Dear MoneyReady App users,

Today I am excited to announce our new tool to optimize the age to start CPP/QPP.
I wrote a blog post that you can find at https://www.moneyreadyapp.ca/blog/post/9 that explains the procedure and my analysis.
This feature is included with a subscription.

I've also made changes for advisor accounts. We have added an optional quick entry form for clients so you can get started faster.
If an email address is given (again optional), the client will be able to login to a simplified version of the MoneyReadyApp to edit and add to the data, so you can get all the information you need from them directly.
They will not be able to run any tools, and you can revoke the permission anytime.
Once you are done with their plan, you can allow them to see the results and download them.
We have also added a yearly subscription feature, or you can pay as-you-go when adding clients.

Your questions and feedback is always welcome.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D.
Head of MoneyReady

Dear MoneyReadyApp users,

We've added several new features for both beginners and advanced users.

Portfolios:
For those of you who don't want to describe individual INVESTMENTS in your ACCOUNTS, you can now add a single one that we call "Portfolio" to reflect the properties of your portfolio of investments.
This is important to do for non-registered accounts so that their tax treatment is correct in the TIME MACHINE.
A “Portfolio” investment will be created automatically for you when you add an account, if you specify the asset allocation of the portfolio.
You can also add "Portfolio" investments yourself, they are in the drop-down menu of choices when you "Add Investment”.
The advantage for all account types, is that the investment is not restricted to an all-cash allocation, as it was if you left all of the funds in the "Cash" investment.

Set all expected rates of return at once:
We also added a feature where you can set your rates of return automatically for all of your investments in all accounts at once.
The button is found below your list of accounts. You set the rate of expected return for Cash, Equities and Fixed-Income, and all of your investments' rates of return will be modified based on their asset allocation.
You can also now set rates of return on a per-account basis. If you have more than 2 investments (besides cash) entered, a button will appear below the account's list of investments.
For those of you with many investments, this makes it very easy to run scenarios with different rates of return in the TIME MACHINE.

Market crashes:
If you want to stress-test your scenario, we added a simple simulation in RATES/YIELDS/CURRENCIES.
You are asked the date of a future crash, the % loss in equities expected, and how many years it will take to recover.
You can also ask for the cycle of crash/recovery to repeat up to 3 more times.
Rates in the future will automatically be added so that you can run that scenario in the TIME MACHINE.

You'll find more details in the Help pages and the updated eBook, and of course if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me, I'm happy to help.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D

Dear MoneyReadyApp users,

Happy New Year!
The MoneyReadyApp is only concerned with the future, and is happy to say goodbye to 2020.

The app has been updated with all of the 2021 tax numbers.
When you log in for the first time in 2021 you will need to do some updating before you can run the TIME MACHINE.
Review any CPP tables. The My Services Canada website will not update your 2020 CPP contributions until later this year, so you will have to estimate.
You will also have to review your PRIORITIES so that new tables are created for 2021. Remember to click the Submit button.

We assume that all taxes are paid up for 2020 already. If you are expecting a tax bill, you may want to enter it as a one-time expense (that is with the same start and end date) for the date you expect to make the payment. Similarly, if you are expecting a tax refund, you can enter it as a one-time Other non-taxable Income on the date that you expect to receive it.

Over the past year, we added two new cash-flow calculators. The first was a simple one that anyone can use for one-off approximate calculations. We now offer it when users first register. That single screen of input also allows us to pre-fill entries in ACCOUNTS, INCOMES, EXPENSES, and SAVINGS, which can help users to learn and to benefit from the site a lot more quickly.
Secondly, we added a very sophisticated calculator that tries to optimise your withdrawal strategy in retirement to minimize taxes and to maximise your legacy (if you want to leave one).
We also now offer Wealthica integration, which makes it easy to have your accounts and loans always up to date, with just a click of a button.

This year, we are working on more tools for advisors to manage their client accounts, a French-language website, and adding more features to the Optimiser algorithm.

Many of you took advantage of our making the site entirely free from March to November due to COVID-19. We are very grateful for the contributions that some of you gave us.  We hope that you will continue to use the most comprehensive, accurate and smartest financial planning app for all Canadians.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Have a most wonderful and healthy 2021.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D

Dear MoneyReady App users,

I am very excited to announce that you can now download and update your accounts and loans automatically with our Wealthica integration feature.

What it is:
Wealthica at www.wealthica.com is a free and secure platform to keep track of all your accounts, investments, and loans at different institutions all in one place.
If you have a Wealthica account, you can now link it to the MoneyReady App.
We only access the values of your accounts and investments, and the transactions made to them so that we can keep your accounts updated.
We do not have access to your personal information in Wealthica or to any information needed to access your accounts at their institutions.
The link is one-way and read-only. Wealthica will not have access to any of your data in the MoneyReady App.

How it works:
There is a button above your ACCOUNTS list that links to Wealthica.
You will be directed to log in to your  Wealthica account and authorise the MoneyReady App.
Once authorised, your accounts and investments will be imported. Any loans will appear in your LOANS table.
If you had previously entered accounts/loans, you will be able to identify them so that none of your previously entered information is lost.
You will need to edit any new accounts, investments, and also any imported loans to add additional information required by the MoneyReady App, for example, your expected rates of return or interest rates.
You can update your information from Wealthica on any future logins by clicking the update Wealthica button above your accounts list to retrieve fresh information.

This is an optional and free service.
It is safe as we do not store any actual banking or identifying information within the MoneyReady App.
You can unlink Wealthica at anytime from within your Profile. This will only delete the encrypted Wealthica IDs and tokens,
but not the previously downloaded data. Investments that we track will instead be
updated nightly with market information from Fundata as before.

We think that you will find the service very convenient.
You can find all the details in the updated MoneyReady App ebook.
Questions, comments, and suggestions are always welcome.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D.
Head of MoneyReady

Dear MoneyReady App users,

Some months ago, I received this comment from a user:
“ I am hoping to find ways to use this app to find the ultimate solution - how to plan for withdrawals to reach the objectives (for me, it'd be tax minimization). “

It is a very difficult problem to solve theoretically, but with the MoneyReadyApp and the TIME MACHINE, you can find a good solution for your specific situation by trial and error, such as by changing your WITHDRAWAL PRIORITIES and AUTOMATIC WITHDRAWALS. It is often an educational exercise for you to do, if a bit tedious, but how do you know if the result is an optimal solution, and could we find an optimal solution automatically for you?

Today I am excited to announce our new WITHDRAWAL OPTIMIZER. This new tool allows you to determine if your set withdrawal strategy after retirement is near-optimal, and if not, will suggest an alternative strategy that is. To do that, we developed an algorithm based on recent academic research in financial planning. How it works is too long to explain in an email, so I wrote a blog post that you can find at https://www.moneyreadyapp.ca/blog/post/8 that explains it in detail (it’s also in a new section of the ebook).

You will find the WITHDRAWAL OPTIMIZER button below the TIME TABLE after you have run the TIME MACHINE (you will need a fresh run). The WITHDRAWAL OPTIMIZER requires a paid subscription; so with its launch, I am also winding down the app's free availability we set up in March to help Canadians weather the impact of COVID-19 on their finances. But don't worry, all of our users who have paid or contributed to the app will be able to try the WITHDRAWAL OPTIMIZER at no additional cost as we are extending subscriptions.

For those of you who previously had a subscription, these have been extended by at least another month. Subscriptions have also been given to those of you who contributed. You have our warmest thanks. For those of you who contributed $50 or less, these will expire at the end of 2020. For those who contributed more, they will expire later, depending on the size of the contribution. All subscriptions ending in 2020 and 2021 will be renewable for a year for $100 (plus taxes) if renewed within a month after expiring. After that month, we will not delete your data, but you will need to get a new year-long subscription for $150 (plus taxes).

For those of you still on the free trial, your count of TIME MACHINE runs has been reset to zero, so you will still have 3 free runs, no matter how many you ran previously. To subscribe and use our premium tools, you can get a month's trial subscription for $50 (plus taxes) which you will be able to extend to a year for $100 if you do so within a month after the subscription's expiry.

Remember that you can also get free months added to your valid subscription with our referral program (details are in our FAQs).

Subscriptions are our only source of income and are required to keep the app running. Thank you for your support as we continue to bring all Canadians the most comprehensive, accurate, and smartest financial planning app.

Your feedback is always welcome.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D.

Dear MoneyReady App users,

We've added a new tool to the MoneyReady App: a simple retirement calculator.
It considers only a small fraction of what the Time Machine does, and makes many simplifying assumptions and approximations.
However it can be useful to run one-off, quick and approximate scenarios for anyone. It's a single form.
You'll find it at the bottom of the left menu. The help for this page describes the assumptions.

We now use this calculator when someone new registers to the MoneyReady App. We use the data entered to pre-populate their data in the main app.
This way they don't start with an empty Dashboard. We think this will make it easier and faster for new users to use the MoneyReady App.

The MoneyReady App continues to be free for the time being. Thank you for your support.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D.
Head of Money-Ready

Dear MoneyReadyApp users,

Each year in the TIME MACHINE results table is now a link to a report for that year.
The yearly reports present the TIME MACHINE results in column form. In addition to the information in the corresponding row of the time table, the report also provides a breakdown of incomes, expenses, taxable income, and net worth for that year.
For those of you with a CCPC, the yearly drill-down is not yet available for the CCPC results table, we are working on it.

The reports are only available on new runs of the TIME MACHINE.

The MoneyReadyApp continues to be free to at least the end of June.
If users are generous enough that contributions cover our costs, we may continue with this payment model indefinitely. Thank you for your support in helping us keep the MoneyReadyApp free to users.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Wishing you all well in these crazy times,

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D.
Head of Money-Ready

Dear MoneyReadyApp users,

Today I am announcing our new referral program to thank you for your referrals:
When you subscribe, you can let us know who referred you to the MoneyReadyApp.
If they are subscribed, or when they do subscribe, both of you will receive a free month added to your subscription.
The more people you refer, the more free months you can accumulate.
If you have previously subscribed and wish to credit a user for having referred you, you can click the link on our FAQ page for the referral program.

In these volatile times, it is important to re-assess your financial plan, and to explore scenarios that you may not have previously considered.
Remember to update your investments if you buy or sell so that the app can properly keep track of your distributions.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
We wish you and yours the best of health.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D
Head of MoneyReady

The MoneyReadyApp has most of the COVID-19 measures implemented.

  Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs) minimum withdrawal:
    The minimum withdrawals requirement from RRIFs will be reduced by 25% for 2020.
    This is now considered in the TIME MACHINE. Make sure you have entered any previous withdrawals to RRIFs.

  Canada Child Benefit (CCB) payment amounts:
    The Government increased the maximum annual CCB payment amounts, only for the 2019-20 benefit year, by $300 per child.
    This is now considered. Make sure to enter you previous taxable income before running the TIME MACHINE.

  Goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) credit payment amounts:
    The Government will provided a one-time special payment on April 9, 2020.
    The MoneyReadyApp now calculates your GST/HST credits, including the extra payment in 2020.  Make sure to enter you previous taxable income before running the TIME MACHINE.

  Canada Emergency Response Benefit:
    The Canada Emergency Response Benefit provides temporary income support to workers who have stopped working and are without employment or self-employment income for reasons related to COVID-19. The Benefit, in the amount of $2,000, will be paid in blocks of four weeks. A maximum of 16 weeks of benefits can be paid.
    If you are eligible for the CERB you can enter the one-time payments as one-time (same start and end dates) Other INCOME.  Alternatively, you can also enter them as a $24,000 annual income with start and end dates covering the dates of eligibility. These payments are taxable.

  Canada Student Loans, Mortgages and small-business loans.
    To support student and apprentice loan borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada is putting the following measures in place from March 30 to September 30, 2020:
      Suspension of repayments of Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans.
      No interest will accrue on student and apprentice loans

    Canada’s banks and mortgage insurers are committed to providing homeowners and small-business owners with solutions to mitigate temporary financial hardship related to COVID-19. Deferred payments are added to the outstanding principal balance and subsequently repaid throughout the life of the mortgage.

    The MoneyReadyApp now allows the stopping of interest and payments on all amortizing LOANS.
    To stop interest, you can enter new rates for the loan starting at appropriate dates in the RATES/YIELDS/CURRENCIES table.
    To stop payments, you can edit the loan, and a new button to stop payments appears at the bottom of the form. This will allow to enter dates between which no payments will be made.

The MoneyReadyApp continues to be free to at least the end of June.
If users are generous enough that contributions cover our costs, we may continue with this payment model indefinitely. Thank you for your support.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D.

Note that this offer expired at the end of 2020.

People are worried about how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting the world economy, and their own finances.
Although it may be painful to look at investment portfolios right now, and difficult to plan future incomes, savings and rates of return, eventually things will return to some sort of normal.
To help you through the crisis, we won't be deleting expired MoneyReadyApp accounts, we are extending your paid subscriptions, and the free trial now includes unlimited runs of the TIME MACHINE.
So that we can keep functioning, if your subscription would have expired or if you have completed three runs of the TIME MACHINE in the trial version, the website will ask for an optional donation. If you choose to donate, it will be credited to you as additional subscription time when things return to normal.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D.
Head of Money-Ready

Dear MoneyReadyApp users,

I was inspired by a letter I received from a user who uses the MoneyReadyApp to determine the long-term viability of his family's lifestyle.
(I posted it here https://www.moneyreadyapp.ca/blog/post/6.)
The EXPENSES tab is one some people stuggle with. Although it is optional to enter them in the MoneyReadyApp, it is recommended to enter at least your minimal living expenses so accounts can be withdrawn if necessary.
It's usually easy to tabulate your incomes and pensions, to know the current value of your investments, and so on. It's not so easy to understand how much money you spend or to predict how much you will spend in years to come.
Remember the TIME MACHINE attempts to satisfy this formula every year: Income - Savings - Expenses = 0.
In order to help get you started with EXPENSES, we now show you the amount of money available to spend this year as a guide.
We show you an approximation of Income - Savings - Expenses already considered elsewhere (e.g, taxes, loan payments) for the current year according to your inputs.
We think it will be helpful to guide your expenses and savings for this year and future years.
The calculation requires a mini TIME MACHINE run to calculate just the first year according to your inputs. For this reason, we have reorganized the left menu items in order to have the information necessary to get the estimate before you reach the EXPENSES tab.
Please read the Help for this page for a full explanation.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D
Head of Money-Ready

Dear MoneyReadyApp users,

We've implemented several user suggestions:
1. Currency Investments. For those who trade currencies, or just need an additional cash investment in an account, we added Currency investments.
2. Copy/Merge Accounts feature. You can select accounts to copy all of their investments into one MOCK account. This would mostly be used with our rebalancing tool to get a current rebalancing recommendation over multiple accounts.
3. Ignore OAS and CPP/QPP. Whether you don't believe these programs will exist in the future, or you want to see what your plan would look like without them, or you simply don't want to deal with the CPP earnings table, you can now just click a checkbox (in the CPP/QPP and OAS tab) to ignore OAS, GIS, CPP, QPP, disability pensions, and survivor benefits for both spouses in the TIME MACHINE. Don't use this, though, if you have a free account with us as a low-income senior who is or will be collecting GIS.
4. Partial RRSP to RRIF conversions. Any withdrawals from RRSPs when 65 or older are considered to qualify as pension income eligible for the pension tax credit and income splitting in the TIME MACHINE. Essentially we are assuming the paperwork for the partial conversion to an RRIF will be done for the withdrawal amount if the account wasn't already converted. You can set up an AUTOMATIC Withdrawal on the account beginning Jan 1 of the year you turn 65 to take advantage of the tax breaks.
5. Partial LIRA to LIF conversions. We now allow withdrawals from LIRAs from age 65, assuming that the withdrawal will be considered a partial LIF conversion. This way the withdrawal will qualify as pension income eligible for the pension tax credit and income splitting in the TIME MACHINE. Again, you can set up an AUTOMATIC Withdrawal on the account to take advantage of the tax breaks. A maximum withdrawal amount will be enforced as if a LIF in the TIME MACHINE.

More information on these features is available in the appropriate "Help for this page" and in the eBook.

I want to thank the users for their suggestions. Your feedback is awesome, keep it coming!
You know that I listen and that I answer all of your questions, comments and suggestions, so please do not hesitate to contact me.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D
Head of Money-Ready

Dear MoneyReadyApp users,

Just a small update.
 We've implemented a request from several users to allow stopping of dividend reinvestments and the automatic withdrawal of distributions in the TIME MACHINE.
 You can set that up in Automatic Savings/Withdrawals. Please see the Help for that page for details.
 I've added a blog to the website. For things that really don't fit in the eBook.
 You'll find the homepage a little snazzier too.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D
Head of Money-Ready

Dear MoneyReadyApp users,

Happy New Year!
2019 was a very exciting year for me as I launched the MoneyReadyApp out into the internet world.
The response has been tremendous. I thank you for all the feedback and support you have given me as I continue to improve the most comprehensive and accurate financial planning app for all Canadians.
The MoneyReadyApp is only concerned with the future, and 2019 is now gone.
The app has been updated with all the 2020 tax numbers, including the new Enhanced Personal Tax Credit that was announced in December. Although not yet law, it looks likely to pass.

When you log in for the first time in 2020 you will need to do some updating before you can run the TIME MACHINE.
Review any CPP tables. The My Services Canada will not update your 2019 CPP contributions until later this year so you will have to estimate.
You will also have to review your PRIORITIES so that new tables are created for 2020. Remember to click Submit.
We assume all taxes are paid up for 2019 already. If you are expecting a tax bill you may want to enter it as a one-time expense (that is with the same start and end date) for the date you expect to make the payment. Similarly, if you are expecting a tax refund, you can enter it as a one-time Other non-taxable Income on the date you expect to receive it.
The advantage of running the TIME MACHINE in January is that there are a lot fewer inputs needed to consider for the first year.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Have a most wonderful 2020.

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D
Head of Money-Ready

Dear MoneyReadyApp users,

We have added a new functionality to the MoneyReadyApp. This one is for small business owners.
We now allow multiple accounts and business loans in your CCPC, in any currency.
You can also now select whether your CCPC is or not eligible for the Small Business Deduction (we previously assumed it was).

Since loan expenses will be calculated for you, you no longer need to remove them yourself from REVENUES.
If you have more than one account+loan, you will need to give us their priorities and limits for deposit and withdrawal in the TIME MACHINE.
These will be found in PRIORITIES with your personal accounts and loans, and highlighted in blue.
Please read the Help for this page on PRIORITIES for more explanation.

The graphs for the CCPC accounts and loans are now be available under the CCPC results of the TIME MACHINE and are no longer included in your personal results.

We welcome any questions and feedback,

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D
Head of Money-Ready

Dear MoneyReadyApp users,

We have added new functionality to the MoneyReadyApp. The program now calculates disability tax credits, the caregiver tax credits, and the eligible dependent credit for single parents and caregivers.
The calculation is done federally and for all provinces and territories. We aim for accuracy but can not guarantee the tax calculations.
CHILDREN are now DEPENDENTS on the Menu. For children you have already entered, they are assumed to be able and dependent (for tax purposes) until their 18th birthday. You can edit the child if you wish to make changes. You can also add additional eligible dependents (current or future).
If you or your spouse are eligible for the disability tax credit, you can now indicate that by checking the box in your PROFILE.

Many of these benefits are income-tested, so we also now allow you to enter INCOMES for your dependents.
If you have a CCPC, you can now specify income from the CCPC to your dependent (instead of "Other') and their taxable income will automatically be adjusted.
You will not see the income to your dependents, just the tax benefits to you when applicable.

We have also made the site faster for people with many accounts and investments as it would get bogged down with all the graphs.
You can now download the All-Investments table to csv or Excel.
You might be seeing dividends appearing in your distributions table, that you can also download.

We have added a FAQ for registered users with a list of common pitfalls that we have gathered from user comments.
Let us know if you'd like us to add anything to the list or to the FAQs.

We welcome any questions and feedback,

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D
Head of Money-Ready

Dear MoneyReadyApp users,

We are pleased to announce three major updates the MoneyReadyApp.

First, as we recently added functionality for disabled users and dependents, we have now added RDSP accounts.
The amounts for grants, bonds, and repayments, are calculated in the TIME MACHINE and you will see them in the account graph and in an extra column in the downloadable Excel and .csv files.
We have also added such a column for RESP accounts, so you can see the CESGs coming in.
RDSP accounts are quite complicated. If they are at all applicable to you, we strongly urge you to read that new section in the MoneyReadyApp eBook.
A beneficiary can only have one of each RDSP and RESP accounts, which raises the problem if the account holds investments in different currencies as we allowed only one currency per account.

So second, we now allow accounts to hold investments in any currency. This was our most voted on feature in VOTES.

Last, we also allow investments to be moved to other accounts in case you want to reorganize them without re-entering them. It also makes it easy to use our Account Rebalancing tool in creative ways.

The Help pages and eBook have been updated, and we always welcome any questions and feedback,

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D
Head of Money-Ready

Dear MoneyReadyApp users,

We have added a new functionality to the MoneyReadyApp. This one is for dividend-lovers. From now on, you will be able to see all dividends and distributions received, in the form of a table. It is accessible from a button below your ACCOUNTS table or your All-investments table.
This will allow you to see the changes we made to your investments and keep track of dividends.

Previously, we updated your investments with new prices and distributions only when you clicked on the ACCOUNTS and INVESTMENTS link.
But this was slow and not scalable for people with many investments.
We now automatically update everyone's investments nightly, just after we have received and processed the market data from Fundata.
This means you will no longer see the distributions as a flashed message when you click accounts and investments. The table will load much more quickly, and you can view/print or download the stored distributions.
Another plus is you will only see the "We are updating market prices, please review your accounts and investments later" very briefly, if at all.

There is a Help for this page on the Distributions table page with more details.

We welcome any questions and feedback,

Elisabeth Tillier, Ph.D
Head of Money-Ready
www.moneyreadyapp.ca