Financial planning incorporates several dimensions, such as taxation, investments, insurance or business management for entrepreneurs. The fact remains that retirement must remain at the heart of the priority issues of any self-respecting financial planning.
Many moreover designate retirement as their main objective when they consult, whether in order to prepare for it, if its horizon is distant, or even to identify the best strategies for disbursing their assets for those who are already there.
The majority of financial planning clients want to remain active for a long time, even if they are financially free, while others do not have enough savings and must work a little longer than expected or desired. Considering the present challenges related to the employment sector, we can only hope for the introduction of attractive measures to promote the presence of experienced workers in the labor market.
Return of retirees to work
To encourage the return of retirees to the labor market, the Liberal Party of Quebec would offer a holiday from contributions to the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) to people aged 62 and over and would pass the tax exemption for people aged 65 years and over at $30,000.
The Conservative Party of Quebec would make the tax credit for career extension of experienced workers refundable (increased from $1,500 to $3,000 for those aged 60 to 64, and from $1,650
at 5000 dollars for the 65 years old
and more).
The Parti Québécois, for its part, would allow QPP contributions to be stopped for those aged 65 and over and would offer a tax reduction of 15% on the last $35,000 declared in income.
There seems to be consensus among parties on the importance of home care. While the primary goal is to “unclog” the healthcare system, these commitments echo the personal goals of many financial planning clients who say they want to age at home.
The Coalition avenir Québec would improve the tax credit for expenses incurred to maintain autonomy and the budget for the financial exemption program for domestic help services. It would also increase the number of hours of care/users receiving home care services.
The PLQ announced the creation of a “seniors allowance” of $2,000 annually (variable according to income) for people over 70 who wish to stay at home. He also said he wanted to deploy home intensive care units in all regions.
The PQ would triple the number of hours in home care within five years and allocate 50% of the long-term care budget to home care, while doubling the maximum amounts eligible for the home adaptation program. The tax credit for home support would be applied as soon as the service is paid for.
Both QS and the PCQ want to facilitate the construction and development of intergenerational homes. They oppose, however, on the financing of home care, QS wishing to double the assistance of home services by putting an end to private services, while the PCQ wants to create insurance for long-term home care. In this reflection, it should not be forgotten that an entire generation is financially responsible not only for its children, but more and more often for its aging parents, which can generate many financial consequences to be taken into account in an overall financial plan. .
The place of the entrepreneur and SMEs
This is perhaps a blind spot in this campaign, which turned out to be, all in all, very interesting. In a context where thousands of businesses must pass the torch due to the aging of the population, a local economy and the creation of wealth that results from it seem to me to be fundamental factors to consider. However, too few announcements were made to target the reality of SMEs and self-employed workers.
From the start of the campaign, the PLQ underlined its commitment to reducing the contribution rate for businesses for the Health Service Fund (HSF) as well as its intention to expand the deduction for small businesses (DPE) in two years. . Self-employed workers and smaller businesses with less than five employees will therefore pay less tax, thereby aiming for a reduction in the rate from 11% to 3.2%.
For its part, Québec solidaire, with its “orange tax” project, could indirectly hurt entrepreneurs who have taken risks all their lives and invested all their efforts in order to afford a comfortable retirement.
The real tax inequity, however, is found in tax havens, not in the bank account of a successful entrepreneur (often after having lost several times). The parties would all benefit from being more politically committed in their desire to tackle this real scourge.