Bonjour à tous,

Je suis consultant incorporé et j'aimerais avoir votre avis sur une soumission pour une Assurance "Erreurs & Omissions". Comme c'est la 1ère fois, j'aimerais avoir l'avis de ceux qui connaissent un peu ce marché.

Un peu de contexte :

• Je suis consultant TI incorporé avec ~2 ans d'activité
• C'est la 1ère fois que je prends une Assurance professionnelle
• Mon activité est essentiellement de la prestation intellectuelle, sans faire moi-même les changements sur les systèmes : conseil stratégique, architecture de solution, gestion de projet, etc.). Pas d'hébergement, exploitation, infogérance ni garde de données.
• Typiquement, mes livrables : analyses, recommandations, documents d'architecture, accompagnement.

J'ai reçu une proposition d'un courtier en assurance (Lussier) qui me propose grosso modo :

• Erreurs & Omissions : prime de 680$ pour une couverture de 2M$
• Responsabilité Civile Générale : prime de 460$ pour une couverture de 2M$

Qu'en pensez-vous ?

Merci beaucoup !

Hi!

I've had a setup with a Cloud Gateway Max (Ubiquiti) few months ago that worked well. Until it broke and I had to return the product.

When I've received it, I tried to swap my old router (Nokia given by Ebox) with my Cloud Gateway but the gateway's screen says "Ethernet disconnected".
Only port 5 (for Internet) is used.
I've also used the mobile app but the app says they can't find Internet.

I would like to restore my old config but I can't because it seems I need to set it up first.

Can you help?
Is it a good idea to reset the ONT?

Thanks for your help!

Hi!

I have a question regrading how money would be divided in case of a divorce.

Our situation :

- My spouse and I live in Quebec.

- We're married under separation as to property (we married in France, and that regime carries over here).

- We own our home jointly.

- We each contributed a different down payment (say ~$30k from her, ~$110k from me). At closing, our notary recorded this in an indivision agreement ("convention d'indivision") stating that each of us gets our own contribution back, plus the capital gain attributable to that contribution, in the event of a sale or separation.

Two questions:

1. Tracing an inheritance used to pay down the mortgage.

I'm about to receive some money in inheritance and I'd like to use it for a lump-sum mortgage prepayment. What's the right way to document and trace this contribution so that, in case of separation, this $80k (plus its attributable gain) comes back to me, the same way our original down payments are protected? Do I need to update/amend the existing indivision agreement with the notary, or is there another mechanism?

2. Re-borrowing the same amount via a readvanceable HELOC to invest (Smith Manoeuvre–style).

After the prepayment, we're considering re-borrowing the same amount through our readvanceable HELOC and investing it in a non-registered account. If we do that, how would the investment account be treated on separation — given that the borrowed funds come from home equity we jointly own, but the underlying contribution I'm tracing was mine? Should the investment account be held/titled a certain way, and should the indivision agreement (or a separate written agreement) address the investment proceeds specifically?

Thanks a lot for your help!

Le logement est autant un actif financier qu'un bien de première nécessité.

Je me demande : est-ce qu'on pourrait réellement sortir l'immobilier de cette logique ? Et surtout, est-ce souhaitable, sachant que pour bien du monde la maison EST leur plan de retraite ?

Curieux d'avoir vos avis, surtout si vous connaissez des exemples ailleurs dans le monde qui fonctionnent (ou pas).

Hi!

I've been learning the Smith Manoeuvre and seriously considering implementing it. But now, I'm wondering: Do I need a financial planner (SM Certified or not) to set up the Smith Manoeuvre?

I feel like I've got a good grasp of the concept and the implementation details. At the same time, I'm not an expert and I may have missed some blind spots.

Can you help me figure out whether I need a financial planner (SM Certified or not) specifically to implement the Smith Manoeuvre? Or whether I'm good with what I know today?

-- The general principle: what I understand --

Convert bad debt (non-deductible) into good debt (deductible). In other words: pay off my mortgage faster, with no additional financial effort (assuming interest capitalization), and end up with a larger net worth at the end of the period (20, 25, 30 years).

Concretely: The Smith Manoeuvre consists of making mortgage interest tax-deductible by progressively paying down the mortgage principal while re-borrowing that same amount (principal only) through a readvanceable HELOC, then investing that borrowed sum into income-generating investments (VEQT ETF in my case).

Essentially, I see the Smith Manoeuvre as a way to use my home equity to invest, as my equity grows (i.e. with each mortgage payment). The main benefits I see are: 1/ Getting exposed to the stock market earlier and therefore for longer ("time in the market beats timing the market") ; 2/ Receiving tax refunds from deducting the fees (HELOC interest) and using them to pay down the mortgage faster.

-- How I plan to implement it --

• (A) Main bank account: RBC checking account (already got it)
• (B) Mortgage: RBC Homeline Plan (already got it)
• (C) Readvanceable HELOC: RBC Homeline Plan (already got it)
• (D) 1 chequing account dedicated to SM: 1 RBC savings account, dedicated to SM
• (E) 1 investment account: 1 Wealthsimple non-registered account, dedicated to SM

Note: the HELOC will be used exclusively for investing and nothing else (no consumption or renovation/repair projects).

How the loop works:

My SM implementation

1. Each week, I pay my mortgage as usual from A to B (accelerated weekly payment). This frees up available room on my HELOC (C), equal to the amount of principal repaid.

2. Then, I withdraw the newly available funds from the HELOC (C) to account D.

3. Then I send the money from account D to the investment account (E) to buy VEQT units.

4. At the end of the month, the HELOC interest is due. I borrow an equivalent amount from the HELOC (transfer C => D) to pay off that same interest. So basically I capitalize the interest: the interest owed on the HELOC gets added to the HELOC balance. Then I start the same loop again.

At the end of the year:

• I report the VEQT dividends (being careful about keeping ACB and making the distinction between the different types of distributions: cash distribution, non-cash distribution, ROC, etc.)
• I deduct the HELOC interest from my investment income
• I use the tax refund to make an extra lump-sum payment on the mortgage (D=>B)

-- Main risks --

• The investments made with the HELOC tank => if I have to repay the HELOC at that point, I'll have lost money
• Rising rates increase the cost of borrowing with no guarantee that investment returns will keep up
• The CRA could disallow the HELOC deduction if the structure is set up improperly or if there's tax contamination

What do you think?
Is there something I've missed? Do I need a SM certified financial planner or am I ready to do it on my own?

Thanks a lot!

Hi!

Do you have a specific SM calculator (for projection) to recommend?

I saw several posts talking about different calculators but I'm not usre which one to use, especially because they don't give the same results.

Thank you!

Hi!

My partner and I bought our house 5 years ago and consider now using the SM.

I have a clear view on how to set it up if I were the only owner. But I'm not sure how to do it as a couple.

Some info about our context:

- We pay the mortgage 50/50

- We have approx. the same salary but this may change in a few months (difference of ~20k between both salaries)

- At the beginning, I plan to put more money than my partner (because I have about 35k$ in a non-reg)

1. Should we have separate accounts for each one of us (individual SM chequing account + individual SM investment account) ?

2. For the first month, if I plan to put 35k$ (from my personal savings) into the mortgage, how can I track the amount of HELOC interests generated only by this part?

3. Is there any specifics I should know about doing SM in a couple?

Thanks!

Hi!

In a typical Smith Manoeuvre, where do the HELOC interests payment come from?

• from your own revenue (salary)?
• from your HELOC investments dividends — but that supposes your dividend is higher than your HELOC borrowing rate?
• from your next HELOC borrowing?

Thanks!

Hi!

I want to try the feature to track your individual wealth across all your accounts (https://help.wealthsimple.com/hc/en-ca/articles/47404070566555-Track-your-individual-and-household-net-worth).

I know open banking is coming but I feel this linking is not compliant with the new open banking standard yet. The feature uses Flinks.

Does linking an external account (RBC or BNC) break the bank's terms of service?

Thanks!

Bonjour !

Tous mes comptes enregistrés sont maxés (REER, CELI, REEE et je ne suis pas éligible au CELIAPP), investis sur XEQT.

Quel ETF équivalent à XEQT serait plus optimisé pour un compte non-enregistré ?

Existe-t-il alors une meilleure alternative à XEQT, qui soit surtout plus simple à suivre (PBR et déclaration fiscale) ?

Aujourd'hui, j'achète du XEQT dans mon non-enregistré par défaut, mais je sais que ce n'est pas optimal :

• Les dividendes internationaux sont plus imposés
• Les distributions de dividendes compliquent le suivi du PBR

Merci pour vos avis !

Hi!

All my registered accounts are maxed (RRSP, TFSA, RESP — not eligible for FHSA), mostly in XEQT.

**What's the most tax-efficient XEQT equivalent for a non-registered account?**

I've been buying XEQT in my non-reg by default, but I know it's suboptimal:

- International dividends are taxed as regular income (no dividend tax credit)

- Dividend distributions complicate ACB tracking vs. a pure capital-gains approach

**Is there a better alternative — ideally something simple to hold and easy to manage at tax time?**

Thanks!

Hi!

For the citizenship application, they say they need a photo, taken by a professional photograph.

Familiprix and Jean Coutu offer to take photos for citizenship applications. Is it a valid place for citizenship's photos?

Thank you!