I know it sounds like a bad idea but my 9th grade teacher gave me some good advice a couple years ago. He said don’t spend money I don’t have. Don’t spend more than 30% of your limit but spend over 10% so you can build your credit score and always pay it back on time or early. now with this advice i should be able to build good credit and not ruin my life with debt. i understand that its not free money and I wont be stupid. now with that said I have an idea for my first card.

The apple master-card. now i like this option because theirs no annual fees or late fees but theirs still interest(bad) and benefit’s like cash back(good) which i feel like is a good way to build my credit.
Found out apple master-card isn’t available in canada. I would appreciate recommendations if their are any other similar cards.

I would also like it if i could get recommendations for other cards.

Hey everyone, hoping to get some advice here. I’m 29, working in Canada right now, and I’ve already maxed out my TFSA for the year. I have some extra money I want to invest but I’m honestly stuck on where it should go next.

Here’s the thing, my situation is a little different from the typical advice you see online. I’m planning to move back to my home country within the next five years, so I’m not going to retire in Canada. I’m also not planning to buy a house here, so FHSA doesn’t really make sense for me either.

So RRSP feels like it might not be the right move since it’s mostly built around long-term tax deferral for people who’ll be retiring in Canada. But I don’t know enough about how RRSP withdrawals work once you’re a non-resident, so maybe I’m wrong about that.

Basically I’m trying to figure out the most tax-efficient way to save/invest the rest of my money given that I won’t be here forever. Is a regular non-registered account really my only option at this point? Would love to hear from anyone who’s been in a similar situation or has dealt with the cross-border side of things once they left Canada.

Thanks in advance!

My mom and dad both 63. Both immigrated to Canada 23 years ago. My dad started working and contributing for 23 years in Canada and my mom only worked for last 10. My dad has been contributing to group RRSP plan with his employer.

Here is their situation:
- live in Waterloo Ontario
- house paid off, valued at $700k
- Dad’s RRSP $200k
- No other debt
- past year my mom took home $40k
- past year my dad took home $100k

Are they okay to retire?

One of the questions they have been asking was about medical expenses, specifically prescriptions they both take to manage their health. Do retirees have some sort of benefits or government plans for pharmaceuticals?

Thanks to all in advance

Hi everyone

I’m in serious need for big help, and I really appreciate of anyone has any leads at all that may help with this. To make a very long story short, I have a younger brother, 30 years old with serious mental health illnesses, such as schizophrenia and psychosis. Very sadly our dad, who was his main support, has passed away recently. This has taken a huge toll on him. He also has drug addiction problems that are becoming even worse with our dad’s passing. 

We would like to check him into rehab. But this is very expensive. Is there any way that we can get any grants or government help or funding for this? He is on ODSP but this does not unfortunately cover those type of bills. We are also looking to hire someone to stay some hours of the day with him while we are at work, to help reduce depression and isolation. If anyone has any experience or tips on how we may get some financial help for this, it would be so greatly appreciated. 

Thank you so much!!

TL;DR: I build software. I'll build yours for free. I keep the right to sell it to other businesses later. That's the whole deal.

Suspicious stuff out of the way first: I'm not selling anything, not collecting your email, and not looking for a job. No free trial that becomes $99/month in 30 days.

I'm 28, based in Toronto, and I want to start a software business. But I've watched too many people build something clever nobody asked for. So I'm doing it backwards — find a real problem first, solve it for free, then see if there's a business in it.

What I'll build: anything. I've built Inventory Management Systems, Sales CRM platforms, and an AI Inference Gateway for open-source models. If it's complex, I'm more interested, not less.

Three signs this is for you:

🔹 You're paying monthly for software you half-use — 30 features, you need 4

🔹 You're doing it manually because the real tool is priced for companies 50x your size

🔹 Your workflow is three tools and a spreadsheet duct-taped together

Why you're doing me the favor:

I'm not being charitable. I want a real testimonial from a business actually using what I built, and the right to sell that software to other companies later. You get free custom software. I get proof it works and a product to take to market. Clean trade, nobody pretending.

What to do: drop your problem in the comments or DM me. The messier, the better.

Fair warning — bigger builds take a few months. But you're not paying, so the only thing you're risking is a comment.

I am 31 living in Alberta, making roughly 85k gross. I find myself penny pinching lots. I dont own a home. I live with 2 other people and pay around 750 a month in rent after splitting. I save 1000 a month. I drive a 30k car - that is my only debt currently <500 a month.

But I feel like people my age. Already have homes. Have much nicer cars. Like I see people have the new RAVs and they cost like 60k new now.

Are the majority of people making more than me or are people just neck deep in debt?

For context, my dad had to file for bankruptcy a long time ago because of my mother’s irresponsible spending.

He is currently refinancing his mortgage and needs a cosigner. I’m in my late 20s and make $23/hr working retail full time, he does some kind of lab work at Teck. He also has two young kids and a car, his wife is just a housewife who doesn’t bring any income.

The thing is that I’m not too educated on this kind of stuff, I would like to know the risks of me doing this.

Thank you!

I'm 17 and have just landed my first retail job, but I don't have an account set up with any bank. Any advice on which one I should open an account with?

I haven't known anyone except for a work colleague who won a 2nd prize for Lexus car as part of a hospital charity fundraiser. Instead he took the money in lieu of the car to pay off home mortgage. Around $75,000 a few yrs ago.

Crunching numbers on the RESP versus just stuffing money in a TFSA for my kid's future. The 20 percent grant on the first 2500 per year is hard to argue with. That's an immediate return that beats anything the market gives you.

But here's what keeps nagging at me. If your kid doesn't end up in a qualifying postsecondary program, you lose the grant money and the growth gets taxed at your marginal rate plus a penalty. My kid is young. Who knows what path they take. Trade school might qualify, but what if they go in a completely different direction

Part of me loves the guaranteed 20 percent match. The spreadsheet side keeps running scenarios where the TFSA flexibility wins because you can hand the money over whenever, for whatever, without dealing with all the RESP rules.

How do people actually make this call? Is the grant worth locking money into a fairly narrow definition of education?

Anyone here had to collapse an RESP, or dealt with a kid who took a different path? Curious what the realworld outcomes looked like compared to just keeping it simple in a TFSA

I’m currently paying $35/month with Rogers for 100GB Canada-only, but I’m pretty dissatisfied with the data speeds. I often get barely a few Mbps and usually just a single bar in Mississauga.

I WFH, so I use less than 5GB/month most months, mainly for Google Maps/navigation when I’m out.

The most optimized combo I’ve found so far is Freedom’s $129/year prepaid plan with 20GB/year, paired with a BNESIM 50GB North America eSIM for $58 with no expiry.

That works out to about $15.58/month overall (assuming I use all 50GB of BNESIM data within a year), compared with $35/month with Rogers.

It gives me a normal Canadian number for calls/texts, some native Canadian data, plus a larger North America data bucket for overflow and US travel.

Has anyone tried a similar setup? Any downsides with speeds, coverage, or using the travel eSIM as the main data connection?

Also open to suggestions if there’s an even better/cheaper combo.

Was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to lower my capital gains tax. I got hit hard last year from my investment account distributions and have maxed out my TFSA and RRSP. I also know it’s a “nice” problem to have, it’s just frustrating and looking at ways to mitigate my capital gains tax bill. Thanks!

Which RESP TFSA account ans which bank do you recommend? What is better for someone who is starting late. I am 39 F. My kid does have RESP. I made $87000 a year. I have $600 left over after all expense and etc. I have PEPP set up through my employer for the last 10 years. What do I do?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and honestly can’t decide.
On one hand you’ve got rental properties. On the other, starting some kind of business. Both seem like the classic “build wealth / create cash flow” moves people talk about, but I’m curious what the actual experience is like in the beginning.
Do either of them actually put money in your pocket early on, or do they both just eat cash for a while?
Would love to hear from people who’ve done one (or both):
• How long did it take before you saw real cash flow?
• What surprised you the most?
• If you had to pick which would you choose and why?

Just looking for real experiences and opinions. What’s your take?

I am in the process of hopefully buying my first place next summer. I will be speaking to a mortgage broker later on in the year, but I want to clarify somethings before sitting down with a broker. Will the mortgage lender look at the NOA line 15000 or 23600 as a mean to calculate my maximum mortgage amount? I live in Ontario in case it matters. I want to clarify this because I have money set aside for my 2026 tax bill, but I know it will have left over funds after paying the 2026 tax bill. I could contribute that left over into my RRSP to lower the tax bill but will that affect the Income that will be used to qualify me? I have already maxed out my FHSA contribution for the 2026

year.

What's the insurance quote like for someone in this age group? Would appreciate if anyone could share their experience and things that could potentially help lower the quote. I'm looking to get a car in Ontario but I'm not sure what the insurance rates are like.

Keep seeing these posts from recent graduates complaining about how hard it is to find a good paying job, have you considered searching overseas? I get it if you’ve got family and kids and moving abroad is logistically difficult, but if you’re in your early to mid 20s with no obligations and having one of the strongest passports in the world (Canada is top 10 for sure if not top 5), with world class education (UofT, McGill, UWaterloo, UBC, etc etc are all very well ranked), what do you have to lose? Our forefathers landed in North America from Europe with that adventurous spirit looking to make a better life than they could have back home, you’re now in a similar position to go out there and conquer the world in your own way. What’s stopping you? Places like Dubai, HK, Singapore, etc…heck, even London and New York have way more opportunities and growth compared to Canada…

Hello, I just finished helping my dad with his CRA account and found something concerning.

His COVID benefit balance was fully paid off as of May 25, 2026, yet CRA is still deducting money from his benefits, including the Ontario Trillium Benefit, as of August 2026.

Looking through the mail section of his CRA account, each benefit notice says it was processed on May 24, 2026 under 'Explanation'. His COVID benefit account showed a $0 balance as of May 25.

From what I can tell, it looks like CRA determined how much to deduct from each of his benefits for the year the day before his COVID debt was fully paid off.

The most concerning part is that his COVID benefit statement does not have any other enteries since May 25, so the money being deducted from his benefits since then is not being reflected there. The only way we noticed was by going through each benefit notice in the 'Mail' section and adding up the amounts listed as “COVID repayment.”

I’ll be calling CRA when they're open next week to find out how and when he'll be getting this money back.

I wanted to share this in case anyone else who paid off their COVID benefit debt is still having money deducted from their CRA benefits.

TL;DR: 26M healthcare worker (HOOPP pension), new homeowner as of late Sept. Deciding between a $525/mo country club (10-yr initiation commitment) and a $228/mo budget course (1-yr waived-initiation rate). Leaning toward the budget option for year one, then reassessing once real house costs are known. Is that the right call, or am I overthinking something the numbers already answer?

Background

• 26M, work in healthcare, HOOPP defined benefit pension (7–9% of earnings contribution, employer matches + adds ~26% more, no max).
• Partner (same age, also healthcare, same pension) and I closed on our first house — bungalow, $740K purchase price, 20% down, variable rate mortgage at 3.55%. Closing late September. All house costs excluding the down payment are split 50/50. We'll be merging finances soon.
• Long-term goal is a phased retirement rather than a hard stop — I work in a field with a lot of flexibility in hours, and I like what I do. The goal is working because I want to, not because I have to.
• No kids planned. Travel is a real priority (not yet built into the budget below). Getting a dog within the next year. Planning to marry within 5 years. None of this is modeled yet, but it's coming.

Income

• Guaranteed salary: $87K/year at 26.25 hrs/week. I regularly pick up extra shifts, realistically closer to $100K/year, though it's hard to predict exactly how much. Hourly rate rises 4%/year for the next 3 years until I hit the top of the grid; after that the whole grid moves periodically with inflation.
• Take-home floor (guaranteed shifts only, after HOOPP deductions): ~$4,400/month. Realistic take-home most months is higher (~$5,000–5,100) — I'm stress-testing against the floor.

Monthly budget — post-closing (my share only)

Category	Amount
Mortgage + property tax + estimated utilities (my half)	$1,883.00
Estimated home maintenance (1%/yr of $740K, my half)	$308.33
Home insurance (est. — moving from ~$10/mo renter's policy)	$70.00
Car insurance	$225.00
Gas (fuel)	$150.00
Internet (covered by credit card rewards)	$0.00
Total Bills	$2,636.33
Food (my half of groceries + eating out) + personal/misc	$656.34
Total fixed + typical variable spend	$3,292.67

(Gas dropped since we're planning to live closer to work post-move. No debt.)

That leaves $1,107/month (25.2%) surplus at the income floor, or ~$1,764/month (34.9%) at realistic income, before any golf membership.

The two options

Option A — Fancier country club

• Dues: $4,279 + HST
• Initiation: $750/yr for 10 years
• F&B minimum: $550/yr (my share)
• HST applies to the full membership cost, not just dues: ($4,279 + $750 + $550) × 1.13 = $6,304.27/yr = $525.36/month
• Dues increase to $5,300/yr after age 40
• 5 min from home, 5 min from work

Option B — Budget private course, 1-year rate

• Dues: $2,420 + HST = $2,734.60/yr, initiation waived year 1 (otherwise $600/yr for 10 years)
• Under-29 rate — increases annually until I'm 35, up to $4,330/yr eventually
• Year 1 total: $2,734.60/yr = $227.88/month
• 6 min from home, 15 min from work

What each does to my savings rate

Scenario	At income floor ($4,400)	At realistic income (~$5,057)
No membership	$1,107/mo (25.2%)	$1,764/mo (34.9%)
Option B (budget course)	$879/mo (20.0%)	$1,536/mo (30.4%)
Option A (fancier club)	$582/mo (13.2%)	$1,239/mo (24.5%)

Option A leaves ~$582/month of margin in a guaranteed-shifts-only month — a 13.2% savings rate. Option B holds up better at the floor (20.0%). Neither is "unaffordable," but Option A leans more on picking up extra shifts to stay comfortable — which is realistic for me, and if shifts ever dried up I could pick up additional work elsewhere in my field.

Phased retirement context

• Combined post-down-payment invested assets: ~$109K, plus whatever we save between now and end of September.
• We'll also have home equity — putting $148K (20%) down on a $740K property in a medium-high cost-of-living area just outside the GTA.
• Target retirement spending isn't nailed down precisely, but travel is a big priority.
• My actual HOOPP estimate (from the pension portal, assuming no future raises, current work pattern held to 55): $61,980/year at 55, just for me. My partner earns slightly more and is projected at $88,700/year at 55. Combined: ~$150.6K/year household (today's dollars) from age 55.
• Mortgage is scheduled to be paid off in 2051.
• Our non-house assets (~$109K), growing at 7% real with zero further contributions, would reach ~$775K by 55.

I don't think there's a bad option here. I know some non-golfers reading this may think spending this much on golf is silly, but for me it's therapy, exercise, social time, and networking — something I genuinely look forward to, and I play 100+ rounds a year.

We've always been frugal, which is part of how we got here. Part of me feels guilty even considering the nicer club — it feels like lifestyle creep — but looking at the numbers, I think we could comfortably afford it. Assuming no kids, no job loss, and zero additional investment beyond what we already have, we'd still end up with a paid-off house, ~$775K in savings, and ~$150K/year in pension income by 55.

My instinct is that the financially smart move is the 1-year, initiation-waived budget option, then reassess. I'm making a lot of estimates right now about a house I don't own yet — in a year I'll have a much clearer picture of my actual budget and could join the nicer club then if it still makes sense.

Thanks in advance — questions and pushback both welcome.