Keep What You Build

Every estate has three possible heirs: your family, charity and the government. Most business owners only plan for the first one, and assume that giving more to charity means leaving less to their kids. Mark Halpern has spent 35 years showing them it doesn't have to.

In this episode, Martin sits down with Mark Halpern, CFP, TEP, MFA-P, CEO of WEALTHinsurance.com and founder of Power of Platinum, to unpack what he calls "disinheriting the CRA."

What we cover:

- Why "disinherit the CRA" doesn't mean disinheriting your kids

- How Canada's donation rules work while you're alive versus at death, as Mark explains them

- Four ways life insurance can turn a tax bill into a charitable gift, including donating a policy you no longer need and converting term insurance you were about to cancel

- Canada Life's MyPAR Gift, a one-premium policy built for charitable giving

- CPP Philanthropy™: putting CPP payments you don't need toward a lasting gift

- How business owners can donate appreciated stock from a holding company

- The most common mistake generous families make, and where to start

Mark joins Greg Rozdeba live on Wednesday, October 14 at 12 PM ET for a free webinar, "Give More, Pay Less Tax": dundaswealth.ca/webinar-oct-14

Book a free strategy call: dundaswealth.ca/apply

Reach Mark: wealthinsurance.com · powerofplatinum.com · [email protected]

Keep What You Build is presented by Dundas Wealth. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not financial, tax or legal advice. Figures discussed are Mark Halpern's; consult a qualified professional about your situation.

If someone asked you today, "Who's buying your business, and for how much?" — could you answer? Most incorporated business owners can't. And yet "I'll sell the business someday" is the entire retirement plan for a lot of them.

In this episode, Martin and Greg sit down with Frank Restorick, CFP®, Wealth Planner at Optimize Wealth Management, who sees this gap every week in his practice, to break down what a real retirement plan looks like when 80–90% of your net worth is tied up in one company.

What we cover:

Why your business is one piece of the retirement plan, not the plan

The risk of having most of your wealth in a single asset — and how to start de-risking

Selling the business vs. passing it to family: how the plan changes

RRSP vs. investing inside the corporation — where the next dollar should go

How passive income inside the corp interacts with the small business deduction

How corporate-owned life insurance works as a tax-sheltered asset, and what borrowing against it can fund

The first three moves for a 50-year-old owner with retained earnings and no plan

Why to "cleanse" the corporation of passive income before a sale

Disability and critical illness — the risk owners skip

If your retirement plan currently lives entirely in "I'll sell the business someday," this is the episode that gets you asking the right questions before that day arrives.

Book a free strategy call: dundaswealth.ca/apply

Keep What You Build is presented by Dundas Wealth. The content in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.

Your business partner dies on a Tuesday. By Friday, your new business partner is their grieving spouse — someone who has never set foot in the building. If there's no shareholder agreement, that's not a horror story. That's just what the law does.

In this episode, Martin and Greg sit down with Karol Pawlina, Barrister & Solicitor at Pawlina Law — a corporate lawyer who sets up and unwinds these agreements for a living — to walk through what actually happens when a partner dies, leaves, or wants out and there's nothing in writing.

What we cover:

Why roughly a third of the multi-shareholder businesses Karol sets up still skip the agreement

What legally fills the gap when there isn't one: negotiation, court, or a spouse voting your shares

The shotgun clause explained — and where it breaks down when the partners aren't equally wealthy

What a real business valuation costs, and the cheaper annual-table alternative you can write into the agreement

Individual buyout vs. corporate share redemption, and why the tax treatment is different

What a Section 85 rollover is and when you need one

Why ChatGPT-drafted shareholder agreements keep landing on Karol's desk — and cost more to fix than to redo

How a divorce can pull your business into a stranger's property settlement

You have a partner and no agreement. What do you do this month?

This is the drafting side. Ep 2 with Ben Corriveau covers the other half — how the buyout actually gets funded.

If you're in business with a partner and you've never signed a shareholder agreement, this one is worth your time before you need it.

Buying life insurance used to mean a guy with a briefcase showing up at your kitchen table. Now you can buy a policy on Amazon, at Costco, or from your phone before your coffee gets cold. The question nobody's really answering: should you?

In this episode, Martin Ochwat and Greg Rozdeba sit down with Yusudan Ren, CFA, CFP, CLU, Pl. Fin. — Director, Products and Partnerships at Prospr by Sun Life — to talk about how digital insurance is reshaping the Canadian market, and where the real risk sits when you skip the advisor.

What we cover:

How Amazon and Costco started selling insurance, and what retailers can infer about your life stage from your shopping habits

The "prosumer" effect: clients arriving with ChatGPT-generated questions, where that makes them sharper and where it misleads them

Why hybrid advice — human plus digital — is becoming the standard rather than the exception

How AI is helping advisors present complex plans more simply

When AI gives dangerously wrong answers on insurance and tax

The client who skipped a $32/month policy, and what happened next

Why the average insurance advisor in Canada is over 60, and what that means for the next decade

Why corporate-owned insurance still can't be bought online

The cross-subject planning problem — tax, insurance, and estate together — that AI can't solve yet

If you're a Canadian business owner or professional weighing whether to buy coverage online or work with an advisor, this one is worth your time.

Book a free strategy call: dundaswealth.ca/apply

Yusudan appears in a personal capacity; the views he shares are his own and not those of Sun Life or Prospr.

Keep What You Build is presented by Dundas Wealth. The content in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.

If one person disappeared from your business tomorrow, would it be affected financially? If the answer is yes, you have a key person — and most owners have no plan for it. In this episode, Martin Ochwat and Greg Rozdeba sit down with Thomas Hull, a fourth-generation advisor at Hull Life Insurance, to explain key person insurance: what it is, who needs it, what it costs, and what happens to a business when the person it can't run without is suddenly gone. Thomas shares a real case — a West Coast hospitality owner who died of pancreatic cancer, whose $7 million business survived on the insurance payout and sold for $40 million four years later. What we cover:

• The one question that tells you whether you have a key person

• What actually happens to revenue, lenders, clients and staff when a key person is gone

• How much coverage makes sense — revenue multiples, replacement cost, and the 150–300%-of-salary rule of thumb

• The tax mechanics: the corporation owns it, premiums aren't deductible, the payout is tax-free, and money can flow out through the capital dividend account

• Term vs. permanent coverage for a key employee

• Why a disability can cost a business more than a death

• How key person insurance differs from a funded buy-sell agreement

• How banks and lenders view a business that has coverage in place. If you're a Canadian business owner with someone whose absence would materially hurt the company, this one's worth your time.

Book a free strategy call: dundaswealth.ca/apply

Keep What You Build is presented by Dundas Wealth. The content in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.

📅 Book a free strategy call → https://dundaswealth.ca/applyYou've built a profitable business. Your corporation is generating cash. But every time you try to pull money out — salary, dividends, anything — it feels like the CRA is waiting with its hand out.So what are your actual options? And is there a way to get money out tax-free?In Episode 8 of Keep What You Build, Martin Ochwat sits down with Greg Rozdeba, Co-Founder & CEO of Dundas Wealth, to map out the full picture: corporate vs. personal tax, the passive income rules that quietly erode your small business deduction, the Capital Dividend Account most business owners don't know they have, and how life insurance, group benefits, and shareholder loans fit into the strategy.This isn't a sales pitch — it's the honest, high-level overview Greg gives business owners who come to him asking "where does all my profit actually go?"WHAT'S COVERED:Why taking money out as salary can cost you up to 53% in Ontario — and what the blended alternatives look likeThe passive income rules and the $50K threshold that quietly chips away at your small business deductionThe Capital Dividend Account (CDA): how it works, how life insurance builds it, and why most business owners have no idea what's in theirsThe Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption, shareholder loans, and return of capital — often overlooked ways to access your own moneyLife insurance, group benefits, wellness spending accounts, and corporate investment deductions as tax-efficient uses of corporate dollars while you're still aliveALSO MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:📺 Deep dive on the Capital Dividend Account → https://youtu.be/EXeoR1skJxMCONNECT WITH GREG ROZDEBA:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregoryrozdeba/Dundas Wealth: https://dundaswealth.caBOOK A FREE STRATEGY CALL:https://dundaswealth.ca/applyMORE EPISODES:Ep 4 — The Tax Strategy Your Accountant Can't Recommend, with Greg RozdebaEp 3 — Corporate-Owned Life Insurance Explained by a CPA, with Michael BakerEp 2 — What Happens When Your Business Partner Dies? with Ben CorriveauEp 1 — 5 Tax Blind Spots Costing Canadian Business Owners ThousandsMORE FROM DUNDAS WEALTH:Website: https://dundaswealth.caPodcast: https://keepwhatyoubuild.comLinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/dundas-wealthSUBSCRIBE for new episodes every two weeks — strategies for Canadian incorporated business owners.This content is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult with qualified professionals regarding your specific situation.

Most business owners treat their group benefits plan like a subscription — set it up once, glance at the renewal price each year, and move on. According to today's guest, that's often the most expensive assumption they'll make all year.

In this episode, Martin and Greg sit down with Marni Hefner, Director at IDC Wynn Workplace Solutions, who reviews renewals and designs benefit plans for business owners every day. Marni explains why no two companies — even two of the same size and industry — should have the same plan, and why chasing the lowest renewal number is usually the wrong question.

What we cover: • Why "set it and forget it" is the most expensive assumption you can make about your benefits plan • What actually drives a renewal increase, and how to tell if it's fair • Why the right plan depends on your team's demographics, not a template • The bad practice that can quietly hurt you with insurance carriers • Emerging trends business owners should have on their radar — from flexible spending accounts to executive medical programs

If you're a Canadian business owner responsible for a group benefits plan — or wondering whether you need one — this one's worth your time.

Book a free Group Benefits Review: benefits.dundaslife.com/webinar

Keep What You Build is presented by Dundas Wealth. The content in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.

Your personal life insurance policy covers your family. But what about your business?

In this episode, Martin Ochwat sits down with Greg Rozdeba, Co-Founder & CEO of Dundas Wealth, to break down the gap between personal and business coverage — and why most business owners are unknowingly exposed.

You'll learn what falls through the cracks when you only have personal coverage: key person insurance, buy-sell agreements, corporate debt protection, and the tax bill at the end of your life (deemed disposition). Greg walks through real numbers, practical examples (including the $1M personal policy that doesn't fund the business side), and why this gap matters more than most people realize.

What we cover:

• Why "I'm fully covered with life insurance" is usually incomplete
• The 4 major business risks personal coverage doesn't address
• Key person insurance: protecting your business from losing a critical revenue driver
• Buy-sell agreements: funding a partner buyout when something happens
• Corporate debt + personal guarantees: the hidden exposure most business owners miss
• Deemed disposition: the tax bill your family will face at the end of your life
• Real costs: what partner buyout insurance and key person coverage actually run
• How to get started: a simple needs assessment and first steps

If you're a Canadian business owner with employees, partners, or retained earnings in your corporation, this one's essential listening.

Book a free strategy call: dundaswealth.ca/apply

Keep What You Build is presented by Dundas Wealth. The content in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.

You've got money sitting inside your corporation. Maybe it's $200K, maybe it's a million. You know you should be doing something with it — but nobody's ever walked you through all the options.

In this episode, Martin sits down with Paige Motamedi of Hall Life Insurance Corporation — 22 years in the industry, backed by a firm with nearly a century of experience working with Canadian entrepreneurs — to break down exactly what's happening to your retained earnings and what you can actually do about it.

What we cover:

• The $50K passive income threshold: why crossing it triggers a clawback on your small business deduction worth tens of thousands per year
• Your options when retained earnings pile up: cash, stocks, real estate, dividends — and the pros and cons of each
• How corporate-owned life insurance redirects passive income into a tax-exempt, balance-sheet-building asset without coming out of pocket
• The "use the 4%" strategy: funding your COLI policy from investment gains or rental income instead of fresh capital
• The CDA (capital dividend account): how the death benefit flows to your family completely tax-free
• Who this strategy is right for — and who should stay away
• A real client scenario: a real estate investor facing a $2M capital gains tax bill, and how a joint last-to-die COLI policy solved it
• The first step to take if you've been sitting on retained earnings for years without a plan

If you're an incorporated Canadian business owner with retained earnings building up in your corp, this one is worth your time.

Book a free strategy call: dundaswealth.ca/apply

Keep What You Build is presented by Dundas Wealth. The content in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.

Your accountant is great at what they do. So why have they never mentioned corporate-owned life insurance — or the tax strategies that come with it?

In this episode, Martin sits down with Greg Rozdeba, Co-Founder & CEO of Dundas Wealth, to explain why these strategies rarely come up with your accountant — and it's not what you'd think. It's a scope issue, not a competence one: licensing, time, and specialization keep most CPAs out of the insurance side, even when there's real money on the line.

What we cover: • Why "my accountant would have told me" is usually the wrong assumption • The real reasons CPAs don't raise insurance — time, licensing, liability, and specialization • The four areas insurance quietly handles: corporate-owned life insurance, estate planning, retirement strategies (IRPs/IPPs), and funded buy-sell agreements • Why you should start with a specialist, then bring your accountant in to scrutinize the proposal • What it looks like when the advisor and accountant actually collaborate

If you're a Canadian business owner with retained earnings or passive income inside your corporation, this one is worth your time.

Book a free strategy call: dundaswealth.ca/apply

Keep What You Build is presented by Dundas Wealth. The content in this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.