TheAdvisorGuy

08/19/2025

For most would-be buyers or refinancers, waiting is historically the gamble with worse odds.

1. Inflation surprises — such as new tariffs, oil shocks, artificial intelligence (AI) investment outweighing AI job losses, loonie depreciation or a combination — could potentially yank rates higher with little warning.

2. Even if rates don’t climb, they could easily go sideways. Canada’s policy rate has done that at least two-thirds of the time since the global financial crisis, as measured by consecutive three-month periods of no rate changes. Indeed, rates could tread water for years — like they did from 2010 to 2014 — putting qualified borrowers who wait no further ahead.

3. Interest rates can fall, but home prices may adjust, wiping out any affordability gains.

4. If rates fall after you buy, you can lock in lower rates later. But if prices rise and you wait to buy, you can’t go back in time and pay less. Like they say, you can refinance rates; you can’t refinance prices.

5. Sellers may get bolder in a lower-rate environment, pulling listings until prices climb.

6. Waiting risks losing the home you love to a less patient buyer.
If your cash flow is tight, a sudden rate spike could make it harder to qualify for the mortgage you need.

7. Locking in a rate today lets you budget with certainty instead of riding the market’s mood swings. Longer-term rate holds range from 90 days to 130 days at the Bank of Montreal and 150 days at Nesto Inc. And if rates drop, you can reset your rate lower before closing.

8. If you’ve got a fixed-rate mortgage that you want to break and refinance before maturity, falling rates mean rising mortgage prepayment penalties.

9. Depending on your lender and mortgage type, such penalties could easily offset most or all of the rate savings.
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For most would-be buyers or refinancers, waiting is historically the gamble with worse odds.

07/23/2025

Couples that have built their wealth and family together often share goals for supporting their children, but this is sometimes not as straightforward with blended families.

Cohabitation and prenuptial agreements can help address issues early on in a relationship, but continued differences in view can lead to confusion or disputes when planning the estate. Before the tough conversations start, a good place to begin is to put together detailed net worth statements so there is a common understanding of the financial landscape.

A central concern is clarifying each partner’s intentions on asset distribution, or who gets what. Simply splitting the estate equally amongst the children can often fall short of creating true equity and meeting each child’s needs.

Once the estate plan is complete, holding a well-facilitated family meeting that allows for frank, open discussions about your decisions can help diffuse tensions and create understanding. It’s important to note that a will is your document and does not have to consist solely of cold legal facts. Consider adding personal letters, advice and anecdotes alongside your will to humanize the document and make it less transactional.

Trusts are commonly used with blended families and are implemented to protect assets and support your precise inheritance terms. They can also shield against risks such as divorce or bankruptcy on the part of the inheritors and ensure assets are passed along according to your wishes. They can also help prevent unintended consequences, such as ensuring that a surviving spouse is cared for during their lifetime while preserving assets for children from a previous marriage.

Your legacy is important, and ensuring the best outcome from your estate plan requires a complex balancing act of legal structure, emotional intelligence, proactive communications, and life-insurance to preserve your net worth. Blended families who directly focus on these elements will be well-positioned to preserve their wealth and family relationships and leave a legacy of clarity, compassion, and respect.
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Couples that have built their wealth and family together often share goals for supporting their children, but this is sometimes not as straightforward with blended families.

07/21/2025

From opening a TFSA to doing your own taxes and negotiating a raise, we share 25 ideas to kick off your 20s on the right financial foot.

1. Open a TFSA
2. Go beyond savings with an investment account
3. Start to save for your first home with an FHSA
4. Build your credit score
5. Monitor your credit score
6. Choose a credit card that offers cash or points rewards
7. Save up for moving out or moving on
8. Start an emergency fund
9. Pay off student loans
10. Automate your savings
11. Do your own taxes
12. Open a My Account with the CRA
13. Know your budget top to bottom
14. Build your professional brand
15. Comparison shop for adult spends
16. Build strong references
17. Plan your dream trip
18. Read a personal finance book
19. Stay informed about financial news
20. Practice negotiating to boost earning potential
21. Try a digital money jar
22. Audit your subscriptions
23. Consider a side hustle
24. Control impulse spending
25. Calibrate your spending while living at home
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From opening a TFSA to doing your own taxes and negotiating a raise, we share 25 ideas to kick off your 20s on the right financial foot.

06/06/2025

Real estate investing has its merits. And certain markets have performed exceptionally well in Canada over the past generation. But sometimes, especially as you approach retirement, you should reconsider your real estate strategy.

Stock performance
The 10-year total returns for the Canadian and U.S. indices were 8.53% and 13.89% annualized. Most investors would have earned less, though, due to investment fees and by holding bonds as well as stocks. But high single-digit returns were certainly there for the taking.

Read estate performance
The MLS Home Price Index aggregate composite change was 5.52% annualized over the past 10 years. A rental property investor in Canada might have earned 2% to 3% more from net rental income, based on rental income minus rental expenses excluding mortgage. Leverage would have helped, since the five-year variable mortgage rate averaged 2.79% over that 10-year period. Borrowing at 2.79% and investing at roughly 8% all-in leads to a profit.

Real estate liquidity and transaction costs
There are two reasons to be careful about buying real estate that you might need to sell early in retirement.
1. Real estate is not always liquid.
2. Transaction costs to buy and sell real estate are also significant. Adding in legal fees and incremental purchase and sale costs, an investor might pay 10% of the property value to buy and sell it.

The stability of real estate may be appealing to some investors and many people find real estate easier to understand than stocks, and this may make it a more comfortable way to invest. However there is a significant amount of both time and money that you need to account for when buying or selling. The value of real estate is ONLY viable when you have a buyer willing to pay the price that you are asking for whether that be for rental income or to outright sell the property. Where as purchasing stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds is much more efficient and easier process. Whether real estate is the best investment for a retiree is dependent on the situation of the individual.
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Real estate investing has its merits. And certain markets have performed exceptionally well in Canada over the past generation. But sometimes, especially as you approach retirement, you should reconsider your real estate strategy.

06/02/2025

For investors, this implies volatile stock markets for the foreseeable future, with huge day-to-day swings depending on Mr. Trump’s latest tariff moves. So, what should you be doing with your money? Here are five suggestions.

1. Focus on Canada. In the past, I’ve advised overweighting portfolios to U.S. securities and underweighting Canada. Now keeping more of your money at home seems like a better plan. So far this year, the TSX has outperformed the S&P 500 by a wide margin and recently reached a new record high. The weak U.S. performance may reflect a stronger reaction by American investors to Trump’s declarations and maneuvers, thereby increasing volatility, but the upshot is Toronto seems to be calmer than New York at present.

2. Add to Europe. The STOXX Europe 600 Index is performing much better than expected, with a gain of about 8 per cent so far this year. Most Canadians have little or no European exposure in their portfolios.

3. Reduce risk. The coming months are going to be stressful. Both Canada and the U.S. face the risk of a recession and the market volatility we’ve seen so far in 2025 will almost certainly continue. Low-risk investments I recommend include shares in Canada’s big six banks and a significant position in a utilities ETF.

4. Buy gold. The precious metal thrives in uncertain times, and this is about as uncertain as it gets.

5. Keep your cool. There will be times in the coming months when you may be ready to abandon the markets altogether and opt to put your money into safe GICs. Unless you are very elderly and/or can’t sleep at night, that’s probably not a good plan. Suck it up and ride out the storms. If you have a well-constructed portfolio, you’ll come out fine.
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For investors, this implies volatile stock markets for the foreseeable future, with huge day-to-day swings depending on Mr. Trump’s latest tariff moves. So, what should you be doing with your money? Here are five suggestions.

05/29/2025

How to get the maximum RESP government contribution:

Contribute early and often. Thanks to the miracle of compound interest, small contributions can really add up over time, and if your little one isn’t so little, experts agree that you should still start contributing and benefit from some compound growth.

Make a savings plan (but be flexible). Once you commit to a monthly savings goal, no matter how large or small, it’s best if you can stick with it—but that doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. Life happens where you could have a job change that increases or decreases your cash flow, or be faced with a major home repair that requires you to temporarily scale back your RESP contributions. Either way, it’s perfectly reasonable to want to adjust your savings targets. It’s a good idea to reassess your goals every few months and plan accordingly.

Plan to maximize grants. To get the maximum CESG amount of $7,200, you’ll need to contribute $2,500 per year for 14 years, and then $1,000 when your child is 15 years old. If you can’t contribute $2,500 in a given year, contribute what you can—every bit helps—and try to catch up in future years.

Ask for help. Not everyone has the time or know-how to manage an individual or family RESP to qualify for the most government grants. Plus, an RESP can hold different types of investments, including GICs, bonds, stocks and more. There’s a lot to consider and an financial advisor can help you determine the best plan to maximize your savings.
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05/28/2025

An RESP’s investment mix should evolve over time. Here’s how to focus on growing and then preserving your savings as your child nears post-secondary school.

- Time horizon: How long you have to grow the funds before the first withdrawal

- Risk tolerance: Your comfort level with market volatility

- Budget: How much money you can contribute towards your savings goal

- Knowledge and confidence: How comfortable you’ll be with managing the investments yourself

- Investing goals: What return on investment you need to meet your financial goal—including keeping up with inflation

- Taxes: Withdrawing funds from your account in the most tax-efficient way

As you can see, there’s a lot to consider when investing in an RESP, and your needs and goals will depend very much on the factors above. Opening an RESP when your child is a pr***en, for example, will need a very different strategy than when your child is just starting daycare. Consider speaking to a financial advisor to help you map out a savings plan.
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An RESP’s investment mix should evolve over time. Here’s how to focus on growing and then preserving your savings as your child nears post-secondary school.

05/26/2025

Families saving for a child’s post-secondary education have more options than ever. With TFSAs, RRSPs and other accounts, does an RESP still make sense?

It’s a great question that I often hear from parents, who are understandably worried about the growing costs of higher education. For the 2024/2025 school year, the average undergraduate tuition fee in Canada for domestic students was $7,360.

The registered education savings plan (RESP) has been around for nearly 50 years, helping Canadian parents, grandparents and guardians save up for a child’s post-secondary education. It’s a type of registered account, meaning that it’s registered with the federal government, and the money and investments held inside it grow tax-sheltered. The best part is, when you withdraw your funds from the account, they’re taxed in the hands of your beneficiary, often resulting in little-to-no taxes being applied to your savings if done strategically.

Another huge RESP benefit: It’s the only account where you can get government grants—free money for your child’s education—if you properly plan your contributions. The big one is the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG). The government will match 20% (up to $500 in a given year) on your first $36,000 of RESP contributions; for each child, the maximum CESG is $7,200. Low-income families are eligible for an additional $2,000 in the form of the Canada Learning Bond (CLB).

All things considered, the RESP remains a stand-out tool for education savings, on the strength of the tax-free government grants you can receive—particularly the Canada Education Savings Grant. To get the full $7,200, planning is key.
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05/15/2025

Helping a grandchild pay for post-secondary education is a smart gift that keeps giving. Here’s how to maximize your contributions plus government grants.

Ideally, your grandchild or grandchildren will have an RESP. Perhaps your own kids have already opened one for them. If not, you can open an RESP—in fact, anyone can become a “subscriber,” including parents, guardians, grandparents, other relatives, and friends. A child can be the “beneficiary” of multiple RESPs, but here’s the key detail to note: the lifetime RESP contribution limit per child is $50,000. Any excess contributions will be taxed, so it’s important for contributors to coordinate their efforts.

To get the maximum lifetime CESG amount of $7,200 for the child, the RESP contributors will need to put in $2,500 per year for 14 years, and then another $1,000 when the child is age 15. Keep in mind that the maximum allowance per child is $500 in CESG in a given year. If you don’t contribute $2,500 in a certain year, you can catch up the following year, but note that the maximum CESG in one year is $1,000—meaning you can only catch up one year at a time. Collectively, you can contribute more than $2,500 in any year—there’s no limit to annual RESP contributions, just keep in mind the lifetime maximum of $50,000.
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Helping a grandchild pay for post-secondary education is a smart gift that keeps giving. Here’s how to maximize your contributions plus government grants.

05/12/2025

A DPSP is an account that only an employer contributes to, and generally speaking, it’s meant to represent a percentage of your company’s profits, this percentage can often range between two and four per cent.

The DPSP provides flexibility if the employer gets into financial difficulty, but it also provides some flexibility to take back contributions if an employee leaves. The DPSP can have a maximum vesting period of up to two years which means that you would have to stay with the company for the duration of that vesting period for those funds to belong to you. However if you leave your job after a year, your company could reclaim its contributions — the main difference between a DPSP and an RRSP. RRSPs offers immediate vesting, so once an employer makes a contribution, you quit the next day, that money is yours to take.

You can withdraw money from a RRSP, you can’t withdraw your company’s contributions from a DPSP. As long as you’re with your company, that money stays in the DPSP.

The tax implications between a DPSP and RRSP also differ. While RRSPs allow individual contributions that are tax-deductible and earnings can grow tax-deferred, DPSPs are tax-deductible until you withdraw the money. Once you leave, you can roll the DPSP into the RRSP without any taxable consequences, and now you have more control over that money. You can also take the DPSP out in cash, but doing this triggers a taxable event

Lastly, note that DPSP contributions reduce your RRSP contribution room for the following tax year. Contributing to your RRSP will reduce your contribution room for the current year. However with a DPSP, your employer’s contributions to the account reduce your RRSP contribution room for the next year. Employer contributions to a DPSP result in what’s called a pension adjustment, and that pension adjustment reduces your RRSP room on a one-year delay.
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There are many differences between a DPSP and an RRSP, experts says, not the least of which is that only your company makes contributions to the plan and it does affect your RRSP headroom.

05/06/2025

If you get a letter from the Canada Revenue Agency about your income tax return, here’s what it could mean—and how best to respond.

Inconsistencies, past errors can trigger a review
In most cases, the CRA is looking for more information to verify the tax credits and benefits claimed, such as medical bills or receipts from moving expenses. This is different from a tax audit, which is a comprehensive review of your financial records.

How to respond to a CRA review letter
Start by gathering all the necessary supporting documents such as receipts, income or T-slips, or other proof linked to the claims.

Respond to CRA requests on time
If a taxpayer doesn’t provide the supporting documents or fails to justify the deductions, the CRA will reassess the return which could result in owing money.

Tips to avoid a CRA tax review
Ensuring accuracy and double-checking that all figures match supporting documents like T4 slips or receipts, filing on time and keeping tax records organized, as well as claiming only eligible deductions and credits.
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If you get a letter from the Canada Revenue Agency about your income tax return, here’s what it could mean—and how best to respond.

04/30/2025

If Canada had stuck to 2015 trends, we'd all be $4,200 richer per year, and thousands killed by crime, drugs and health shortages would still be alive.

Crime is up everywhere, and for everything

The homicide rate in 2015 was 1.71 murders per 100,000 people. As of 2023, the most recent year for which Statistics Canada has released data, it was 1.94. In 2015, for every 100,000 Canadians, there were 28.6 incidents of firearm-related violent crime. By 2022, the last full year for which data is available, it has surged to 36.7 incidents.

Asylum claims are absolutely through the roof

In 2015, there were 16,058 asylum claimants in Canada. As of January, Canada had 272,440 pending asylum claims, an increase of about 1,700 per cent.

Every single day under the Liberals, housing prices have gotten $43 more unaffordable

In 2015 the average house in Canada cost about $430,000, adjusting to 2025 dollars, that’s $557,000.
As of February 2025, the benchmark price was $713,700. Over the last decade, the average Canadian house has risen by $16,000 per year.

Health-care wait times are twice as bad

The Fraser Institute has been compiling reports of health-care wait times since the 1990s. In 2015, the median wait time for surgery was 18.3 weeks. By 2024, it was 30 weeks.

Debt has increased $4.10 per person, per day, for 10 years

In 2015 Canada's total sovereign debt was $612.3 billion. Adjusting to 2025 dollars, that’s about $800 billion.
As of the end of 2024, it’s now $1.4 trillion. In real dollars, that’s an extra $600 billion. Put another way, that’s an extra $15,000 owing for every man, woman and child in Canada.

Immigration intake has been wildly high

In 2015, the population of Canada was about 35.8 million. Latest data shows it’s 41.6 million. That’s 5.8 million new people over the course of 10 years, or 580,000 new Canadians per year.

The birthrate has cratered

Multiple surveys have revealed that young Canadians want to have more children, but they can’t afford to. As of 2023, birth rate dropped to 1.26 children per woman, a rate matched only by four other “lowest low” countries: South Korea, Spain, Italy and Japan. Compared to 2015, the birthrate was unsustainably low at 1.6 children per woman, but not catastrophically so.

Life expectancy has gone down

In 2015 Canadian life expectancy at birth was 81.9 years. As of last count, in 2023, it was 81.5 That’s not a huge decline, but it’s basically the first time anything like this has happened over the last 100 years.
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If Canada had stuck to 2015 trends, we'd all be $4,200 richer per year, and thousands killed by crime, drugs and health shortages would still be alive.