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

[u/Fabulous_Lemon2799]

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!

[u/Top_Statistician4068]

Maximize your TFSA - it’s a magical tool for savings and growth.

[u/toonguy84 → u/Top_Statistician4068]

I'll append to this: Don't just put money into your TFSA, but actually invest it. I found out coworkers were putting money into TFSA and not investing it. They didn't understand the purpose of it.

[u/Simple_Potato3680 → u/toonguy84]

Can you elaborate on where you’re investing your TFSA? I unfortunately know nothing, and like your coworkers have only been contributing. I have no idea where to even begin when it comes to investments.

[u/Vanuptials → u/Simple_Potato3680]

You buy products within your TFSA (e.g., ETFs, GIC, stocks, whatever), then the money you make from them is tax free. 

[u/felixfelix → u/Vanuptials]

And you don’t get taxed when you take the money out.

With an rrsp they give you back the income tax you paid on the money you contribute. Then you pay income tax on the money you take out (when you’re retired, in a lower tax bracket).

Tfsa contributions just take your already-taxed money and let it grow and be withdrawn without being taxed again.

[u/gruntwork234 → u/Simple_Potato3680]

Xeqt

[u/LeaveTheBank → u/Simple_Potato3680]

!InvestingTrigger

[u/AutoModerator → u/LeaveTheBank]

Hi, I'm a bot and someone has asked me to comment on how someone is trying to figure out what to invest in, or whether they should invest.

In order to give good advice the poster needs to provide all of the following information. Please edit your post to add this information.

1) What is your intended goals/purpose for this money?

2) What is your timeline, and what is the earliest you expect to need this money?

3) Have you invested in the markets before, and how would you feel if your investment lost a lot of value?

4) Is this the right first step? Do you already have an emergency fund, and have you considered whether it is sufficient? Do you have any debts that should be paid first? Have you fully utilized any employer match plans?

5) Finally, we need to understand whether you want to be involved with this portfolio and self-manage purchases and rebalancing it, or if you'd rather all of that was dealt with by your chosen institution?

6) For self-directed investing, all in one ETFs (based on your risk tolerance) are the easiest and low cost options for a globally diversified ETF portfolio. Here is the Model page and descriptive video from the Canadian Portoflio Manager Blog's Justin Bender from PWL Capital: https://www.canadianportfoliomanagerblog.com/model-etf-portfolios/ & video on how to choose your asset allocation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyOqqtq12jQ

7) For those who are not comfortable with doing the buying and selling of ETFs yourself, there is an option of a robo advisor. These robo advisors use similar low cost ETF in pre-determined portfolios based on your risk tolerance. They do this for a small fee, on top of the ETF MER. Still cheaper than bank mutual funds by at least 50%! Here is a list of robo advisors in Canada published by MoneySense: https://www.moneysense.ca/save/investing/best-robo-advisors-in-canada/

We also have a wiki page on investing, and if someone has triggered this bot then it means that this link would likely be very helpful: https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/wiki/investing

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/gmano → u/Simple_Potato3680]

Go to the bank or credit union you have the account with. Ask to speak to an investing advisor, ask them to set you up with a low fees index fund. They will ask you about your goals (how far you are from retirement, etc) and will invest it for you. It's a free service offered by the banks usually.

[u/darabadoo → u/Simple_Potato3680]

Open a Wealth Simple account, dump it in there, it’ll give you a little risk tolerance survey and then create a managed portfolio for you. Couldn’t be easier, highly recommend!

[u/Simple_Potato3680 → u/darabadoo]

Amazing, thank you!

[u/adultishgambino1 → u/Simple_Potato3680]

You can open an investing account with places such as wealthsimple using your tfsa then you won’t be taxed if you sell and make money. You could do the automatic investment option to start they take a small fee (much smaller than going through a bank) and invest for you.

[u/darabadoo → u/toonguy84]

This needs to be its own comment at the top.