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A nice perk if you’ve bundled your home and auto with TD insurance… you have access to unlimited legal advice from actual lawyers via phone.

I understand that likely nobody cares about this... but, this is now the only place on the internet that you will find this complete list of the OAS clawback thresholds for each year since it's inception. Trust me - this list does not exist anywhere else. I had to piece this together by looking up the actual year by year tax forms for the earlier years that can be found deep in the CRA archives.

I heard this recently… "The TFSA and RRSP are identical if your tax rate when you contribute is the same as your tax rate when you make a withdrawal. The only difference between them is that you know what rate of tax applies to your TFSA investment, and you do not know what rate of tax will eventually apply to your RRSP." Not true. There are many differences between them: 1. With a RRSP you can eventually get a pension credit by transferring money into a RRIF and then withdrawing it when you are over 65. You will never get a pension credit due to a TFSA withdrawal. 2. You can use a RRSP (in combination with a RRIF) to split 50% of the income with a spouse once you reach age 65. You can't do this with a TFSA. 3. With a Spousal RRSP you can lower your taxable income, and then shift 100% of the future income to your spouse. You can't do this with a TFSA. 4. With a RRSP, when you die with a minor child, you can shift the tax away from the deceased’s final tax return and have it taxed in the child’s name by using the RRSP proceeds to purchase a ‘term-certain annuity’ that pays the income out in equal parts annually from their current age until age 18. You can't do this level of estate planning with a TFSA. 5. If you die with a minor who was disabled, you could roll the parent’s RRSP on a tax-deferred basis into a RRSP for the minor (no contribution room required) or into a RDSP for the minor (subject to $200k lifetime contribution limits). With a TFSA you don’t have these same rollover options. 6. If you die with an adult child, who has a disability, and also was financially dependent on the deceased, then the RRSP of the deceased can avoid being taxed on the final tax return by either: rolling it into the adult child’s into RDSP, RRSP, or by buying a life annuity for them. 7. US income in a TFSA is subject to non-recoverable foreign withholding tax, this withholding tax does not apply to RRSPs. 8. TFSA withdrawals create new contribution room as of January 1 the following year. RRSP withdrawals do not create new RRSP contribution room. There are many more differences as well. So while the accounts are often said to be comparable on the surface, if tax rates are the same on contribution as they are on withdrawal… when you dig into the details there are many nuances and differences. Also, I’ll just say that RRSPs are pretty cool for planning… so many tricks.

GUIDE: How to draw down a $100,000 RESP over a 4-Year Post-Secondary program Thread 👇

As of January 1, 2026, the cumulative TFSA contribution limit will be $109,000... but that's only relevant for those who were 18 in 2009 when the TFSA was introduced. Below is a table that shows the cumulative TFSA contribution amounts for ALL ages and birth years.

15 common-sense pieces of financial advice that are not hard to do. If you do them all, you will be further ahead than most of the people around you. 1. Don’t carry balances on credit cards. 2. Protect yourself and your family from catastrophic events. Insurance when appropriate is wise. Insurance when not appropriate can be costly. 3. Understand what you spend and what you make. Spend less than you make. Set up automatic savings during your working years. 4. Maintain flexibility so you can pivot if things don’t go exactly according to plan. Flexibility is underrated. 5. If you are paying a fee for something, make sure you are getting something of value in return. 6. If you have monthly subscription services that you haven’t used in the last 2 months - cancel them. 7. Your interests and priorities are different than those around you. Stop comparing yourself to others. 8. It’s ok to say “That sounds fun but I can’t afford it.” 9. Get a Will, Power of Attorney, and Personal Directive (Health Representation Agreement / POA for Personal Care). If your situation is not complicated, online providers are available at low costs and are completely legal. 10. Track your Net Worth over time. Saving increases Net Worth and so does paying down debt. Seeing improvement each year helps to keep you motivated. 11. Coffee likely won’t derail your financial plans, but spending too much on cars and housing might. 12. There’s power in simplicity. Take a minute to list all of your bank and investment accounts. If at the end of the minute you’ve missed or forgotten about an account, you probably have too many. 13. Name beneficiaries or successors on your registered accounts (RRSP/TFSA/FHSA/LIRA/RRIF/LIF) if it makes sense to do so. Don’t forget about your work plans. Don’t assume you’ve done it already, especially if you have accounts at discount brokerages. 14. Don’t forget about tax. RRSP and LIRAs have future tax associated with them when you eventually make withdrawals. There is future tax due when you sell your non-registered investments, real estate and other property outside of your principal residence if there are capital gains. Self employed individuals and business owners also need to remember about their upcoming tax bill on the income they earn. Don’t open yourself up to surprises that you can’t manage. 15. Good communication can solve a lot of financial issues when they are small problems. Poor communication and secrecy can turn small financial problems into big ones over time.

In high school I worked at McDonalds. It was my first job that was not me working on the grain farm for my family. I was paid minimum wage. When I was hired, they had told me that after 6 months I would get a raise. When 6 months came, it coincidentally was at the same time…

Remember last year when CRA providing filing and payment extensions as a result of the capital gain inclusion rate change that never happened? Trusts (T3 returns) had an extension to May 1 (normal deadline is March 31) if a capital disposition was reported on the return. Well, I just had a client receive a Notice of Assessment finally in late Feb 2026 (!!!) for the T3 that was filed in April 2025 (before the May 1 extension date). The payment was remitted in late April, also before the May 1 extension date (but later than the typical filing deadline). Of course, arrears interest is on the assessment because the payment was "late". It took 1 hour and 1 minute on a phone call with CRA to get them to admit that the arrears interest should not have been levied.... but we couldn't request the reversal on the phone. We now need to complete form RC4288 to formally request the interest be reversed. Then upload it to CRA... then wait for the determination and result. Sharing in case this helps someone else.

The First Home Savings Account (FHSA) should be called the Savings Account For Those Who Haven't Lived in a Home They or Their Spouse Has Owned In The Current or Past 4 Years.

Financial planning is so much more than investing... since Monday I've... - talked to a client about them selling their house and moving to a new home (I was able to answer the financial questions quickly, and the rest of the discussion was more about the emotions of moving and the memories that were formed in the home, more than anything else) - explained the mechanics of applying for the disability tax credit for the parent of a client and how that process will look both during the application and after it's approved. - talked about triggering capital gains prior to June 25 with 5 clients (2 of 5 requires action which we will sit on until closer to June 25 in case more details are announced) - discussed the probate application process with a client who lost their parent - explained to a client what 'comingling' means as it relates to amounts received as an inheritance. - answered (with visuals) the question for a client about whether or not a client could now afford to cancel their life insurance - discussed with a client how they can bullet proof their long term plan by taking certain actions now (or later) and how those actions can reduce their failure rates if they live a long life. Basically... it's a lot of stuff about life and death, taxes, peace of mind, memories and legacies... some investment talk also, but not too much.

Planning to buy a home soonish? Open a FHSA in 2025 before year end even if you can’t fund it until 2026. Why? You only earn contribution carry-forward room if you open an account. If you wait to open it in 2026 you will only be able to contribute $8,000 in 2026. If you open…

OAS clawback begins at $93,454 for the year 2025 and is going up to $95,323 for tax year 2026…. The closer this gets to $100k the more emotional the reactions to that figure are. But the unpopular truth is that it’s a lower threshold today (in real dollar terms) than when the…

Do you think a principal residence should be included on a net worth statement? I had someone try and make reasons why it maybe shouldn't be. The answer is yes, it should be. I can't believe I'm having to post this.

Drawings used to explain things look good as they are happening in the meeting, yet often like utter garbage afterwards without context. Any guesses as to what I was talking about?

I understand that likely nobody cares about this... but, this is now the only place on the internet that you will find this complete list of the OAS clawback thresholds for each year since it's inception. Trust me - this list does not exist anywhere else. I had to piece this together by looking up the actual year by year tax forms for the earlier years that can be found deep in the CRA archives.

Tried to post a positive comment about a recent personal experience that was contrary to recent public opinion. Got attacked. Called a sellout, “how much did you get paid”, etc. For the record, nobody has ever paid me to say anything on here. But I took it down, life’s too short to deal with the negativity.

A nice perk if you’ve bundled your home and auto with TD insurance… you have access to unlimited legal advice from actual lawyers via phone.

Do you think a principal residence should be included on a net worth statement? I had someone try and make reasons why it maybe shouldn't be. The answer is yes, it should be. I can't believe I'm having to post this.

In 2023, Dan's Will left all RRSPs to his son, Justin. In 2025, he opened a new RRSP and named his daughter, Jane, as beneficiary on the account. He died in 2026. Who receives the 2025 RRSP proceeds?

If a 95 year old married a 30 year old (for love, of course) that would open the doors to a reduction of the minimum withdrawal from 20% to 1.67%. I'm sorry for making you think about this.

I heard this recently… "The TFSA and RRSP are identical if your tax rate when you contribute is the same as your tax rate when you make a withdrawal. The only difference between them is that you know what rate of tax applies to your TFSA investment, and you do not know what rate of tax will eventually apply to your RRSP." Not true. There are many differences between them: 1. With a RRSP you can eventually get a pension credit by transferring money into a RRIF and then withdrawing it when you are over 65. You will never get a pension credit due to a TFSA withdrawal. 2. You can use a RRSP (in combination with a RRIF) to split 50% of the income with a spouse once you reach age 65. You can't do this with a TFSA. 3. With a Spousal RRSP you can lower your taxable income, and then shift 100% of the future income to your spouse. You can't do this with a TFSA. 4. With a RRSP, when you die with a minor child, you can shift the tax away from the deceased’s final tax return and have it taxed in the child’s name by using the RRSP proceeds to purchase a ‘term-certain annuity’ that pays the income out in equal parts annually from their current age until age 18. You can't do this level of estate planning with a TFSA. 5. If you die with a minor who was disabled, you could roll the parent’s RRSP on a tax-deferred basis into a RRSP for the minor (no contribution room required) or into a RDSP for the minor (subject to $200k lifetime contribution limits). With a TFSA you don’t have these same rollover options. 6. If you die with an adult child, who has a disability, and also was financially dependent on the deceased, then the RRSP of the deceased can avoid being taxed on the final tax return by either: rolling it into the adult child’s into RDSP, RRSP, or by buying a life annuity for them. 7. US income in a TFSA is subject to non-recoverable foreign withholding tax, this withholding tax does not apply to RRSPs. 8. TFSA withdrawals create new contribution room as of January 1 the following year. RRSP withdrawals do not create new RRSP contribution room. There are many more differences as well. So while the accounts are often said to be comparable on the surface, if tax rates are the same on contribution as they are on withdrawal… when you dig into the details there are many nuances and differences. Also, I’ll just say that RRSPs are pretty cool for planning… so many tricks.

OAS clawback begins at $93,454 for the year 2025 and is going up to $95,323 for tax year 2026…. The closer this gets to $100k the more emotional the reactions to that figure are. But the unpopular truth is that it’s a lower threshold today (in real dollar terms) than when the…

A joint account issues tax slips with the SIN of the first/primary account holder on the tax slips. Just because the slip has the primary account holder’s SIN, it doesn’t necessarily mean they should report all of the income on their tax return. The slip will show beneficiary code = 2… that tells CRA it’s a joint account, so all the income may not be reported on the tax return of the person who’s SIN is on the slip. Just because it’s a joint account, that doesn’t mean that the couple can each report 50% of the income on their respective tax returns. Instead, Canadian tax rules state that the person who first earned the money to deposit into the investment account, should be the one who should report the investment income earned on those dollars. So, joint accounts might be taxed all to one spouse, or all to the other, or 50/50, or 10/90, or 25/75. There’s no one size fits all. It depends on the history of who saved the money in the first place.

GUIDE: How to draw down a $100,000 RESP over a 4-Year Post-Secondary program Thread 👇

The First Home Savings Account (FHSA) should be called the Savings Account For Those Who Haven't Lived in a Home They or Their Spouse Has Owned In The Current or Past 4 Years.

Like many parents, we have a habit in our household to read a bedtime story to our kids each night. But when we left on our recent vacation we forgot to pack books. Chat GPT saved the day and became a daily way to summarize the days events into a bedtime story and also prep for the upcoming day. A cool part of this is I can save the manuscripts and it will help to preserve some of the finer details of our vacation when we read it back years from now. See the below 👇 for an example… first my story prompt with a few details I quickly input, and then I would read the “story” to my kids before bed in lieu of our normal chapter books….it worked out really well for us so I’m sharing in case someone else wants to try.