Our Case Study series reviews the financial lives of everyday Canadians. While helping individuals plan and answer pressing questions, we find transferable lessons to help others navigate similar situations. If you have recommendations for future case studies or would like to be featured, please email me. While details were changed to protect the identity of our participants, the information and recommendations are reflective of the situation. Personal and financial background Summary Kathryn is a widowed 60 year old who lives in Vancouver, where she rents an apartment and works ..read more

    This is the first post of a new Case Study series that reviews the financial lives of everyday Canadians. While helping individuals plan and answer pressing questions, we find transferable lessons to help others navigate similar situations. If you have recommendations for future case studies or would like to be featured, please email me. While details were changed to protect the identity of our participants, the information and recommendations are reflective of the situation. Personal and financial background Summary Leon, age 50, lives in Richmond, British Columbia, with his da ..read more

    In all your daily transactions, you’re used to being quoted a price and paying it. Whether you’re buying coffee, signing up for a streaming service or making a larger purchase like a car, you know how much you’re paying. However, this isn’t usually the case when you invest. Whether you’re investing online or through a local bank branch, you’re paying a fee and you may not be aware just how much it is. Investment fees are often presented as a low percentage. They usually range between 0.1% and 2.5%. What appears to be a small number can have a significant impact on your financial ..read more

    The Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) is a fantastic way to lower your taxes and save for the future. Unfortunately, it also complicates what was previously a simple decision. Before the TFSA was introduced in 2008 you deposited your savings in a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and went about your day. However, today there are potential benefits of using a TFSA instead of, or in addition to, an RRSP. Unfortunately, there’s no way to transfer money from an RRSP to a TFSA without penalty. However, depending on your situation the penalties may be minor. If you’ve deposited ..read more

    It’s never been easier to invest your money for the future at a low cost. You can own a portion of thousands of companies and lend to hundreds of countries and businesses with the click of a button. To help you manage your money in a hands-off and low-cost way, Vanguard, BlackRock and BMO have each recently launched all-in-one exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These funds are also called one-ticket, single-ticket or asset allocation ETFs. What is an all-in-one ETF? When you invest in a single company (e.g., Apple, Walmart) by purchasing shares, you take on a significant amount of ri ..read more

    The great news is that you can have as many Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) accounts as you’d like. However, there’s a limit to the total amount of money you can deposit across all of your accounts. You can only deposit to an RRSP if you have contribution room available. Each year that you earn income and file your taxes you receive RRSP contribution room equal to 18% of your income. For instance, if your income is $50,000, you gain $9,000 in RRSP contribution room that you can deposit to any of your RRSP accounts. Contribution room that you earn each year adds up and ..read more

    Making a mistake on your taxes is more common than you might expect. In Canada, you can easily make a change to your tax return to correct the error, going back as far as ten years if required. After you submit your taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), you’ll need to wait for them to send you a Notice of Assessment (NOA). Once you receive your NOA, online or by mail, you can follow the steps below to change your return. Common mistakes when filing taxes in Canada Before we dive into the steps to change your return, it’s worth discussing some of the common mistakes people ma ..read more

    Making a mistake on your taxes is more common than you might expect. In Canada, you can easily make a change to your tax return to correct the error, going back as far as ten years if required. After you submit your taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), you’ll need to wait for them to send you a Notice of Assessment (NOA). Once you receive your NOA, online or by mail, you can follow the steps below to change your return. Common mistakes when filing taxes in Canada Before we dive into the steps to change your return, it’s worth discussing some of the common mistakes people ma ..read more

Between February and March 2020, the stock market declined in value at the fastest rate in history, with most major markets declining over 30%. Meanwhile, another record was being set through Google’s search engine. People around the world were looking to take advantage of the decline in stock prices and searching “how to buy stocks.” The following graph shows the stock price of a group of global stocks in blue and the relative search rate for “how to buy stocks” in gold. Sources: Yahoo Finance adjusted closing price for VTI, a major exchange-traded fund (ETF). Google Trends. With a great dea ..read more

    Just over a month ago we discussed the sell-off in the stock market caused by the current pandemic. At the time, there was a great deal of uncertainty clouding what the future would look like. When the article was published, we had 4% of the confirmed cases we have today in Canada. Markets across the globe were down ~30% and an index that measures investor fear was at its highest level on record. Since then, stock markets around the world have risen at some of the fastest rates since the Great Depression. Most major markets have recovered ~50% of their March losses. This market ..read more