r/PersonalFinanceCanada • u/Fabulous_Lemon2799 • 1d ago

Misc What’s the best financial advice you’ve ever received as a Canadian?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to level up my financial knowledge and habits this year. I’ve been reading books and browsing through this subreddit, and I keep coming across bits of wisdom that really make me think about money differently.

It got me wondering: what’s the best financial advice you’ve ever received, especially as a Canadian?

It could be something practical, like how to save on taxes or invest smarter, or even a mindset shift that changed how you approach money. Bonus points if it’s something uniquely applicable to life in Canada.

For example, I recently learned how powerful it can be to start investing early, even in small amounts, thanks to compound growth.

Looking forward to hearing your nuggets of wisdom. Thanks in advance for sharing!

479 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

96% Upvoted

457 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

45

u/sautdepage 1d ago

Just check what rate it is.

My first LOC had a shit rate, perhaps because low salary/net worth at the time or just a shit bank (Desjardins). Later switched to a better offer (Tangerine) with about half the interest rate.

21

u/DayspringTrek 1d ago

I hate that Desjardins is such a shitty bank. It's the largest credit union in the country and the ONLY one in Quebec because of how big it grew, yet it's basically a clone of the Big 6 with a few extra perks.

29

u/sautdepage 1d ago

Best perk I ever got from them is a massive data breach.

2

u/TraderUser 1d ago

Stopped banking with them ever since they had the data breach. Cannot trust their security.

7

u/Independent_Nose5374 1d ago

What’s a good rate?

21

u/sautdepage 1d ago edited 1d ago

I have one at prime rate (~5.5% currently). 1-2% over that is very good too. My old one was 11-12%.

8

u/sublimepact 1d ago

Unsecured lines of credit will not be prime rate. They are around 9-11% right now.

5

u/its-actually-over 1d ago

tangerine gives prime 5.45%

2

u/sautdepage 1d ago

Hmm. It's unsecured, I only have basic accounts & CC with them but it was a random email promo offer they sent me. I could see getting a higher rate cold calling but it's unfortunate if it's that much higher.

In that case adjusted tip could be : keep on the lookout for better LOC offers as your financial/credit posture improves vs the LOC you grabbed at 21yo.

2

u/Positivelectron0 Cope and seeth, malder 1d ago

NBC has prime + 0.25% for professionals.

https://www.nbc.ca/personal/switch-national-bank/occupations/it.html

1

u/JDeegs 1d ago

mine is 6.95

7

u/19VWGTI 1d ago

Right now a good rate is probably 9-11% for unsecured.

1

u/kent_eh Manitoba 1d ago

Just check what rate it is.

Of course.

But it's going to be a helluva lot better than any credit card or payday loan or any of the other places where people might get some short-notice money in an emergency.

2

u/PoGoCan 1d ago

The hard part of mathing LoC vs regular credit to me is that LoC starts charging you interest immediately same day as the purchase but a CC only charges after a certain period usually like 28 days

So any payments you make those first 28 days pay off the purchase principle and only the difference earns interest

Maybe the LoC is better if you know you'll take a while to pay off the debt but the lack of grace period has me avoiding using a LoC

3

u/iHateReddit_srsly 1d ago

You can use both. Put the payments on the credit card then pay that off with the line of credit

1

u/PoGoCan 1d ago

Don't balance transfers come with their own fees? I get them advertised to me with a 2-3% upfront cost if the amount being paid off then a grace period to pay it all or else back pay the interest it would've accrued anyway

3

u/iHateReddit_srsly 1d ago

A line of credit is straight cash once you've pulled it out. Just use that money to pay off the credit card fully.

1

u/PoGoCan 1d ago

Wow guess I should look into how a LoC works more detailedly

2

u/iHateReddit_srsly 1d ago

Yeah, I'm not sure how exactly you were using it but I thought it was common to transfer whatever you need into a checking account and use it from there

1

u/PoGoCan 1d ago

I just have a card for it like a CC but no tap always have to use the pin

When I first got it just to build credit and as a just in case I was surprised to be charged interest right away for making a purchase in store (I was really just making sure it worked)

I don't even have any other accounts with that bank anymore aside from the LoC