Category Archives: Money Tips

How to Download and Install StudioTax Software to Calculate and File your 2012 Canadian Income Taxes Online for Free

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How to File Your 2012 Taxes by April 30, 2013 Using StudioTax Software: Part 1: Getting the Software

The Canada Revenue Agency is sending clear signals that it wants us all to file our taxes electronically. For instance this year they are not sending the paper tax forms out by mail, you have to telephone (1-800-959-2221 M-F 8:15-5:00) to order them, visit a post office to pick them up, or order them online. So I decided to check what software I can use for FREE to file my taxes online. This article is about one of the two approved FREE programs. The article describes how to download and install the software.

In the next article I will describe what happened when I used this software to calculate my husband’s taxes.

Here are some limitations of the StudioTax 2012 software as listed on their website:

  • StudioTax software only runs on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It is compatible with most Windows versions including Windows 7 and Windows 8.
  • If you are not running Win 7, 8 or Vista, StudioTax will attempt to download and install the required .Net 2.0 SP2 if it’s not already installed on your computer.
  • The following form is not handled by StudioTax
  • Form T1273 STATEMENT A – Harmonized CAIS Program Information and Statement of Farming Activities for Individuals

To Get the StudioTax Software to Calculate Your Canadian 2012 Income Taxes

  1. Go to http://www.studiotax.com/
  2. Click on English or French as applicable. Read the information about StudioTax.
  3. Click on the Download link.
  4. If you want the file installed in a specific directory, you may want to make the New Folder before downloading.
    The program can be downloaded in two formats.
    If you want to download the file using the least bandwidth download the Zip file. The ZIP file is about 23 MB.
    If you don’t want to have to unzip the file, download the Exe file. The Exe file is about 25 MB.
  5. To download, click on the EXE or ZIP link in the Latest 2012 row.
  6. If you click on EXE:
    1. Click on the Save File button.
    2. Select the directory within which you want the file saved and click the Save button.
  7. If you click on ZIP:
    1. Select the radio button beside Save File.
    2. Click on the OK button.
    3. Select the directory within which you want the file saved and click the Save button.
    4. Unzip the file. For example: Navigate to the StudioTax2012Install.zip file. From the File menu, select Extract All.

To Install StudioTax Software on your PC

  1. Complete instructions are given on the StudioTax website at: http://www.studiotax.com/en/?page=2 .
  2. Navigate to the folder where you stored the EXE file.
  3. Double click on the EXE file called StudioTax2012Install.exe.
  4. If you receive a message asking if you want to run this file, click on the Run button.
  5. If you receive a message that says Please select a language:
    from the drop-down list select English or French and click the OK button.
  6. The Welcome to StudioTax 2012 Setup wizard will open.
    Click on the Next button.
  7. It will suggest storing the program in C:\Program Files\BHOK IT Consulting\StudioTax 2012\
    You can browse to select a different location, if desired.
    When the correct folder is listed, click on the Next button.
  8. Review the license agreement and Click to set the radio button to I accept the terms in the License Agreement or I do not accept the terms in the License Agreement.
  9. Then click the Next button.
  10. To install the program, click on the Install button. Wait.
  11. After the program installs, if you want to open StudioTax 2012 immediately, click to check the box beside Launch StudioTax 2012.
  12. Click on the Finish button to exit the Setup Wizard.

The Welcome to StudioTax 2012 window will open.

You have now downloaded and installed StudioTax 2012 the free program to calculate your 2012 Canadian Income taxes before the April 30, 2013 deadline. You can use this program to file your taxes online, also for free.

Please consider making a donation to Bhok It Software if you like the product so that they can keep offering this product.

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Are you using StudioTax for your return this year? Did it work the way you expected? Have you ever used any other programs? How did they compare? Please share your experiences with a comment.

Retirement Planning: Don’t Invest Your Pension Primarily in Stock in This

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Tempting though it may be, it’s an inherently risky move to invest most of your pension in the stock of the company for which you work. Here’s an explanation and an example to consider.

Don’t Keep the Bulk of Your Savings in Shares of the Company for Which You Work

There may be some comfort in investing in your own company. You may have pride in your employer and in your own work. You may feel that you would “know” if there were accounting irregularities or any weakness that threatens the company. You may know your company has a long history of steady growth.

It’s a risky choice.

Having Too Many $$ in the Same Company is Risky

Many people who work in large Canadian companies are offered opportunities to invest directly in the company for which they work. Often, there is a work savings plan that allows employees to buy shares in the company without paying a trading commission. If the company has a defined contribution pension plan, and most now do, one of the investment choices is to buy stock in the company, often with no commissions charged. Depending on the type of employee rewards program, they may be granted SARs or RSUs where the award’s payout is based on the value of the stock on a certain day or during a certain period.

Now imagine where else these employees are putting their savings and retirement money? Chances are good that at least some of it is going into a stock market ETF or mutual fund that includes their own company!

Having so much of your personal monetary worth tied to one company is inherently risky.

Learn from the Disastrous Impact of Nortel’s Collapse on Its Employees’ Pensions

A relative of mine was once employed by Nortel Networks. Like many Nortel employees much of his pension was invested in shares in Nortel. After all, at that time, Nortel was a mini-Bell. It was a secure, stable, growing Canadian corporation. It was even viewed as being largely conservative.

This relative worked for a splinter group in Nortel that the company decided one day to sell off. Part of the terms of sale was that certain of the key employees, including my relative, would move to the new business. Another condition of the sale was that the employees of the new company had to sell off any holdings in Nortel, specifically the ones in their pension plan.

That forced change in pension investments saved my relative thousands of dollars. Because just after he sold, Nortel collapsed.

For those of you too young or otherwise new to the Nortel saga, here’s a quick review. Nortel was a subsidiary of Bell. According to the CBCNews article Key dates in Nortel Networks’ history in 1977 it incorporated. In July 2000, during the dotcom bubble, Nortel’s stock hit a high of $124.50 per share. In 2002, the share price had plunged to 67 cents. It never really recovered. In June 2009 Nortel was delisted from the TSX.

Virtually none of the Nortel employees saw this coming. The collapse was caused, it appears, by two major problems. One, the price of the shares skyrocketed on the same euphoria that swept all high tech companies in the late 1990s, now called the dotcom bubble. The price shot way above the realistic value of the assets and the production of the company. Two, there may have been some actual illegal activity on the part of Nortel management. That is still being decided in the courts. Either way, when the dotcom implosion occurred, Nortel was caught up in the tidal wave and left battered and broken on the beach.

Many Nortel employees lost their jobs. Many of them then realized in horror that their personal savings plans and their retirement plans had been heavily invested directly in Nortel stock. They had lost virtually everything, through no fault of their own, in less than a year. No one saw it coming. No one person could have stopped it.

Don’t let it happen to you. Stay diversified. Doesn’t let most of your worth become invested in only one asset no matter how safe and secure it seems.

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Did you ever review your personal investments and realize with a shock that you are over-invested in one company or in one sector? Were you able to fix the problem in time? Please share your experiences with a comment.