I'm going to Japan for a while on a trip. I am expecting to spend over $10,000 CAD. I want to minimize fx fees/maximize rewards.

I have a TD rewards visa (2.5% fx fee?), and Brim MC (1.5% fx fee).

Would it be better to use either of these since they both give rewards, or is it better to get the Home Trust Visa since it has no fx fee?

Once I started making decent money, I began contributing to my RRSP and have claimed the tax benefit. I currently have $25k. However, my job has a DB pension and there's a good possibility that I will stay until retirement, although that's still 25+ years away so who knows. If that is the case, then my pension income may be similar than my current income so there's no tax advantage. Is there any point to contributing to the RRSP while I still have TFSA room? Should I just leave the current amount and treat it like emergency savings?

I'm 21/M and after being thrown into one of those scam colleges at 17 I've been left with a massive debt that was purchased by debt collectors. I still have over $10000 owed to them, and cannot afford to pay them off and pay my bills.

I've read in several places online that people often just tell the company to fuck off after a certain amount of time and apparently it worked out for them, but I'm very worried about attempting this, even if I don't really have a choice

Has anyone dealt with this before? Can anyone give me a more realistic look at the possibilities? I screwed up enough already I don't want to make another big mistake here. Thank you!

I was hoping that someone would be able to provide some guidance. Following a period of 10 weeks on EI sickness benefits from mid-January to early April 2024 due to severe depression and anxiety following the loss of my mother, I returned to work in early April. However, after only five weeks back, I find myself in a distressing state.The toxic work environment has exacerbated my mental health challenges, undoing any progress made during my medical leave. The management and coworkers exhibit behaviors that I can only describe as bullying, creating a hostile atmosphere… it’s the worst job I’ve ever had. Additionally, a recent incident where I was followed by an individual, which led me to fear for my safety, has resulted in panic attacks and heightened anxiety.In light of these circumstances, I sought guidance from my doctor, who advised supports my decision to resign from my current workplace to prioritize my mental well-being. Furthermore, I plan to seek psychiatric consultation in my home country due to the lengthy waiting period for such services in Canada. My counselor, whom I meet with weekly online, has also recommended that I pursue alternative employment for the sake of my health.While I understand that I may not qualify for EI benefits while residing outside of Canada, I am seeking clarification on whether I would be eligible to claim the remaining 16 weeks of sickness benefits upon my return, given that I would be leaving my job for cause. I would grateful for any guidance or assistance you can provide.

Hi.

I'm in the last stages of finalizing my consumer proposal. I have a video call with my assigned trustee in a few days, which I'm very nervous for.

To make it more complex, I just ended up with a suprise inheritance for 20,000 dollars. I have not finalized my consumer proposal yet, and my creditors still have to agree on it ect ect..

I'm really scared this sudden change in my financial situation will mess with my proposal being finalized.

I would much rather my credit tank for a few years and have an easier time mentally and financially, than be back barely making ends meet...

Does anyone have any advice? Or know what the trustee call will entail?

Will my inheritance mess up this proposal from happening? Do I need to report it to the credit consolidators or the trustee?

Thank you so much for your help

So I was laid off in october and only just recently got approved for EI. I was fired for no reason and 0 misconduct. It took them so long i didnt think i would be receiving ei but I kept applying for jobs and making note anyway. They told me I wouldnt need to start making reports until after I was approved. 3 months later, I decided to take a course part time to keep my mind sharp and fill in the gap for employers. I was then approved for ei and immediately dropped the course because i intend to work and had planned to drop the course immediately after being hired. This was all in quick succession as i was approved for ei the week date classes started. I already have my degree and was planning on retaking an old course in my spare time but dropped the course my first week. I never spent any time in school and have been looking for work full time. I will be getting a full refund and recently had a promising job interview. Will CRA be upset with me for being registered even though I never attended?

I wonder if they would even know since with a full tuition refund I shouldnt be receiving a t2022.

I tried to find other posts addressing this but didn't see any.

My partner makes <50% of what I make. We have a joint chequing account that my paycheques are deposited into, hers are deposited at a different bank with higher interest. We each have various credit cards that we use for household expenses depending on which one give us more rewards.

Is there anything inherently wrong with operating under the framework that I cover all household expenses? This would mean I would transfer money to her each month to pay off her credit card and any other expenses out of her account.

By doing this she would be able to use "her money" to fill her registered accounts and invest in a taxable account at a much lower marginal tax rate than I could. I'm wondering if the CRA could take issue with one partner paying for literally every expense a couple makes.

Hey y’all. So life happens as we all know and im a little short on cash right now and I have bills to pay. I was thinking of taking about $760 cash advance loan from money mart. Online it says the total amount to be paid back is about $840 if I paid it all back in 2 weeks (which I 100% can). I understand if you don’t pay it back the interest rates are crazy and impossible to pay back but if I’m certain I can pay it back within the allotted time frame, would I truly only owe $840 or are there hidden fees and such they don’t tell you about?

Might be a stupid question but I am looking to consolidate all of my money into a single brokerage. Right now, about 20% of my non-registered investments are with Wealthsimple and 80% are with Questrade.

Wealthsimple offers much better long-term offers for large account holders like their recent mortgage deal so I want to put my money to work with a brokerage that has benefits instead of Questrade.

How do I transfer everything from Questrade to Wealthsimple? I do not want to get hit with capital gains because that money has grown a significant amount and I am already in the highest marginal tax bracket.

All of my equities with Questrade are just normal ETFs like VFV, VEQT, XEQT, VFV, TEC.TO so no crazy stock purchases.

Or am I shit out of luck and have to just stick with having those initial investments in questrade?

I am looking to open a FHSA and would like some advice on what are best rates out there.

I have 350k available to invest and will not have any income for 2024 and I do not need any of the money to live etc. I'm looking for any thoughts on investing strategies to maximize my returns until I go back to work in Jan. Because I will not have income to report for 2024 the tax implications should be minimal. Not interested in GIC and I have TFSA maxed. My thoughts are HISA 5% or CASH.TO but looking for short term strategies understanding my income scenario for 2024.

To add context US does not recognize FHSA but it recognizes RRSP . It simplifies and recudes my tax burden

I struggle with financial anxiety and it's now starting to affect my marriage as well because of how on edge I am at the moment.

We have investments and an emergency fund. My wife and I both work. If we were to both lose our jobs tomorrow, we could make it until October of next year before dipping into our investments which will last us another 8-9 months. And then we have credit as a last resort. So even if we were both to lose our jobs tomorrow, we could make it till like April 2026 before running out of all money. If just one of us lost our job, we could make it till like 2030 before running out of money.

So we're in a decent spot. But I can't stop thinking about the whatifs. The fear of homelessness eats away at me. Keep hearing about layoff news which is disconcerting. My wife is dying to go on vacation this year but I say we need to save (she wants to go on like a 6k vacation).

Anyone else feel the same way and/or have any tips to deal with this?

Currently with BMO and looking to switch to an online bank but unsure which one to go for?

All I do is use my chequing account for the occasional purchase at retailers that don’t accept credit, and also for sending investments to Wealthsimple and paying off my credit card.

Please note, I only need a chequing account. I already have a great savings account at Wealthsimple.

TIA

Hi,

26 year old male here, no diseases. Was quoted $125/mo for 15 years, covered for life as part of Canada Life’s critical insurance policy. Insurance payout is $100k.

Is this reasonable? Or am I being ripped off?

Thank you!

Hi everyone, I just finished university and moved back in with my parents. I have been having a hard time adjusting, I feel like my life is so different now. I'm 23, and I start working later this month and my salary is around 110K, I currently have around 15k saved up and will be finishing school with around 40k in debt, I plan to pay off my provincial interest as soon as I start working. Me and my 2 friends were planning to move out later in the year (december ish time). Neither of my friends have jobs lined up, which is totally normal in this job market, so i'm not sure if this timeline will pan out. I hate living at home, I feel like my mental health is deteriorating really bad, (I have a history of depression and anxiety) I feel stuck in a rut and I LOVE my parents but it feels like we just keep fighting, I mostly stay in my room all day. It's not the best family dynamic but I still love them so much. I don't know how much longer I can stay home, I was thinking of waiting until september and seeing where my friends are financially, but I don't want to put any pressure on them to move if they are not ready. Would it make sense to move out alone if they aren't ready? Condos i'm seeing in toronto are around 2-2.5k and i'm really scared to live with roommates who I don't know, I really wouldn't want to do that, what should i do?

Hi everyone, dental student here. I took out a professional student LOC with Scotiabank and they made me close/reduce my other credit cards and LOCs until the total of all my outside credit (apart from the student LOC) is equal to a max of 10 000. I am getting other credit card offers from other banks with good perks, I was wondering if I can accept this? Or would scotiabank get rid of my professional student LOC if I did this?

The thing is, I’m only allowed 25% of my total professional student LOC for each year in dentistry (it goes up by 25% every year for a max of 4 years). I’m not sure how the process goes, but I would like to accept the credit card offers as long as I won’t get in trouble with scotiabank.

Thanks!

Hey. Got tons of coins that I’m going to roll up. Dont want to use coinstar but I have an online only bank so can’t deposit them. Anywhere else I can swap coins out for bills that I can then deposit?

32(M) need some advice here: bought a townhouse for $395K with 10% down and $3.5K in closing costs, total outlay = $42.5K, I have about $11.5k in liquid money, RSP $18K, TFSA $26K, Non Reg $75K. I have lived below my means for years and worked excessively hard, haven't seen my parents in years now, they live in another country.

Grateful for what I have, just got married, she works but does not have any savings.

House Furntiure was about $10k, we scavenged for deals and marketplace. I work in sales, she is a hygienist, the reason I am sitting on cash is because of the economic conditions plus she has practically no savings.

What should I do with the money? My non reg is generating 20basis lower than my mortgage rate.

Should we use some of it to bring the principal down, she belives in not reducing the principal and living with min mortgage payments.

If we reduce the principal, it will be from my money (legally ours now, lol) and this will never cause a bump in her bank account.

Hi everyone, so I’m 25f and working. However, I don’t think I will stay in my position for more than 7-10 years so I’m trying to plan ahead. What I’m thinking is I will try to switch to another field that I can use my experience and skills. But unfortunately, I don’t have a bachelor’s degree and my diploma is very specific to my field. I also hear about how a bachelor’s degree is the bare minimum you need for most jobs now so I think having one would make finding a job a lot easier. Would it make sense to go back to school (part-time or online)? I’m thinking of studying history, art history, english, etc., stuff I’m interested in so I at least enjoy it, rather than a STEM degree (I’m working in healthcare rn).

Hi All,

Looking to diversify some investments away from our wealth manager. I use Questrade for some RRSP’s and TFSA’s but wanted to check if anyone has thoughts about a good/better online broker for a corporate account. This would be etf’s for the long term.

I live in a northern Canadian remote town, I purchased a cabin off of a friend (who purchased it before me from another friend). Neither of us bothered with transferring the name, we just paid the small land tax fee each year and went on with our lives. I am now wanting to sell to yet another friend, but he wants the cabin in his name. What is the easiest way to go about the transfer. I have the papers from each previous owner saying "I ____ sell to _____ for _____". Do I transfer from owner A, to Owner B, to me, then on to Owner C? Could I just transfer from Owner A to Owner C, or Owner A, to me, then to Owner C? The property itself is only worth $10,000, it's on leased crown land under the northern affairs act.

Any help with this would be appreciated, thanks.

I sent an e transfer of $500 to a friend of mine so he could pay the deposit on the place we are renting. However this deposit has been up in the air now for around 5 hours and hasn’t deposited even though it says deposit in progress when I check on the app.

This is unusual because last summer I received a damage deposit back on my old place for $2500 through Interac, and then sent $1250 to my roommate which was his half of the deposit, and they were all sent and received instantly.

I’ve tried canceling this current transfer to which it says “unable to cancel transfer due to errors” “unable to communicate with Interac”

Has anybody else had this issue? Is all I can do wait to see if it deposits?

I am not a beneficiary of this estate solely the executor for a very tragic passing.

Am I required to disclose the payouts of all beneficiary to each beneficiary before disbursement of funds (equal split / 4)? This may be a question for my lawyer but I figured I’d ask if it’s a simple answer. My lawyer has drawn up legal release forms to be signed before releasing the funds as one beneficiary has been nickel and dime’ing everything. To the point he even got his lawyer involved in a dispute of the price of a property that was being sold (although this was purely his opinion and we had it professionally appraised). Once we had the appraiser explain the reason behind the appraisal, it was left alone. He has challenged me on simple things such as the price of selling a couch to one of the beneficiaries as he believed it should be higher. My lawyer believes his behaviour is silly and this disbursement is a gift to him off a tragic death.

This beneficiary said he expects to see a full accounting of the estate, in that full accounting must I show what all beneficiaries are being paid out (equal split minus what they purchased in the estate sale - land, assets) + the executors fee. Or should I just show accounting of the bank account transactions and their ultimate pay out?

TIA

I'm 31 and want something to put in a few hundred dollars each month and take out in 30 odd years time for retirement. Nothing exciting. Nothing sexy. Boring and for the future.

Been doing some digging and want to use Wealth Simple as a broker for Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF (CAD-hedged).

Vanguard has a 0.09% MER. And from what I gather Wealth Simple has no trade or monthly fees.

I've done my research on both and they're both regulated and protected against collapse of either of them.

This seems too good to be true. Is there something I'm missing here? Or is it actually the way to go.

All help would be massively appreciated.

Cheers team!

Hi all!

I, 25F, will be leaving my toxic relationship and moving out of my (soon to be ex) boyfriend’s house. This decision has not come lightly and I’ve had a lot of sleepless, crying nights. However, I’m in a place now where I’m ready to do what I need to do for myself. I am located in QC, Canada.

I have a good, stable, full-time job that pays $32.70 an hour, at 35 hours a week. I am indigenous and work on a reserve so I do not pay sales tax nor am I taxed on my wages. I have a 2023 vehicle with low Km on it.

My net take home each month is $4,086 and some change.

Right now, I am stuck between 2 apartment offers.

Option 1 - 1 bedroom (smaller unit), $945 a month, NO appliances, washer/dryer hook-up, have to pay utilities.

Option 2 - 2 bedrooms (more space/bigger bathroom), $990 a month, NO appliances, washer/dryer hook-up, have to pay utilities.

I used the Hydro Quebec website to calculate estimated Hydro costs:

Option 1 - About $650 for the year

Option 2 - About $1270 for the year

My monthly fixed expenses:

$290 - Car $180 - Car Insurance $87 - Phone

Total: $557

My monthly variable expenses:

$350 - Groceries $105 - Gas (Car) $100 - Credit Card Payment ($500 to pay on my VISA)

Total: $555

Total Monthly Expenses (No Rent Included/no internet included/no hydro): $1,112

I did some paper math and guesstimate only a $90 difference in expenses each month based on everything, this is factoring in rent, hydro, and internet.

Can anyone shed some insight? Thanks so much!

Hi all!

I’m discharged soon! Wondering about my options to get to a good score quickly (but patiently) if there are other ways besides a secure credit card- what the best cards are, any hacks for building faster and if available, a solid game plan towards getting back on the reward card game.

Is my credit score at 0, sub 0, or is it just really low? All advice appreciated!!

So credit card for scotiabank wanted to switch to low interest rate card from my other credit card type with scotiabank, was told a ptp is pending to be put on my credit card and I gotta go to an in person branch to speak to a manager to get it removed,

Basically was late or missed some payments in the past due to poor money management in the past while, should I say that or idk, i wanna switch to the other card for the lower interest rate

Hi everyone,

My wife and i recently got married and had our first child. She makes significantly more money than I do ($400-$600k a year) and loves her career and so we have decided that the best plan for us is that I stop working and focus on raising the children and managing the house, finances ect.

Now that we are headed down that road i've started to look into the tax implication of being married and more specifically navigating a High salary/no salary situation.

I'm familiar with a number of income splitting techniques like the Spousal RRSP, Spousal loans ect.

The challenge that i've come across that i'm hoping someone can help me with is with the issue of 'Income Attribution'. For those that are not familiar any income that my Wife makes that she gives to me to invest will be HER tax obligation even if i put the money in my own account. so over the next decades i need a way to proberly track which money is "hers" and which money is "mine".

Does anyone have any experience with 'Income Attribution' personally? and how do you set up your finances to minimize taxation?

thanks!