The Success Tax Shuffle - Paperback

by William (Bill) Green (Author)

This updated edition reflects Canadian tax laws as of November 30, 2025.

Are you looking to protect your heirs and minimize what ultimately goes to the Canada Revenue Agency? Then this book is for you. Discover how to protect your family at a time when they are likely at their most vulnerable and facing what may be the largest tax bill they will ever see.

There are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. Each is challenging on its own - together, they can have a devastating impact on the wealth you've worked a lifetime to build. The "Success Tax" is the tax you pay for having been financially successful: the tax on assets that become taxable when sold, or when you are deemed to have disposed of them at death.

The Success Tax generally appears in two main forms:

1. Deferred tax on registered plans such as RRSPs, group RRSPs, LRSPs, RRIFs, LIFs and similar tax-sheltered retirement vehicles.
2. Tax on deferred capital gains on assets such as stocks, mutual funds, real estate, private corporations, art, antiques, collectibles and, in some cases, even bonds.

While there is no way to completely avoid the Success Tax where it is legally payable, there are many strategies that can significantly reduce - and in some cases, effectively eliminate - the tax that your estate or your heirs will face.

The Success Tax Shuffle is not a tax evasion scheme, nor is it a donation tax shelter. It is a disciplined process of arranging your assets and affairs to take full advantage of current tax rules, credits, deductions and estate planning tools, with the goal of reducing or even eliminating the Success Tax.

By implementing the strategies outlined in this book, you can help ensure that more of your hard-earned wealth goes to the people and causes you care about - and less to those you don't. It's your money. You earned it. Now is the time to take the steps necessary to protect it for the next generation.

Author Biography

William (Bill) Green has been in the financial and estate planning business for over 25 years. He is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Financial Management Advisor (FMA), and a Financial Divorce Specialist (FDS). He also holds his Chartered Investment Manager (CIM) designation and is one of only a handful of Canadians who is a member of the Nazrudin Project, an international advisory think-tank of financial planners, psychologists and other professionals dealing with the emotional and psychological aspects of money and money management. Since he started in the financial services industry, he has worked for both small and large independent firms and with a large Canadian bank brokerage and their retail banking division. He now works as an independent advisor and consultant. He currently provides insurance solutions, fee only, hourly financial and estate planning advice to his clients and other advisors from his home in Muskoka, Ontario. He enjoys many outdoor activities including canoeing, kayaking, fishing, hiking, cross-country and downhill skiing. He can be reached through his website at www.feeonlyplanner.ca