest.

Canada represents approximately 3% of the global equity market. Yet I still come across portfolios with 90% or more of their equity allocation invested in Canadian securities.

There can be tax benefits to holding Canadian securities, so I’m certainly not suggesting that Canadians should only invest 3% of their equity portfolios at home. But there’s a lot of room between 3% and 90%.

Vanguard has suggested allocating roughly 30% of a Canadian investor’s equities to Canada. Of course, the appropriate number depends on each investor’s circumstances.

When should you begin receiving your Canada Pension Plan (CPP)?The answer isn’t the same for everyone.But in my opinion,...
07/23/2026

When should you begin receiving your Canada Pension Plan (CPP)?

The answer isn’t the same for everyone.

But in my opinion, far more Canadians who are in a position to do so should consider deferring CPP until age 70.

Why?

Rarely, if ever, does an investment offer a guaranteed, inflation-protected 8.4% return. Deferring CPP effectively does.

For every year you wait after age 65, your future pension increases by 8.4%, up to 42% at age 70. When you also account for wage growth in the CPP earnings base before you begin collecting, the increase can be upwards of 49% in real terms.

And this isn’t a benefit that eventually runs out. It is paid for life and continues to rise with inflation.

The instinctive objection is: “What if I delay CPP and die early? Haven’t I missed out?”

Possibly. But what if the opposite happens? What if you take CPP earlier and live to 90 or 95? You could spend 25 or 30 years receiving lower monthly payments.

Studies generally place the breakeven point between starting CPP at 65 and 70 at around age 80 to 82, depending on the assumptions used. Meanwhile, the latest CPP actuarial projections estimate that a 65-year-old man will live, on average, to roughly age 87 and a woman to roughly age 89.

A larger CPP may be the cheapest longevity insurance available to Canadians.

This doesn’t mean everyone should wait. Poor health, a shorter expected lifespan, an immediate need for income, or an inability to bridge the gap can all favour starting sooner.

But for healthy retirees with sufficient savings, age 65 should not be automatic.

This is exactly the type of question we help clients answer as part of a thoughtful, personalized financial plan.

When I’m home in Cape Breton, my family and I often play a card game called Auction.If someone new is playing, we’ll usu...
07/09/2026

When I’m home in Cape Breton, my family and I often play a card game called Auction.

If someone new is playing, we’ll usually make them a quick ‘cheat-sheet’. Not a full rule book. Just enough to make the structure easier to understand.

I think many Canadians could use something similar for their investment accounts.

TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP, LIRA, non-registered accounts, corporate accounts…

Each has its own tax treatment, rules, and best use case. Knowing which to use, in what order, and what to hold inside each can meaningfully change your after-tax results.

So, here’s our 2026 Investment Account Cheat-Sheet.

TFSA: Tax-Free Savings Account:

Growth is tax-free. Withdrawals are tax-free. And because every dollar of growth escapes tax permanently, we generally think of the TFSA as prime real estate for long-term growth assets, typically equities.

The 2026 contribution limit is $7,000. If you’ve been eligible since 2009 and never contributed, your cumulative room could be up to $109,000.

In most cases, this is one of the first buckets we look to fill for clients and, ideally, one of the last we draw from.

RRSP: Registered Retirement Savings Plan:

Contributions are tax-deductible, growth is tax-deferred, and withdrawals are taxable.

The planning opportunity is timing. You can contribute when you have room, let the money compound tax-deferred, and carry the deduction forward to claim in a future higher-income year, when it may be more valuable.

From an asset-location perspective, we often think of the RRSP as a good home for bonds and other interest-bearing investments. Interest income is taxed at your full marginal rate in a non-registered account, so sheltering it matters. And because bonds usually have lower long-term growth potential than equities, this can help preserve TFSA room for assets with more growth to shelter.

FHSA: First Home Savings Account:

One of the best planning tools available to eligible first-time homebuyers.

Contributions are tax-deductible, growth is tax-free, and qualifying withdrawals for a first home are tax-free.

You can contribute $8,000 per year, to a $40,000 lifetime limit. Room only starts accumulating once the account is opened, so opening one early can matter.

And if you never buy a home, the balance can generally be transferred to your RRSP without using RRSP contribution room.

Non-registered account:

A fully taxable investment account with no contribution limit or withdrawal rules.

Capital gains are taxed more favourably than interest and only when triggered. Losses can be harvested to offset gains elsewhere, while eligible Canadian dividends benefit from the dividend tax credit.

But the goal should not be to maximize dividends. It should be to maximize after-tax total return.

RESP: Registered Education Savings Plan:

The go-to account for education savings.

The government matches 20% of contributions through the Canada Education Savings Grant, up to $500 per year and a $7,200 lifetime maximum per child.

Growth is tax-sheltered, and when funds are withdrawn for school, the grants and growth are taxed in the student’s hands, where the tax rate is often very low.

LIRA: Locked-In Retirement Account:

If you leave an employer with a pension, the commuted value often lands here.

A LIRA works much like an RRSP, with tax-deferred growth, but the funds are locked in for retirement.

One important nuance: your LIRA follows the rules of the jurisdiction that governed the original pension, not necessarily where you live today.

Corporate investment account:

For incorporated business owners and professionals, this can be one of the most powerful planning tools available.

Keeping capital inside a corporation can create a significant tax-deferral advantage and give you greater control over the timing and form of your personal income.

There are rules to navigate, particularly around passive investment income, but that’s exactly where good planning earns its keep.

For business owners, getting the corporate and personal sides working together is often one of the highest-value planning conversations to have.

The bottom line

Most people don’t need every account.

The real planning value is not just knowing what each account does. It’s knowing which account to fund first, what to hold in each, and how to draw from them tax-efficiently later.

If you’re not sure whether your dollars are in the right buckets, that’s exactly the kind of conversation I’d be happy to have.

Dividends feel like free money. They aren’t.A few years ago, there was a viral trend that poked fun at the mental gymnas...
07/02/2026

Dividends feel like free money. They aren’t.

A few years ago, there was a viral trend that poked fun at the mental gymnastics people use to justify purchases. Return something, get store credit, and whatever you buy with that credit feels free.

Canadian investors do a version of this with dividends. I see it regularly when reviewing prospective client portfolios. Someone will point to dividend yield and talk about it as if it’s a “free” return on top of their investment. I understand why it feels that way. The cash shows up in the account and it feels tangible. But like the store credit example, that’s a reflection of feelings, not reality.

A dividend is not additional return. It’s a partial return of your own capital. It feels like free money, but when the ex-dividend date lands, the value of the business drops by the amount of that payment.

To be clear, I’m not arguing against owning dividend payers. Many of these companies have performed well. But the research suggests they’ve performed well because of their exposure to factors shown to drive long-term returns, things like size, value, and profitability, not because of the dividends.

Canadian investors are especially fond of owning bank stocks. Fair enough. The Big Six operate in an oligopoly and have been excellent businesses with strong retained earnings growth. That’s why their values have risen. Earnings growth, not dividend growth.

What investors should actually care about it total return. There’s a gap between what dividends feel like and what they are. They return your capital on a schedule you don’t control, and in taxable accounts they’re typically less tax efficient for higher earners than capital gains.

Nothing wrong with dividends. They’re just not the reason to pick a given stock.

If your portfolio is heavily tilted toward dividend-paying stocks and you’re not sure whether that’s because of a clear strategy or because the income simply feels comfortable, I’m happy to take a second look.

*Photo is of my dog, Jack, who has no strong views on dividends, which is probably the right starting point for most investors.

Some of our most valued client relationships began with a simple introduction.If you know someone who might benefit from...
06/23/2026

Some of our most valued client relationships began with a simple introduction.

If you know someone who might benefit from working with us, here is how to think about it:

Friends, family, and colleagues who recently:

• Sold a business or property and are managing significant newly liquid assets.

• Are approaching retirement and want to understand what their income will look like.

• Have a growing corporate investment account without a clear strategy.

• Received an inheritance and are unsure how to invest or plan wisely.

• Have cash sitting in savings or GICs and want to be more intentional with it.

• Are a high-income professional with limited time to manage their own financial plan.

• Are worried about what happens to their estate and want peace of mind before it becomes urgent.

• Experienced a major life event such as divorce, the loss of a spouse, or an unexpected career change.

• Are uncertain about their portfolio positioning and are looking for a second opinion.

An introduction can be as simple as a text, email, or phone call. From there, we’re happy to take it at your direction, with no obligation and no pressure.

You can learn more about our team and the clients we serve here: https://woodgundyadvisors.cibc.com/SquiresWealthAdvisoryGroup/home

As investment professionals, we spend a lot of time encouraging people to build a financial plan. But we probably do not...
06/19/2026

As investment professionals, we spend a lot of time encouraging people to build a financial plan. But we probably do not always do a good enough job explaining what a financial plan actually is, or the value it can provide.

At its core, a financial plan is a way to organize someone’s financial life around their specific circumstances, goals, and priorities.

For our team, that usually starts with understanding where a client stands today: their assets, liabilities, income, expenses, family situation, tax considerations, insurance coverage, estate objectives, and future goals.

From there, the plan helps answer a few important questions:

1. Where are you today?
2. Where are you trying to get to?
3. What assumptions are we making?
4. What risks or gaps need to be addressed?
5. What actions should be taken now, and what should be reviewed over time?

A comprehensive financial plan includes net worth projections, retirement income planning, estate planning considerations, insurance needs analysis, tax and income summaries, charitable giving strategies, and investment recommendations.

We typically present this in a clear, visual format, rather than a lengthy written report. In my view, this makes the plan easier to understand, easier to discuss, and easier to revisit over time.

But the real value is not the presentation itself. The value is in creating a clear framework for making better financial decisions.

Markets change. Tax rules change. Family circumstances change. Goals change.

The plan gives us something to come back to, update, and measure against, so decisions are not being made in isolation.

Many people think about investment risk as the risk that their portfolio declines in value. The more important risk, in ...
06/12/2026

Many people think about investment risk as the risk that their portfolio declines in value. The more important risk, in my opinion, is the risk of not meeting one’s goals.

For some clients, these risks can be one and the same. If someone is retired, or close to retirement, meeting their goals can involve preserving capital, generating reliable income, and avoiding material drawdowns at the wrong time.

For younger clients with longer-term goals, the risk profile can look much different. A portfolio that is too conservative may feel safer because it fluctuates less. But this portfolio is less likely to outpace inflation and preserve purchasing power, let alone grow meaningfully. For younger investors, employment income can be thought of as bond-like. They already have a large implicit fixed income asset in their human capital, the present value of future employment income. Adding too much fixed income to their portfolio can make the overall household balance sheet more conservative than it needs to be, and reduce the probability that the client’s longer-term goals are met.

Volatility is the pertinent consideration for short-term goals. For longer-term goals, the bigger risk is insufficient return.

(Included photo is of a wild bull we came across on a Cape Breton hike 3 years ago today – feels bullish).

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24 Harbourside Drive
Wolfville, NS
B4P2C1

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