A death benefit that is paid to the surviving spouse of a deceased employee. If the employee dies before retirement, the qualified pre-retirement survivor annuity is paid to recompense the surviving spouse for the loss of retirement benefits that would have otherwise been paid to the employee. As the name implies, QPSAs are paid only for qualified plans. |||Qualified pre-retirement survivor annuity benefits must be offered by all types of qualified plans to vested participants, including defined-benefit plans and money-purchase plans. However, the spouses must have been married for at least a year in order to be eligible for benefits. ERISA mandates how the payments for a QPSA should be calculated. Both employee and spouse must sign off on a waiver of QPSA benefits and have it witnessed by either a notary public or authorized plan representative.
The continuous settlement of payments on an individual order basis without netting debits with credits across the books of a central bank. |||Basically, this is a system for large-value interbank funds transfers. This system lessens settlement risk because interbank settlement happens throughout the day, rather than just at the end of the day.
A company that invests in real estate and whose shares trade on a public exchange. A real estate operating company (REOC) is similar to a real estate investment trust (REIT), except that an REOC will reinvest its earnings into the business, rather than distributing them to unit holders like REITs do. Also, REOCs are more flexible than REITs in terms of what types of real estate investments they can makes. |||Because real estate operating companies reinvest earnings rather than distribute dividends to unit holders, they do not get the same benefits of lower corporate taxation that are a common characteristic of REITs. Investors in an REOC seek capital gains rather than passive cash flows. When analyzing a potential REOC investment, an investor should look for relatively high return on investment capital, return on equity and return on assets, as well as a respectable valuation. These are all measures of how well a company has been using its invested capital, equity and assets to generate profits. The higher these returns, the more likely it is that the company will continue to be profitable.
A legal trust registered with the Canada Revenue Agency and used to save for retirement. RRSP contributions are tax deductible and taxes are deferred until the money is withdrawn. An RRSP can contain stocks, bonds, mutual funds, GICs, contracts and even mortgage-backed equity. RRSPs have two main tax advantages:1. Contributors deduct contributions against their income. For example, if a contributor's tax rate is 40%, every $100 he or she invests in an RRSP will save that person $40 in taxes, up to his or her contribution limit.2. The growth of RRSP investments is tax sheltered. Unlike with non-RRSP investments, returns are exempt from any capital-gains tax, dividend tax or income tax. This means that investments under RRSPs compound at a pretax rate. |||In effect, RRSP contributors delay the payment of taxes until retirement, when their marginal tax rate will be lower than during their working years. The Government of Canada has provided this tax deferral to Canadians to encourage retirement savings, which will help the population to rely less on the Canadian Pension Plan to fund retirement.
A retirement fund similar to an annuity contract that pays out income to a beneficiary or a number of beneficiaries. To fund their retirement, RRSP holders often roll over their RRSPs into an RRIF. RRIF payouts are considered a part of the beneficiary's normal income and are taxed as such by the Canadian Revenue Agency in the year that the beneficiary receives payouts. The organization or company that holds the RRIF is known as the carrier of the plan. Carriers can be insurance companies, banks or any kind of licensed financial intermediary. The Government of Canada is not the carrier for RRIFs; it merely registers them for tax purposes. |||The RRIF plan is designed to provide people with a constant income flow through retirement from the savings in their RRSPs. RRSPs must be rolled over by the time the contributor reaches age 69, but by converting an RRSP into an RRIF, people can keep their investments under a form of tax shelter, while still having the chance to allocate assets according to contributor specifications.
A form of a trust that provides pension benefits for an employee of a company upon retirement. RPPs are registered with the Canada Revenue Agency. The employee and employer, or just the employer make contributions to this retirement plan until the employee leaves the company or retires. |||Contributions to an RPP are tax deductible for both the employee and the employer. Contributions to the plan and gains on underlying assets are tax deferred, so the funds are taxed when they are withdrawn from the plan.
An advisor, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, who manages the investments of others. |||This registration doesn't mean that the person is recommended by the SEC, it simply means that they are regulated by the SEC. In general, an RIA with more than $25 million under management must register with the SEC. RIAs managing less than $25 million are registered at the state level.
A savings plan sponsored by the Canadian government that encourages investing in a child's future post-secondary education. Subscribers to an RESP make contributions that build up tax-free earnings - tax-free because subscribers cannot deduct payments made to the plan from their income. The government contributes a certain amount to plans for children under 18 under the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG). |||Payments are made by a contributor (parent) on behalf of a beneficiary (child). once the child is in a post-secondary institution, he or she will receive educational assistance payments (EAPs). These EAPs count as income for the child (beneficiary). If the beneficiary doesn't receive payments - either by choice of the contributor or because the beneficiary does not attend a post-secondary institution, the contributor will receive the amount in the RESP back tax-free.