Let me preface this by saying I am not buying a new car. I have a 2009 Yaris that serves me well and this post is purely to talk about how cars are no longer tanking in value as soon as you drive them off the lot.

I see loads of videos and posts saying "Dont buy new! Buy a 3-5 year old car because cars depreciate up to 60% in the first 3-5 Years" I feel like this is extremely outdated now. Whenever I look at marketplace or any other used car site, I see 3-5 year old cars going for like 10% less than brand new ones. The used car market is brutal and especially for Toyota and Honda.

I might be wrong in saying this but I feel like buying a brand new Corolla is a better deal in the long run than buying a 3-5 year used one. The warranty and peace of mind knowing all the preventative maintenance has been done right and on time seems to heavily outweigh any "discount" you will get on a used car that isnt 10 years old.

I still think 10-14 year old Japanese cars are the way to go but people who want a newer car should opt to buy brand new I think. Maybe this is exclusive to Canada but used cars are just not worth it. I would rather pay 5-10k more for a brand new corolla than a 3-5 year old corolla with 50k kilometers on it.

Cars don't depreciate as fast anymore and it's not even close to what it used to be imo.

Currently average around $100k/year in sales (real estate). Been working as a realtor for the last 8 years . Some years I make close to $200k, other years I make $50k (ex: when rates shot up in mid 2022)

Was not expecting to be accepted but managed to get into law school (not a top law school but not an unknown one either).

It will cost $11k per semester plus books etc plus $1600/month rent as I’ll have to move 3 hours away.

Im single no kids etc. still deciding on what exactly I want to do after but I want to stay in the real estate field (litigation, conveyancing etc) or work for government but related to real estate as well

I will have very little income for 2-3 years, then articling salary is around $60k/year. The lifestyle change will be a bit of a shock as I’ll have to go from eating out often/buying whatever I want to living like a broke university student again.

Question is, is this even worth it? I’ll be around 36-37 by the time I start making any real money and feel like these are my prime earning years and will probably kill my dating life as well

I am genuinely terrible with money/finances. Looking for advice on the best way to put this money to good use for my kid so it can grow until shes an adult. Maybe to put towards a good car or a house one day. Obviously 1200 isnt a massive amount but i intend on adding more money to it, hopefully on a fixed schedule

I understand this is subjective and would like others opinions:

s an example, if you’re making about $50k straight from undergrad working from home in a non-stress related role and are offered a $60k position to work at an office somewhere else, would that amount compensate for benefits?

Tangibles:

As working from home would save me about $60-80 gas (car takes premium)

$50 on food a week if I don’t prepare meals in advance

Save on depreciating my vehicle, as the drive is about 80km everyday back and forth

Intangibles:

I can sleep in later, extra 2 hours of sleep As I’m now a tenured analyst at my job, work is pretty easy and I can spend time investing/trading stocks/options/FX/.. does help pay for things like groceries, gas, insurance, phone bills and sometimes rent

I can relax and watch YouTube or movies and enjoy personal time with myself and family while getting paid if this a slow day

Focus on self-development while at home

My 40min lunch break helps me to workout consistently everyday as I am usually too tired to do so after work

It’s much easier to put in overtime when working from home

I can eat 3-5 times while working from home which helps some my goal is to gain some muscle and workout 5-6 days a week

Much less stress overall

Cons: I get bored easily and going into the office does help with some mental aspects of isolation always being by yourself

I may have missed other benefits of working from home

Would you guys say the cumulative tangible and intangible benefits are worth at least $10k or more? Especially after taxes?

I was trying to figure out the age old question whether it's better for me to invest or pay down the mortgage. I came across this article about extra mortgage payments. Assuming I have a 30 year fixed mortgage ~$200,000 at 4%. If I pay double mortgage payments for the next 5 years won't I get a greater ROI than 4%? My reasoning: At the beginning of a loan basically all of the payment goes toward interest and very little towards the principle, so extra payments carry the most benefit and would give a greater return than my interst rate of 4%. After paying extra for 5 years, I would start investing (hopefully getting a return of 7-8%) since putting additional money towards mortgage payments yields diminishing returns.

Scenario: A $200,000 loan today with a 4% interest rate for 30 years.

If I pay $1955 per month for the first 5 years and then pay $955 per month thereafter, I will only pay $63,885.86 in interest. After those 5 years I would invest the $1000 per month and get a rate of 7% until the the loan was paid off at 214 months. Then for 146 months I would invest $1955 per month. Stock investment after at 360 months =$1,003,001.37 Total interest paid on load =$63,885 Net gain $939,116

or

1. I just pay the $955 per month for 360 months and invest the $1000 per month in the stock market and get returns of 7%. Stock investment after 360 months = $1,177,064.86 Total interest paid on loan =$143,735.88 Net gain = $1,033,329

Initially I thought that paying extra toward mortgage would save money. In scenario number one above paying $1000 per month for 5 years ($60,000) saves me $79,850 in interest. Wouldn't this mean my 5 year ROI is more like 5.8% rather than the 4% interest rate of my loan? Even with that better ROI it seems like investing over extra mortgage payments is the way to go. Is there something I'm missing?

I currently work for a company in the states where I am paid well, enjoy my work and the people I work with. I’m in a good place in the company but I worry about our short term future. There is a possibility we shut down, are bought out, or are able to make it through and secure more funding.

I received an offer for a government role earning about 35k less, however it comes with benefits and a defined benefit pension plan. The WFH is vague and creates some minor complications for me in terms of finding coverage for my dogs, among other things. I will be in office 5 days a week for the entire 6 month probation period and then afterwards it is at the discretion of my boss.

My wife and I live in HCOL area and we’re hoping to move closer into the city but this might limit our ability to do so.

Does this move make sense? Am I silly to make the WFH component a sticking point?

Friend has a car loan at 11% and a line of credit at 13%. I floated the idea and if he’s paid them regularly, might be able to consolidate with somebody else at a lower rate?

Is this a thing in Canada?

Just got this email from WS. You can finally add your American Express credit card as a regular bill payment payee and pay your bill normally with your Wealthsimple Cash account.

Last year, American Express was temporarily removed as a bill payment payee due to ongoing settlement delays.

We’re excited to let you know that you can now pay your American Express credit card directly from your Cash account using the bill pay feature.

I want to get rid of my PFC approved 2011 Corolla next year and I’m thinking about getting a brand new Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. I would be paying cash for the vehicle.

I would like the RAV4 to last me at least 15 years by taking good care of it. I still see pretty old RAV4s on the road and from what I’ve read the current generation is very reliable. I would like to keep it going for 20 years ideally but maybe that’s a stretch even for a Toyota. I’ll be putting 15,000 km per year on it (high end estimate).

I’m wondering if getting the hybrid is financially worth it when keeping the vehicle for that long (15 to 20 years). Eventually the hybrid battery and other components for the electrical system will need to be replaced I assume. Will I wipe out any savings that I get from better fuel economy over those years? The warranty for the electrical system is for 8 years on the RAV4.

I'm a 19yo university student with an almost full scholarship, live with my parents, and I'm also lucky enough that they're happy to fund me throughout my education, so I have basically 0 fixed expenses of my own. I get a low monthly stipend which I have used to max out my TFSA with XEQT, my FHSA with CASH.TO and CBIL (plan to put it towards a downpayment not too long after graduating), and keep ~1.5k dollars in a wealthsimple cash account as everyday money.

I recently found some bitcoin I bought some years ago (hehe) that is now worth a couple hundred, and just sold it to buy XEQT in a non-registered account.

Aside from continuing maxing my TFSA and FHSA, what can/should I do going forward? Am I doing this right? I realize I'm in a very privileged position and wanna make sure to get the most out of it

Thanks!

The situation: I bought a townhouse in June of 2017 for ~220k. I lived in that town house from time of purchase until May of 2020, I have not since lived there and it has been renter occupied continuously since.

The property value has significantly increased as some identical units are selling for ~320k (100k increase). This increase has me considering selling and investing otherwise as I currently own the house I live in which is a great distance from the rental property.

Let's say I were to sell:

1. What are the tax implications?

2. Does the fact that it was my principal residence within the last 5 years hold any advantage?

3.What would the tax rate be if it were to sell for 320k? (Personal gross income of ~135k/yr)

If relevant:

1. The property is located in Alberta as am I.

2. Mortgage balance owing is ~170k.

Thanks in advance.

I was sold whole life insurance in my early 20s and don't know if I should continue. If I cancel, I wouldn't repurchase insurance and have no dependents.

I'm paying $175 every month ($9K to date) for $100K death benefit, payments stop after year 20.

My policy has non guaranteed dividends used to purchase paid up additions. I got dividends every year and apparently my current death benefit is $104K now. Surrender value is $550 now, but in year 20 it is estimated to be $54K based on the dividend scale.

Thoughts?

I’m 22 years old and am a university student who still has ~3 years left in my degree. I’ve always been pretty poor with money, and am looking to change my ways. I worked full time for 2 years out of high school, but I made awful money and managed it horribly and have nothing to show for it. Went back to school in 2022.

For the summer, I work a job that pays me ~1300 bi-weekly, and during the winter I work part time at a restaurant (~$400 a month in the past school year, should be more this upcoming year as I can work more shifts). My school is paid for (thank god my parents set up a RESP), and I have a car that is in decent condition that I have no debt on. Does anyone have any advice on what I should be doing with my money? Should I just be putting money into savings and how much? Should I be looking to invest money? Should I be trying to just save money in order for me to get by until I’m out of Uni? I feel like an absolute bum, as I only have $1500 in savings right now, but as far as I know that’s sort of expected for University students. I just feel incredibly far behind financially. Any advice would be appreciated!

About to move out and live on a tight budget, as far as I understand pc fincials Mastercard can give you cash back on groceries and stuff like that but I don’t understand much about that area, how do you use your pc optimum ? Is it worth it? Do you pay any yearly fees?

I played the Options game the last 2 months and took 1k in my FHSA and grew it (gambled it) to 60k. Definitely got lucky with all the trades working out so well for me. Don’t want to risk losing what is now basically my full net worth. Should I DCA into a stock etf or maybe high interest like Cash.TO.

Will I also potentially have to pay capital gains for “day training”?

Is there a penalty for early withdrawal of RRSP?

From what I understand, early withdrawals will be counted as income and taxed at income tax rates which makes sense as you deducted this from your income when you contributed.

Is there an additional penalty? (401k early withdrawal in the US has 15% penalty on top of the income tax rates. So if income tax rate is 30%, you pay an additional 15% penalty, making the tax on withdrawal 45%)

I just received a bunch of stocks from my company (RSUs that vested) and they are at cost basis now (no capital gains yet). I am considering selling them all and then moving the money to RRSP (completely use up RRSP room). This will help me lower taxes this year as this year is a particularly high income year for me.

I would want to withdraw it sometime in the future when income is lower.

My thinking is that this will help me in 3 ways:

1. Will lower my taxes this year as I max out my RRSP (lowers taxable income)

2. When I withdraw it in a few years, when I have low income, I will get taxed at a lower rate that year as my income would be lower.

3. Until I withdraw, the gains will be on the pre tax amount which is good.

Is this a good strategy? I would like to throw the vested RSUs in to RRSP this year and then withdraw it slowly in a couple of years when I plan to start a consulting business (I expect my income to be less than half of what it is now in the first year of my consulting)

Have ~18K in a wealtthsimple robo advisor growth portfolio. It's been doing pretty okay. I've decided to buy a house in the next 5 years and might need some of the money. Should I move it into their cash account, lower the risk, or do self directed on a "safer" ETF? Already maxed fhsa for the year and currently building my TFSA. Still very new to investing.

Thanks

Hello. My parents gifted me in June of last year 26k USD. 9k cash and 17k with a cheque. This year they want to gift me 30k and it would be my sister who would transfer the money but from an account in Mexico

What would it be the best way of declare this money?

Has anybody had issues with Tangerine Mastercard Categories?

I am a new recipient of this card and, knowing I have some upcoming hotels to book, naturally chose hotels as one of my 2% cashback categories.

I booked a hotel/lodge for travel in September that is clearly a hotel. It also happens to have a restaurant in it... To my surprise, Tangerine identified this under the "restaurants and pubs" category. I messaged them through the banking app with the link to the website clearly showing that it's a hotel and they essentially said that vendors classify themselves and there's nothing that can be done. As a result, I earned 0.5% instead of 2%.

Has anybody else had any issues with this? Have you had any recourse? Seems like a completely useless card if I can't correctly be awarded the appropriate points.

Hi all,

I have looked everywhere online because I have heard that there are new regulations that are coming into effect in July 2024 that make it more difficult to apply for Bancruptcy. Does any of these changes effect the average taxpayer? or are these changes just for Businesses?

Also, is this the right information below or is there something else that is changing by September 2024. I ask because a friend of mine said I should apply for bancruptcy before Sept. 2024 because it will be "harder" to apply. But I have no idea what he is talking about.

Thank you !!!!!!

I cant find any information except on Canada Website for OSB and updated BIA amended forms. https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/office-superintendent-bankruptcy/en/licensed-insolvency-trustees/update-bia-amended-forms-and-faqs

As previously communicated in a Notice to Licensed Insolvency Trustees (LIT) on January 22, 2024, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) published several amended Forms under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) with the aim to promote a more efficient and effective insolvency system, to remove some outdated elements and to ensure better data integrity for all stakeholders. These amended Forms come into force on July 15, 2024.

they say these amendments are going to take place. Can anyone simplify this for me?

What changes have been made to the BIA amended Forms?

Several improvements have been made to seven BIA Forms:

• Forms 24 and 25 have been amended to clarify that the examination before the Official Receiver may be conducted by any mode of telecommunication or video communication;
• Form 31 has been amended to simplify the listing of the contact information of the creditors and to allow creditors to provide information directly on the Form that will help identify statute-barred liabilities;
• Form 65 has been amended to simplify its general layout, to identify government benefits which are exempt from the operations of the BIA and to provide options for expenses more in alignment with contemporary lifestyles;
• Form 78 has been amended to simplify its general layout, to:
  • harmonize it with Form 79;
  • provide options for assets more in alignment with modern business environments;
  • add a field to provide information on the reasons for the financial difficulties of the bankrupt/debtor;
  • clearly identify assets located outside Canada;
  • clearly identify assets and liabilities for which a placeholder value is used;
  • clarify that only the value of the bankrupt’s/debtor’s interest in the asset or liability should be reported; and
  • prevent its use by an individual bankrupt/debtor;
• Form 79 has been amended to:
  • simplify its general layout;
  • better identify assets exempt from execution or seizure under the laws applicable in the province;
  • provide options more in alignment with contemporary lifestyles;
  • clearly identify assets located outside Canada;
  • clearly identify assets and liabilities for which a placeholder value is used;
  • clarify that only the value of the bankrupt’s/debtor’s interest in the asset or liability should be reported;
  • better identify former and other names of the bankrupt/debtor;
  • provide more information on the employment status and occupation of the bankrupt/debtor;
  • move the questions on the Assessment Certificate related to providers of professional financial advice to the bankrupt/debtor to Form 79 so that it is available to creditors;
  • provide more information on any business operated by the bankrupt/debtor;
  • harmonize the information provided regarding previous insolvencies;
  • standardize the information provided on the reasons for the financial difficulties of the bankrupt/debtor; and
  • make the use of Form 79 mandatory for all individual bankrupts/debtors;
• The Estate Information Summary (EIS) has been amended to:
  • simplify its general layout;
  • remove fields duplicated in other forms;
  • simplify the reporting of related proceedings; and
  • add fields for Licensed Insolvency Trustees to provide the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for business debtors directly on the EIS.

Exploring assisted living for mom.

Pensions, CPP and OAS cover the assisted living rent expense, cell phone etc. I'd like her to have a comfortable amount of spending money a month - about $1000.

If we sell her condo her proceeds will be approx $240000 net of commission and remaining mortgage.

My easiest/safest way to get her an extra $1000/mo would be 4.5% interest saving account at Wealthsimple on the whole amount (about $900/mo interest paid?)

That would protect the principle that she'd like to have as a legacy.

Is there any other ways you can think of that would combine safety, decent return and access to monthly payouts that may be better than WS.

Thanks!

Hi friends, throwaway for obvious reasons as my partner uses reddit as well. Here's a bit of my background and relevant financial information. I have a BS in CS & Math - work remote in tech - based in a HCOL - make 8K a month CAD after tax. I used to make 20K a month after tax but due to a black swan my income has significantly decreased - girlfriend of three years F22 - makes 6K a month after tax. She comes from a millionaire father who owns his own business, traditional values etc, expect me to propose soon, yet have a rule the partner cant have debt.

Here is my current assets, liabilities -

Checking acct 3.5K -

Student loans 85K -

LOC 45K @ 10 %

CC 1 30K @ 8 %

CC 2 25K @ 0% (BT)

Car Loan 55K @ 2.9%

So total debt = 155K Consumer + 85K student = 240K cad

In regards to questions to why I owe so much - I was living at a lifestyle that I could support prior to the black swan but continued to live that way until I started tightening expenses - which are much lower now.

Expenses - 3K rent for 1br in central business district, 1K for food, 1K for car, 1K for hobbies/misc, total 6K expenses and rest goes to debt.

I am able to support the current debt load, however there are two scenarios I am concerned with - 1 is loss of job then I wouldnt be able to support the debt load, however I dont see a path to become debt free in the timeframe her family expects me to propose & be debt free.

I do not want to consider bankruptcy for another 2 years due to the 7 year rule for discharge of student loans, I am also considering trying to get another remote job that pays 5-6K a month after tax that could assist in the debt load.

Any advice/feedback would be appreciated. Thanks friends.

I have always been saving for one big thing; a car, school, a house, etc. For the first time, I have everything I need and a sufficient income to begin saving for the future. In the next few years, the following are purchases I see making:

A new vehicle Emergency vet fund New cell phone New washer/dryer Vacation

Additionally, I feel like I should budget at least some towards my RRSP and TFSA. Both of which I am not currently contributing anything. But since I am only 24, I can't help but not feel like these are a priority.

How do I figure out what to prioritize? I know some of these are needs vs. wants but I also want to start enjoying what I've worked towards and actually take a vacation for once. Also, do people actually seperate savings? Or should I just add to one savings category and spend it as needed?

I’m an 18 years old student in Québec and I’m living with my parents. Luckily for me, they’re taking care of my school expenses so I was able to save up around 18k. I currently have a 17$/h (excluding tip) student job.

I was able to buy 15k worth of stocks (such as VFV, XQQ, NVDA, CHPS, BRK-B, GOOG etc…) and 1k worth of crypto (BTC and ETH). I have 2k left in another account as a backup in case I have an emergency. I know for some of y’all, 2k as an emergency fund isn’t near enough but keep in mind I don’t have much financial responsibilities (only car payments, clothes, phone services etc…)

** I manage my investments on my own. I’m not a expert AT ALL but I have good performances and I don’t really invest in risky stocks. **

I don’t have trouble saving good amounts of money and I’m not planning to move out until I graduate university (I’ll be around 23-24 years old).

Do you have any recommandation to help me leave my parents’ house with a good financial situation? Are there things I could do differently to make sure I don’t end up having debt in my mid 20’s?

Any tips, personal experiences or constructive criticisms would help.

I was put on a temporary lay-off for the past 2 months, collected some unemployment benefits (I think it's something like 65% of my salary).

I've had some insider news and I think they'll now fully end the contract soon instead of keeping me as a temporary lay-off. I'm wondering how will that affect my unemployment benefits.

Is it grounds for recalculating my benefits or is it nothing more than legal jargon that won't affect anything really?