In my RRSP, I have had individual mutual funds. Recently, my advisor has placed me in portfolio funds (i.e. CI Portfolio Series Growth Fund). Can you tell me more about portfolio series funds and any benefits or pitfalls to this move? Thanks. - Theresa

Your advisor presumably had a good reason for recommending this change but the fact you have directed your question to me suggests he or she did not explain it very well. Portfolios such as this as really nothing more than a "fund of funds" - several mutual funds put together in a single package. They are very convenient for advisors because they eliminate the need for carefully selecting individual funds. However, I have never been impressed with them from an investor's perspective.

The specific fund to which you refer holds 10 individual CI funds. This seems like overkill to me and the performance to date doesn't suggest that all these funds provide any advantage in the way of returns. For example, for the year ending Nov. 30, this Portfolio Fund gained 17.6%, well below the 19.1% average for the Global Equity Balanced category. Over five years, the fund shows an average annual gain of 1.6%, almost exactly the same as the category average.

By way of comparison, the CI Signature Global Income and Growth Fund, which is also a global balanced fund, gained 26.8% in the past 12 months. You might want to ask your advisor why he/she didn't recommend that one instead. - G.P.

As a new TFSA year has just rolled around, can a new TFSA investor in 2010 make use of the unused 2009 contribution limit if he didn’t have a TFSA open in 2009 or is that contribution allowance lost forever? - Jacques D. 

I've answered this question before but since it is a New Year and many people seem to be wondering the same thing, here's the response again. Unused TFSA contribution room can be carried forward indefinitely, whether or not you had a plan in 2009. Since you made no contribution last year, you are entitled to put a maximum of $10,000 into a plan in 2010. - G.P.

I am currently in receipt of CPP disability benefits. I am 59 years old. Do I qualify for any CPP retirement benefits at age 60? - William D., Nova Scotia

You may qualify, but you cannot collect both disability benefits and retirement benefits at the same time. It's one or the other. The retirement pension is normally lower than the disability benefit but check with a Service Canada representative regarding your personal situation. - G.P.

My Father-in-law, in India desires to sell his detached residential home there and intends to take either of the following courses of action:

1) To divide the proceeds between his spouse and his three children. If my wife acquires a portion of the proceeds and decides to remit the amount into Canada, what will be the tax implications? Does she have to pay tax on the amount acquired or pay tax only on the income arising out of the invested amount of the inheritance acquired?

2) By selling the independent home, he would like to construct a building housing four apartments. These units are designated to the spouse and three children. What will be the tax implication in this scenario for the unit allocated to my wife? Does she have to pay tax on the income accruing in India? - R.S., Ontario

As far as scenario one is concerned, there is no Canadian tax on money received as a gift. Your wife would have to pay tax on any investment income subsequently earned unless it is sheltered in a Tax-Free Savings Account or RRSP.

The second scenario is more complicated. Your wife would end up owning revenue-generating foreign property. She would be taxed in Canada on net rental income earned on that property and on any capital gains realized in a subsequent sale.

I cannot comment on the tax implications as far as India is concerned as I am not familiar with their laws. - G.P.

My father sold the family home in October, 2009 and paid the proceeds of the sale to myself on condition that I would give half to my brother when my father died. My father then died two months later. Are there any taxes owing on the money that my father gifted to my brother and me? My mother predeceased my father and there are no other children besides myself and my brother. There are no other assets except a small bank account which doesn't require probate to transfer the funds over to us. - Cookie in B.C.

There are no tax implications either for your father's cash gift to you or for the money you give to your brother. - G.P.