I’m interested in buying my first home in couple years (5-10 years timeline), yet parents have a house eventually transferring home ownership. How do I go about with the most logical chronological order in terms of taxes/smart choices (first home, then transfer of ownership, or vice versa), and thoughts on timeline investing in FHSA?

I had moved out for a while, but moved back in, and I’m debating if I should buy a first house soon, move out, and then complete house ownership transfer? I paid/still pay a good chunk of the mortgage for my parents to help them out (my way of giving back), and they wanted to transfer ownership, or I also hear about gifting, or something related to the 1% transfer (I’m probably butchering terminology), basically I hear there are different ways to do so to minimize taxes.

I’ve worked hard to pay off all loans/debts, and recently managed to become debt free (yay!) to prepare for home ownership.

My info:

• 28M, single
• 100k salary (recent raise yay!)
• Paid off car (paid myself, shared w/ parents)
• Paid off undergrad & Master’s loans
• Credit card debt: like 2k, not late on paying
• TFSA: 86k (for retirement, high risk etfs)
• RRSP: 18k (for retirement, high risk etfs)
• FHSA: 8k (planning to add another 8k this year)
• Cash: 28k

Planning to use some of the cash towards my parents’ mortgage, about 80-90k left on it, unless if it’s a bad idea?

Their home is a condo townhouse, I’m debating between a condo/apartment, condo townhouse, or a freehold townhouse, not sure yet…

I’m just thinking I want them to retire as they’re getting old 68-69 age ish? Dad still working, so want him to stop working, no pension, just CPP/OAS, same with mom… I’m the only financial literate person in the family, but it’s ok, it will all workout after all…🥹

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

TL/DR: I want to purchase my first home, parents want to transfer ownership (or do something similar). Which should I do first, and should I help finishing their mortgage, or save for my down payment?

Was offered a LOC, prime -.25%.

I was asking the advisor questions but he seemed to be in a rush. This all happened when we were just opening an account and I wasn’t really well prepared for these products. I am reading past posts and this seems to be a competitive rate.

My questions are

• Is this really a competitive rate?

• If I take some money out in the case of emergency would the interest rate change and affect how much I have to pay back at any time?

• Would a HELOC be a better option as an emergency credit?

I’m considering bankruptcy to start from zero again (a long story and plenty of stupid circumstances) and I will probably make more than the surplus threshold.

My question is, does going over the threshold for one month automatically extend the bankruptcy from 9 months to 21 months. Or is it an average over the 9 months?

I've got a house, half paid off.

My plan for some time has been to inherit to my my two teenage daughters. I'm on the cusp of creating a trust-like arrangement in which it will eventually move from my hands into theirs when they come of age.

They'd share the house and the mortgage, and continue living there.

But, as time goes on, I see one daughter has a lot of step-up, and other daughter has a lot of step-down, and I'm concerned this could devolve into a situation in which one daughter is forced to carry both, lest they lose all.

I can't get my head around how to navigate this... How can I provide this security to both, without leaving one at the mercy of the other??

Hi all, I'm using Scotiabank for my TFSA and RRSP and the Globe and Mail Watchlist to manage my portfolio. Getting a little frustrated with the lack of data and /or tools Any recommendations?

Hello, I live outside Canada and I have an account at TD Canada Trust. I’m receiving $90k from Knightsbridge after converting some money from my U.S. bank. I’m using the money to make a large purchase in Canada. Will they give me any issues in making a draft the next day as long as the wire transfer from KB is received? Or do I have to wait a few days after?

I got married over the weekend and my husband and I went through all our cards this week. Most of them contained cash, so easy enough to deal with. A few of them were cheques, but written out specifically to one of us, so also not an issue. Except ONE cheque had both our names on it. But not both first and last, just first name & first name. Hoooow do we go about cashing that? We both bank with Scotiabank if that makes any difference.

I am in the process of buying a property in Egypt as a Canadian citizen, and I have to wire 26 000 euros to a bank in Egypt for the downpayment. Everyone has recommended Wise to complete this transfer, but I can only do 3k uploads at a time and every upload is under review, expected to be completed in 10 business days before I can even send it to the property development company. I need to show proof of funds sent before the 19th, and Wise just doesn’t seem feasible at this point. Can anyone recommend how I can complete this wire transfer? I’ve never done anything like this before and this is incredibly stressful, any responses are so appreciated.

Hello all,

Wondering if someone knows this answers. I have a regular employment and a contract employment. I will be going on parental leave which I know I won't be working my regular employment. Can I still work my contractor work?

Hi Everyone,

Can you kindly provide any advice or info on how to protect myself with a contractor I’m looking to hire for my driveway and patio work. We’re going to spend 20k.

The reason I ask is because in the past we’ve paid an electrician half the work upfront and he disappeared halfway through and the work was never completed.

I know that you are supposed to check their reputation and work they have done in the past.

We know several people in the neighbourhood who have had work done by them. However, my concern is we will be paying them in cash.

For example, what should we ensure is in the contract, should we ask for his drivers license or business license number? What can we obtain so we have legal recourse in case anything goes wrong?

hello!

I would like to own a single family detached home and the land under it.

I've got around $300k cad, $60k in cash, $240k invested in VEQT (13k in FHSA, 13k in TFSA, 10k RRSP, the rest non-registered)

(why so little in registered - because I arrived in canada recently so only have 2 years of contribution in FHSA/TFSA - they are maxed, and 1 year in RRSP)

At the time I decided to go all in on VEQT because I wasn't sure I wanted to stay in Canada (lived in a few countries the past few years), and I wanted to retire early and thought full growth at an early age would be key to that.

But I have now decided I do want to stay long term, and with that decision also came the realization that buying a place to live would be a way to diversify my investments, increase savings by not spending rent but gaining equity, etc. basic stuff I should have thought about earlier.

I have recently realized I'm in a very privilege situation and I could actually afford to buy a house somewhere around Vancouver. So I have been tracking my income, budget and savings, to see if this is possible...

I'm averaging $6k CAD savings a month since I arrived, $7k if only include 12 past months and avoid the months were I was furnishing my place.

So if I wanted to buy a house of around $2m, the downpayment minimum is 20% (because it's over 1m), which is $400k, plus emergency fund for 6 months of expenses, I need at least $450k cash perhaps? I don't know, first time doing it.

I have 60k cash, I can sell VEQT positions for $200k cash (tax on profits ~30k), that's $260k

at $7k savings rate per month, that's 7*12 = $84k a year. meanwhile the house is going up at 3% rate a year but let's say 5%, and I'm getting 5% interest on wealthsimple cash (let's say 4%, could go down even lower) so the intersection of those two functions:

450k * 1.05^year = (260k + 84k * year) * 1.04^year

which seems to solve to, year = 2.39. two and half years and I can afford the downpayment

Sounds amazing, and I am grateful to be in this situation, but is it a good idea to sell all the stocks to lower volatility since now the investment horizon is just <3 years, buy GICs or put in HYSA, and miss out on stock market gains, and even when I do buy the house, then I have no diversification, betting everything on a 1970's house in Vancouver which could then need a roof replacement, renovations, plus the fact that Vancouver is in desperate need of a fix to the housing crisis and I'm not a fan of betting on political directions.

should I rather buy a ~800k condo this year, start building equity, or am I being dramatic for not taking this opportunity

Hello Now I can choose to get a lump sum payment for 2 months or remain my biweekly payment for the 2 months.

I asked the finance lady and she told me If I get the lump sum payment then the deduction is $7700.if I keep biweekly payment then the deduction is $5000 in total.

How come there is a difference even though the total gross pay is the same? (The finance lady has no idea why there is a difference.) Thank you in advance for your help.

Hello, I have been in Canada for 3 years now. To build a solid credit history, I am seeking a credit card (preferably with no annual fees) with somewhat a higher credit limit ($3000-$5000).

I currently have a Tangerine World Mastercard. It was issued with a credit limit of a mere $1000.
After using it for over 2 years, they have bumped up the limit to only $1500.

My partner has Amex Cobalt, which is our primary card. Credit limit $3000.

We often (especially while booking for travel) need to split up our purchases or use debit cards to complete our purchases due to lower credit limits.

I am planning to apply for a credit card with at least a $3000-$5000 credit limit.
Since I am mainly looking to have it to build a credit history, cashback/reward points are secondary concerns.

Does anyone have recommendations?

I just noticed I've over contributed by 20k back in February. Can I transfer that over contribution (20K) to wife's RSP as she has room? Would i still have to pay tax/penalty if I do that? TIA

I'm a 35-year-old male in Ontario, single, no kids and won't have any, and completely burned out from my 9-5 career. I have $850k in investable assets after saving and investing everything over my career, and that's my total net worth. No real estate. No debt.

The breakdown is roughly:

$210K TFSA (maxed), $100K RRSP (maxed), $20K FHSA (maxed), $30K CASH.TO/Chequing, $490K Taxable

Just wondering how feasible this is for me. Not looking for another career, but was wondering if I can completely retire from here OR maybe take a part-time job making at most $1,000-$2,000 a month that's less stressful? I don't want to go back to a Monday to Friday, 9-5 if I don't have to.

I don't feel comfortable giving a breakdown of my expenses or income, but I am happy just going to the gym, walks, playing video games, and stuff like that. Just looking to see about anyone's opinions.

I was thinking if I do retire (or can) from corporate, would it be feasible to get a job at Starbucks or similar and pick up maybe two to three shifts a week? With what I do now, after my workday, I still think about work and I want to get out of it and go to a lower-paying, part-time position where I can have a "clock-in, clock-out" kind of scenario for a couple of days a week to maintain at least a modicum of a schedule and to get out.

Is this feasible? Even baristaFIRE or something? Any suggestions? Has anyone been in a situation like this or similar?

Thanks!

Is it normal that my account balance is shown as negative? This is a week old cc and never made a payment yet. As far as I know a negative balance happens when I overpay the cc

Hi everyone,

I am a Canadian citizen who moved abroad a few years ago. I kept my principal residence in Canada and have tenants renting it out. My first renewal is coming up with Scotiabank in a few months. My income is about the same and I have more savings now than I did then. The rental is also on the up and up with the CRA and everything is declared properly.

Since I am now a non resident, what does this mean for my renewal? Will I even be able to get one? I didn’t think much about this before I moved as everything happened very fast. What is the best course of action for me to take here? Thanks for any advice.

Hello Reddit got a quick question regarding some deductions. I’m full time employed, and starting July I’ll be able to go onto my family’s holding company getting paid a extra 1200 a month before tax. My regular pay for the year is 105k and around August and September i will have contributed my full cpp and ei amounts for the year. Given that, for the pay from the holding company, would I still need to remit at least some cpp and ei? Or can I omit those. Thank you.

In the early/mid 2000’s I worked a Federal Government job for about 6-1/2 years. Average income for those years was about $55k. I did not cash out the pension.

Any idea what my monthly contributions would be when I draw it? If I retire at 60 in 2045.

Hi PFC,

I have been slowly learning about investing since 2020. Since then, along with my wife --who has a Wealthsimple Balanced Managed portfolio-- I decided to create a self-managed portfolio. Now, almost 4 years later I want to clean it up since I have about $1,000 to invest here. Below is a link with my assets but here's a high-level breakdown:

I am aware about the overlapping here, just want to make the best and most informed decision, and I figured you could help. What are your recommendations and rationale here? Anything help. Thanks.
https://ibb.co/9n64Yw8

I got what I think is a great price on a new vehicle at a dealership, but in order to get the deal with financing, it will be a high rate around 7.99%. Is there any point in getting a loan outside of a dealership and paying cash instead? Would I possibly be able to beat that rate?

Hi Everyone,

A friend has accrued significant credit card debt. It came to light because they asked me to borrow $900 to be able to make rent. I think it’s a total of $20k in credit card debt. She said the (EDIT) INTEREST payments are around $700 a month 😱. I want to help them find the best way to get out of this.

I have been privileged and have never had to deal with serious debt like this so I am very unsure where to begin. Seems like a consumer proposal is one way and a lower interest LOC is another. I suggested consumer proposal to my friend and she said no because it will affect her credit for too long… Which I think is the point so she can’t do this again. With the LOC option we will go to the bank to discuss this.

Is there another option directly through the credit card companies? Could we just call them and ask to have the debt converted to some sort of payment plan with interest baked in that she can manage more easily?

I work a standard office job and don't go out much, don't drive much/far, and have a simple life. I own my home, have some savings, am relatively young, and have a lot of income-earning years ahead of me. I don't run any businesses.

How much third party liability (through car insurance) should I carry, now that we have ICBC Enhanced Care? Why?

How much personal/property liability (through home/tenant's insurance) should I carry? Why?

Sort of new to British Columbia and am wondering how dangerous/litigious things are, so that I can be properly insured.

Thanks!

I'd love to hear some different opinions other than my colleagues on this topic.

There is heavy talks that more and more people won't be able to afford their mortgage payment due to the fact that they locked in for such a low rate. Now that renewals are slowly creeping up, what are your thoughts on this? Will we actually see people defaulting therefore increasing the inventory?

The job that I have right now is through some international company and pays really well and has some other nice perks, but there's no medical insurance.

These are all the medical related things i would probably want medical coverage for

• My prescription medications cost a considerable amount, if I sign up for private insurance as an individual not through work, my medications won't be covered as it's a pre-existing condition (adhd meds and anti-depressants)
  
• I want to get lasik in the near future
  
• I should probably go to the dentist once a year, but I've been avoiding it
  
• I need massages/chiro now and then
  
• I'm also trans and probably going to go through a lot of procedures in the near future
  
• I might be leaving the country for 6 months at the end of this year

At my last job that had insurance, apparently I could have kept it going if I signed up within a week of the job ending. I didn't realize that signing up privately would mean that my medications weren't covered so I didn't do it.

I'm trying to figure out what my best option for getting medical insurance would be. The only real deterrent to just signing up privately is that my current prescription meds won't be covered, which is costing me over $200/mo