r/CanadaPersonalFinance

I know the answer is already a yes, but we all make mistakes.

When I graduated high school, I financed a car(June 2026), or my dad did under his name. The car cost around 19k and I took a 78month loan and after taxes, warranty and all those stuff, it came at around 27k. My loan sits at around 18k now, soon to be 16k after I canceled some insurance.

Now, I use public transit (bus) to go to my school to save gas, and i only use it when im going back home or grocery shopping, or when I need to be somewhere quick. So I guess you can say, the car is only there for when i really need it.

Paying for my apartments parking, gas, oil change, tires, etc. This feels like im losing money if im just using public transport 95% of the time.

When i searched up how much my vehicle worth is right now, its says 15k-19k, my loan being 18k means im not in a negative equity plus the worth of my extended warranty which is another 4-5 years or 80k km warranty. Which i calculated cost about 4-5k. Meaning my cars worth could be around 19-24k.

Would I be better of selling the car and maybe buying a bike to travel in the summer? Now before I get bullied here, the car really helped me in the summer because of how many job I had and no public transportation available to where I worked, the car was very much needed at that time.

Edit: If you didnt read my first sentence well, here it is. I fully acknowledge what I did was not smart and I could've done something smarter. Well guess what? Thats in the past, right? So I cant just go back in time and reverse this can't I. So please if you have nothing good/helpful thing to say, just don't say anything 😭. What i wanna know is financial advice, whats the best thing to do NOW, not "Oh you should've done this, done that"

21, recovering from being homeless from when I was 18 until last month. last night I won $12,000.. I need advice.

Hello all, Im twenty one years old, overcame homeless this month after the last 2 years of my life living on the streets with no family & living in Canada my whole life.

These last two years of my life have been hell for me. Ive been in and out of work & my Employment Insurance has ran out..

Now.. i've never had more than $3000 saved up before & I am scared of losing a good percentage of it due to my own stupidity. if you won $10k+ and had literally $100 in your bank account what would be your first steps when you receive the payout & how can i plan for my future etc.

I have a TFSA but thats about it

I graduated highschool a year early when I was 17 and have been working in the trades specifically concrete & carpentry since I was 18..

Finding employment is my first priority, but what is the smartest thing I could do with that money or smartest place to keep it to plan for my future.

my rent is $800 a month for a room rn & i want to sell my dodge 1500 truck and buy a cheaper on fuel & more reliable vehicle as well since I live out of town.

I’m a 34-year-old woman living on my own in downtown Toronto, and I’m looking for some advice on how to invest responsibly and build long-term financial security.
I’ve finally reached a point where I expect to be able to save and invest approximately $4,000–$6,000 per month. I work a full-time job, do freelance work on the side, and also have a part-time job at a wellness bar. I’m working quite a bit right now because I want to take advantage of this stage of my life to build a solid financial foundation for my future.
A little background: Until recently, I was heavily involved in supporting my family financially and contributed a significant portion of what I earned toward them. Thankfully, I have a good relationship with my family, and I don’t view that money as necessarily lost forever. I may eventually inherit some assets, although I don’t want to rely on a potential inheritance when planning my own financial future.
I’m now trying to prioritize my own financial well-being, retirement, and quality of life. I want to be financially secure enough to travel, enjoy my life, handle unexpected expenses, and eventually retire comfortably without constantly worrying about money.

Here’s where I currently stand:

I’ve been contributing to my FHSA and RRSP.
I’ve also been contributing approximately $1,000 per month to my TFSA since June.
I currently hold some XEQT.
I’ve also invested in DMG Blockchain Solutions and previously made some money on blockchain-related stocks, although my recent experience has been much less positive.
I realize that individual stocks and speculative investments can be risky, and I’m increasingly interested in taking a more disciplined approach rather than trying to pick winners.

My questions for those of you who have experience investing in Canada:

If you were in my position, how would you allocate $4,000–$6,000 per month between your TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, and a non-registered investment account?
Would you focus primarily on broad-market ETFs like XEQT, or would you allocate a smaller portion of your portfolio to individual stocks?
Are there particular ETFs or investment strategies you would recommend for someone with a long-term retirement horizon?
How much would you keep in cash or a high-interest savings account before investing aggressively?
If you were starting over at 34 with a good savings rate, what would you do differently?
I’m not looking to get rich overnight or gamble my savings away. I want to make smart decisions, take advantage of the fact that I can save a meaningful amount right now, and give myself the best chance of building wealth over the next 20–30 years.
I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences, mistakes, and lessons learned. Thank you!

Help! I saw a similar post recently but hoping for insight.

Need to renew mortgage (120 days early renewal possible is Nov 1).
Advice has been to lock in now, as rates will surely go up. However - many external variant factors.

I'm being quoted loyalty rates of 3.51 for 5 year variable (locked payments), or 4.52 for 3 year fixed. (TD) What would you do? Are there any banks offering lower?

Preference though is not to do a new application, but we could if worthwhile. I'm leaning towards variable to keep payments lower and then if rates increase I just up my payment accordingly. Am I missing something here with this strategy? This is a hard swallow regardless bc my current rate is 1.3 variable (appreciating we are no longer in 2021).

Edit: TD has said we can convert to fixed without penalty at any time.

It's an extra 500 a year you'll end up paying, which will continue to ramp up in future years.

Officially, it's to increase CPP from covering 25% of working income up to 33% of working income.

But with all of the recent talk about CPP Investments engaging in ridiculously bad investment strategy (active management, private equity) and underperforming their own benchmarks, there's something to be said about want that money for yourself.

Thoughts? Is regular CPP enough?

I’m 24 residing in the gta and currently on EI due to being unemployed for close to a year now. I still have 4 months left on ei but I also have amazed a to of debt 35k in student loans (private not through osap at 8%) and 17k cc debt at 20.99%. My ei isn’t much only $1100 per month but with my debt it eats up most of it. I already moved back home but even so it’s tight. 

I plan on applying for welfare or an ei extension in the next couple of months so I want to do the consumer proposal before then to cut down my expenses. Does this plan make sense or would it be better to try and do the proposal after my ei runs out and I apply for extension or welfare/ow.

(note: cross posted from the other Canada personal finance sub).

I noticed this hasn't been cross posted here but I figure this is the place to discuss: https://macleans.ca/longforms/the-great-generational-rip-off/

Seems bleak, but also a pretty well done in terms of reviewing the current situation that faces Canadians from the perspective of assets outpacing inflation and the growing costs of the Canadian welfare state.

Mostly pretty modest proposals at the end, but still a good read.

I lean towards thinking few of the suggested impactful reforms will be politically palatable.

Looking around the world, I think the most likely policies suggested here that we might enact would be wealth taxes, increased taxation of investments and increased eligibility ages for retirement benefits. I could also see the GIS payout increasing.

I highly doubt that broader OAS reform or changes to the principal residence exemption will happen in the next decade.

Thoughts?

We’re currently in Manitoba and considering moving to Ontario in the next year or so. I am a first time home-buyer (with FHSA) but husband has a property. We were looking around the GTA/outskirts rather than Toronto itself.

Originally we were questioning whether it even made sense financially because we can obviously get a lot more house in Manitoba for the same money. But with the HST rebate/waiver for first time buyers on new builds, I’m wondering if that changes things at all.

We’d probably be looking in the $750-900k range, ideally detached. We have a 150k down-payment saved.

For anyone currently looking at new builds in Ontario, how much does the HST change actually save you in real life? Is it enough to make new construction significantly better value or are builders just pricing it in?

Also curious about all the other costs that might not be obvious coming from Manitoba e.g. development charges, land transfer tax, closing adjustments etc.

And if you moved from Manitoba/another prairie province to Ontario, do you feel the higher housing cost was worth it overall?

Not looking at this purely as an investment - maybe renting for a while till we figure out jobs in ON. And then hopefully be living there and raising our family there. Just trying to figure out whether buying a new build in Ontario right now is a genuinely good opportunity or whether the HST thing sounds much better than it actually is.

Hi im a 21yo uni student, im in my second year of a 3 year degree, Im doing a computer science degree. regardless of many students complains of job market etc. i've got good things going for me, as i work a part time job with the government - and employed full time with the summer, im also working a part time retail job in the evenings on top of school, ive got decent credit and am pretty smart with money. I have been working since i was 15 and dont have as much saved as i should have because of my parental problems lol. my parents have debts on debts, for one example last year my dad was out of a job and didnt pay our landlords for 4 months lol. and never said anything. I do love them dearly, i was raised well and im a good kid. But i cant do this anymore. i give them so much money every month. i basically paid off a bunch of their debts this summer, considering i was working my ass off with a full time and part time job i didnt get to keep any of it. I want freedom but cant commit to moving out. I'm aiming for a better safety net financially before I dip out. I know i can handle it on my own as i am the most independent in all of my family. I have no problem commuting i have no complaints, im not a materialistic child, i just crave simplicity and freedom man. I honestly just want to know if anyone has had similar stories and how they are doing now as I just need the motivation and insight to venture out and do better on my own. they are holding me back rather than helping me and even with how much they put me through i still want to be the ones to retire them, in the 'no cheats and no cuts way' just hard work. honestly everyone have a blessed weekend any insight im grateful for :)

Is it fairly easy to take money out of a Wealthsimple RESP when the time comes? Do they have decent customer service if I need assistance?