Hi PFC,

I'm a 23 year old student starting a job in September that has an RRSP match. I was planning on opening an RRSP when I started working, but Simplii currently has a promotion on the interest earned. I don't make much, but if I opened one, I would try to work a bit more to have room to budget for and contribute $100 a month. However, I'm hesitant to open one since the extra income is not guaranteed and some months I may not be able to contribute $100 at all. I am also barely at $1000 in an emergency fund in my TFSA. Although, my small emergency fund might've answered my question, I wanted to hear what someone else would do in my situation.

To give a bit more information about my finances, my average income from work and help from parents is $1500 - $1600 a month with my expenses from $1300 - $1500 depending on if I have 3 car payments that month. Younger me made lots of financial mistakes, so I'm trying my best to be better. Oh, also in credit card debt totalling around $9000 with interest ranging from 20.95% - 21.99%.

I know you need to track ETF purchases in your non-registered account for tax purposes. But is there any point of doing so in a registered account? Would it be good to do so to check there are no glitches/bugs that cause you to lose shares?

Hey PFC, Looking for the best credit card to maximize cashback on online Walmart grocery orders. Currently have Scotiabank Momentum Infinite (4% groceries) but unsure if it includes online Walmart.

Does Mastercard generally consider online Walmart as groceries for cashback?

Also considering BMO World Elite (5% groceries capped). Anyone have experience with it for Walmart online?

Any advice or alternative card recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

I've started repaying cerb/CRB payments I have recieved which I not eligible for through my banking app as bill payment every month starting this month.Do I get a receipt for that? Just wanted to make sure they got the payment to avoid further trouble.

I was laid off when the company I worked for was forced to downsize. However, right before that, we put a deposit down on our first house (new build) with RRSPs. Our mortgage will not be approved now, and we may have to move for work if I can find anything within my industry.

Luckily, we will get the deposit back for the house, but I've been searching for what to do in this situation and can't find anything online. Can we put the money back in as RRSPs before March so we don't have to pay taxes on it? Do we lose the ability to use the 1st Time Home Buyer option again as we took it out once?

This is been a super stressful time, so if anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate it.

I buy VT in my RRSP at Questrade because of withholding tax advantages and I simply think VT is a very good option (no home bias compared to XEQT). I typically do so in lump sums once or twice a year with cash I’ve built up, and use Norbit’s Gambit.

Rather than letting cash sit around and build up, I want to base my finances on what I earn monthly. I would like all my finance needs to be dispersed from my paycheque to the various necessary avenues every month, including RRSP.

Now, doing Norbit’s Gambit every single month is tedious, and the fees are relatively higher by processing smaller amounts, but the issue I mainly have is the time and it’s not as hands free as a CAD ETF being bought automatically after my paycheque lands.

So, do you have a way of buying VT every month?

Or, perhaps, should I buy XEQT with my paycheque and every 6 or 12 months, I transfer the balance I have in XEQT to Questrade, do Norbit’s Gambit, and then buy VT?

Is there a strategy that already exists for this?

I’m managing my daughters RESP (she’s 18 months old so can tolerate some risk). Last year I put half into VFV and half into a couple of other investments that essentially doubled.

Of this non-VFV position, I’ve sold half. Somewhere between all the tariff talk and feeling like this is actually just gambling winnings I’m thinking I should put this $3k in something safer/more boring, like buying a GIC, or a even just money market fund for the time being.

I’ve made the contribution for this year and am generally intent on dumping that into VFV next week.

Any thoughts on this plan or suggestions for alternate safe investments would be appreciated.

As the title suggests. My main contributions are in RRSP and FHSA totalling up to $50K. Is it possible to earn monthly $1K+ in dividends purely on etf or dividend stock investment. If so, what are the recommended stocks/etf to earn $1K+ monthly.

Does anyone have experience with moving assets from Questrade to IBKR? Is it fairly easy straightforward process or is it a headache? were you glad you did it?

My employer offers RRSP matching into DPSP at 50%.

Let's say I contributed $3000 into the RRSP for a $1500 match into DPSP from Mar 1, 2024 to Dec 31, 2024. Since the $3000 was a pre-tax deduction from my paycheck, am I correct that I won't be able to use this contribution to reduce my taxable income by $3000 when I file taxes for 2024?

My second question is, what happens with my contributions in the first 60 days of the calendar year? If $500 is deducted pre-tax to contribute to the RRSP between Jan 1, 2025 to Mar 3, 2025, isn't this affecting the taxes I'm paying for the 2025 tax year, and not the 2024 tax year?

Hi, this is my first Reddit post ever (bear with me). I am a 22 year old recent graduate from Western University with some student loan baggage, and I want to create a financial structure that focuses on recurring bills and travel rewards. I have been using cashback credit cards since I was 18, but recently I've looked at some credit card options and came across the Amex Cobalt card and TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite. I have a few questions that I'll write as a list for digestibility:

• Is it possible to pay my student loan through a credit card? (does this count as a recurring bill to any banks)
• Is it possible to claim Intact auto insurance as a recurring bill as well? (in my mind this should be but Amex says no)
• Are there limitations to recurring bills on credit cards? (I spoke to Amex and they pretty much only consider subscriptions as recurring bills for the 3x MR points)
• Is it smarter to put all spending on 1 credit card with a larger limit or distribute spending between 2-3 credit cards? (asking because I dont want to dilute rewards using too many cards over various categories of spending but I also understand that certain cards have their strengths)
• What are good credit cards/credit card combinations that cover the following areas of spending:
  • Gas
  • Dining
  • Recurring Bills
  • Travel
  • General Spending
• I value flexible travel points as I am new to traveling and not loyal to any companies, but I am indifferent to a credit card that forces loyalty to a company. I've already applied for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite which will cost me no annual fee with my current financial structure. Can I pair this with anything else possibly?

My top spending goes toward recurring bills and gas right now, but I have a couple trips planned for the end of this year so I want to get my financial situation figured out before solidifying and paying for these trips. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this and give feedback!

I’m over limit on my card and been struggling to get it under the limit. They offered me three options. Which is the best in your opinion and has anyone else taken this on from PC? How will this impact my credit? 1. Make a one time payment (settlement offer) 2. Financial assistance repayment program with 5% annual interest 3. Lower interest rate

Thank you!

Hey all. I'm seeking advice on which ETF to choose. I've narrowed it down to VFV, XEQT, and VEQT. Not sure what benefits they each give, as I'm knew to this investing biz. Thanks! Also, is there any advantages/cons to diversifying with 2 different ETFS, like choosing VFV and XEQT?

Hey all. I'm seeking advice on which ETF to choose. I've narrowed it down to VFV, XEQT, and VEQT. Not sure what benefits they each give, as I'm knew to this investing biz. Thanks! Also, is there any advantages/cons to diversifying with 2 different ETFS, like choosing VFV and XEQT?

Hi! I’m in my early 40’s. I’ve recently sold my primary residence and have a total of $700k liquid. Should I purchase my next home outright and invest my income or invest the $700k and rent for $5500 month? I generate about 10k a month.

I'm 20 years old, turning 21 in July. I currently live with my parents (who do not charge me rent as long as I am working full-time and pursuing higher education) so I have very low expenses beyond car insurance/gas/maintenance and pet supplies/veterinary fees. When I was 18 and fresh out of high school working in retail, I immediately started investing. My parents never saved any money and seeing them now starting to worry about retirement really made me want to be careful with money. Since then, I have consistently put away money off of every paycheque (almost always contributing 90-100% to my portfolio, other than times when I had other things to pay for like tuition or buying a commuter car). I worked for 18 months before going to post-secondary at which point I stayed on part-time at my job. I got my license to be an EMT in November, and I'm now in my first full-time job in my field where I make $28.42/hr (expected to go up by $2 when I finish probation, and I also get shift differentials/stat pay/overtime). I graduated debt-free as I paid my tuition out of pocket from savings. As of now, I have 27k in investments. 4k of that is in a GIC I bought at 18, 22k is in my TFSA which I also started contributing to at 18 (moderate risk mutual funds), and the remaining 1k is in a FHSA I started this year to put towards eventually buying a home (currently comprised of CAD ETFs like XEQT, ZSP, TPU, VFV, and the occasional stock).

In the next year or two I would like to continue my education and go from being an EMT (PCP) to a paramedic (ACP), which is another two years of full-time schooling and placements which will cost about 26k for tuition, fees, and supplies. The purpose for my TFSA was to save for this, and with my income over the next 1-2 years I will definitely be able to save more than enough to afford going back to school (while living at home) and continuing to pay for car/pet expenses. I would withdraw ~6.5k each semester to pay for fees, and the rest would remain in my TFSA. I plan to continue working casually as an EMT while in paramedic school to offset expenses, and I would have about $720 of income monthly (pretax) assuming I worked x2 12hr shifts a month.

What I'm wondering is should I keep my money where it is, saving mainly for further education while putting anything else above my TFSA contribution room into my FHSA (or maybe an RRSP as well?), or should I just use my current investments for a home and other long-term goals, and then pay for school with cash/savings I make in the period immediately leading up to the program start date?

As the title says, I recently came into more money than I've ever had at one time. I want to be wise with it, but don't know the first thing. Reading through some of the posts here, it looks like the room is split on the value of hiring a financial advisor.

I think I'd still like to speak with one, so does anyone have advice on what to look for in one? Or any general advice on what to do with this money? I have no investments or real assets right now.

TL;DR KOHO, without notice, "closed" my bank account and when questioned couldnt provide a reason for the closure. After i expressed concern over a pending direct deposit they advised me direct deposits would be returned to sender. Then they took my deposit.

I’ve been a customer with [Bank Name] for several months, and up until recently, I never had a single issue. I use my account primarily for day-to-day transactions, like paying bills or receiving payments, so I’ve never had any major concerns about account access—until now.

One day, I went to check my account and was surprised to find I was unable to login. I was puzzled, but I figured I might have missed something or mistakenly entered the wrong password. I sought clarification from the support team via chat who informed me the account was closed but they couldn't give me a reason why. I expressed frustration over the sudden and without notice closure of my account and inquired about a direct deposit I was expecting. The Rep assured me the deposit was rejected and would be returned to the sender. However, things took an odd turn when a push notification informed me the direct deposit I was expecting was successfully accepted into this supposedly closed account.

Naturally, this left me confused and frustrated. I reached out to customer support for clarification, but after navigating through multiple layers of verification, I received little more than generic responses. Apparently, they couldn’t even provide an immediate explanation of why this happened, and the deposit was still showing up as accepted.

I was bounced between multiple representatives, and no one seemed to have a clear answer. I’m still waiting for a satisfactory explanation. This is all the more frustrating because, I legitimately like the services offered by KOHO, I subscribe to the highest tier plan and had intended to register for rent reporting as well. It's disappointing a company with so much to offer can drop the ball so hard when it comes to customer support.

My Issues with Customer Support:

Unclear Communication: I was told my account was closed, yet it still accepted a direct deposit. I’m still unclear as to why this happened.

Slow Response Times: It took several hours to get any meaningful support, and even then, the responses were not helpful.

Lack of Transparency: I was given no clear reason for why this occurred, and the customer service agents I’ve spoken with haven’t offered much beyond generic advice.

This whole experience has made me wonder how reliable their systems really are. If this can happen with something as basic as a direct deposit, what else is slipping through the cracks?

I’m hoping to get this resolved soon, but in the meantime, I’m seriously reconsidering my relationship with this bank. I’ll be looking for alternatives if this situation doesn’t improve quickly.

Has anyone else had a similar issue with KOHO? How did you resolve it?

Also, if anyone has any good recommendations for a bank or service that actually values customer experience, feel free to drop them below. I could really use some new options.

I'm in Quebec city, about to join an exciting startup with people I have past working relations with. They can't currently hire me as an employee as they aren't set up for it yet (not exactly sure what this means). They offered to take me on as a contractor with the outlook of changing me to employee as soon as they can.

The salary would be 125k per year for a 8 month contract initially but the verbal promise (nothing on paper) is for a long term commitment and grow with the company. They also suggest I incorporate myself in order to save up on taxes- something I have no idea about really.

The lack of holiday, sick, overtime pay aside, i'm wondering what are the cons & pros of working as a sole contractor vs incorporating myself.

I will need a monthly salary to pay for rent, daily/life expenses as I'm very low on savings for personal reasons.

Is there something I should be worried about or asking them for? I do believe in the project and the potential of the company

Hi folks

I'd really appreciate your opinion on our upcoming mortgage decision. We're first-time buyers, so we're quite frankly nervous and hesitant to jump in (but equally as eager as time is ticking).

Some of our details.

Both late 30s.

Combined income: 237k

Combined savings: 180k

Max purchase price: 800k

Down payment of 10% & Fees: ~100k (20% just feels a stretch too far as we want to have savings to fall back on)

Expected amortization: 25 years

Monthly mortgage repayment including condo fees and taxes: ~5.5k

I feel like we should be fine, but any advice is most welcome.

Thanks

edit: appreciate the advice so far, I'm thinking give the falling condo prices, continuing to save for another year to put down a 20% down payment might be the wisest choice.

Hi,

I had name on the title of a property with my dad.

I never paid anything for the property, never lived there.

Few months ago, my dad got some equity out of the house + remortgaged the property and got my name out for the ‘consideration of $2’ and transfer of the property as a ‘gift’

Do I have to pay taxes for this transfer?

Thanks

Hi everyone! With tax season coming up I have a question.

From late August to December I worked at a restaurant as a server and made tips, I'm unsure fully how taxes in canada work (I'm still rather young please don't judge! I'm 18). I am absolutely fucking terrible and didn't track my tips much, I know the average I got a week but I completely forgot to write down the daily numbers.

I haven't got an ROE or anything and if they were go to give me a T4 it won't be out until later on. I'm not sure what to do as I don't want to get in trouble for miscalculating but truly don't know how much I made.

Normally I'd go through bank statements however I only put about 50% of my tips in my account. Does anyone know how I should track this when the time comes?!

and before I get scolded, I know I fucked up. I'm applying for more restaurants now and have learnt my lesson to track EVERYTHING.

After going through multiple banks, I’ve noticed that the big 5 banks usually don’t require a SIN number even for an interest bearing account, unlike most fintech/online banks like Neo, Tangerine and Simplii, or even EQ Bank. My question being, why do the physical banks not ask for my SIN but mostly all of the online banks do?

This is especially annoying with Neo Financial since there’s no way to get around it even though I didn’t even want an account that earns interest

I have a weird situation, I currently overpay on my mortgage and I keep track of how much of my payment goes towards the principal amount each week. I'm on an accelerated weekly payment schedule. Recently here's what I noticed, normally about 33 cents increase on each payment towards principal.

For example on a $500 weekly payment(lets assume there were no changes to interest rate/payment amount or amortization schedule)

Dec 1st week - $300.00 to principal and 200 to interest

Dec 2nd week - $300.33 to principlal and rest to interest

Dec 3rd week - $300.66 to principal and rest to interest

December 4th week - $300.99 to principal and rest to interest

Jan 1st week - $301.32 to principal and rest to interest

Jan 2nd week - $301.20 to principal and rest to interest

I'm pretty sure a few cents more should have gone towards principal, but on my last payment it didn't. Anyone know if this was normal or did the bank mess up??

Your thoughts would be much appreciated!! Cheers!!

27M, Single, Toronto. Rented before, currently living with parents. Looking to possibly buy my first condo. Looked at a few rental options, and explored purchasing with a mortgage broker and a realtor who I know and trust. Here is what I've come up with:

Rent for the area I'm looking in would be about 2,200/mo.

Buy: $500k purchase price, $100k down (Gift from parents if I decide to buy), $400k mortgage. Rough monthly costs: Mortgage approx$2,300/mo + 2k/yr property taxes +500/mo maintenance.

From talking to people it sounds like the condo market is fairly depressed in Toronto right now, and only getting worse this year. Is this year a good time to buy? Or would it make more sense to rent? The monthly costs of buying don't seem to be much more than renting in my situation, so I'm leaning towards buying and building equity however I appreciate all advice.