Getting tired of the weekly hike to the cottage or cabin? Many baby-boomers are, and have decided to sell the “family” cottage, especially if the family doesn’t seem particularly interested in the thing any longer. In my previous article, I outlined some of the tax consequences involved in selling a recreational property that isn’t necessarily a primary residence. But in many cases, cottage owners may want to keep it in the family by transferring it to a family member (i.e., your kids or grandkids) for estate-planning or other reasons. But here, too, tax traps await the unwary.

Investors fretted and worried about central bank actions (real, imagined, hoped-for, expected, or feared) last week, and stock markets lost ground on the week as a result. The big North American indices have been edging down in fits and starts since mid-May, posting week-over-week losses more often than not. The reason for investor anxiety: monetary policy.

From time to time, you may have read or heard about fund managers using something called a covered call writing options strategy as part of their fund management process. It sounds mysterious and complicated, but it’s not really. We use the strategy frequently in our portfolios to reduce equity risk and provide tax-advantaged cash flow. But it is not a standalone strategy and in fact works best in combination with other assets across a broadly diversified portfolio. So here’s a primer on how this strategy works.