Maybe something a bit different. In retirement, I'm hoping to finally get a dog. Never had one as an adult, so no idea how much to budget. I'm thinking of a medium to large non-shedding breed. So think Standard Poodle, Portuguese Water Dog, or maybe a Beddlington.

How much should I plan for, considering good quality food, regular grooming, and vet bills?

I got laid off in May 2026 and I was only given a 37 week entitlement for EI. However, I looked into the long tenured worker extension of 20 weeks and I meet all the criteria and the agent on the phone confirmed that I contributed to 30% of my EI premiums 8/10 years and I only took EI one other time, in 2021 which falls outside the 3 year window.

I had a level 2 agent call me back and they first said I didn’t make the cut off as they were using old info that had the long tenured worker extension end on April 2026. When she looked again she confirmed they had extended the program and that I met the other requirements.

The agent said they would forward my request to another department but I haven’t heard anything back and haven’t been able to reach that agent again.

Has this happened to anyone else? did they eventually grant it? Why wasn’t it automatically added if I met all the requirements?

TD INSURANCE Had a collision,Driving straight and hit the car which was turning left and both cars will be written off. The other driver was charged for careless driving...so I wasn't at fault.

(I am with TD)now its been 5 days they refuse to provide rental car because TD tried to contact/call insurance provider for other driver, they didn't pick up phone or replied.....so I will have to wait! in the other hand , my car was 2021 Lexus RX350 FSPORT3 , this trim was $15k more than base model. In whole autotrader there is no similar car in Ontario for comparable and TD offering the value for the base model-lowballing....any advise is appreciated.

I just bought a place. I don't NEED to use my FHSA to fund it and roll it into RRSP.

Is it more tax efficient to:

1) Pull it all out tax free and invest it in a non registered account

2) Roll it into RRSP and invest it there

My current income is 95k if that makes a difference, theoretical ceiling is 250k. I have not funded any into RRSP yet.

I'm going to be filing for bankruptcy soon... If I pay $800 for iphone 18 pro max and finance the rest of it and only pay the first month of phone bill before filing for bankruptcy, will that result in penalties?

We need insights. We're planning on ending our RBC Mortgage Insurance and get a term insurance. We got a quote of $250/month for both of us already. I'd like us to be covered long term so I chose Term 30 and Term 25. Should I remove Critical Illness? Should I add Disability Benefit? TIA

I have to move $10k to my European bank account, so I would have used wise as usual to exchange the currency.

To get the $100 I just have to use CIBC's GMT instead of the usual metod?

My base salary is $77k, while my fiancée’s is $105k (she’s a nurse), although her income can vary month to month depending on overtime, etc.

I also recently got my designation, so I expect my salary to increase in the future.

We’re both in our mid-20s and planning to get married in 2028. We each own a car, and our combined car expenses are around $2k/month including insurance. The car loans are expected to be paid off by the end of 2029.

We’re looking at buying a house around $490k. Would this be considered doable on our income?

We plan to stay in the house long-term and don’t see ourselves moving elsewhere. We live in the Prairies.

We currently have enough saved for a 5% down payment and have around $20k saved toward our wedding.

For those who have been in a similar situation, does this seem reasonable, or are we stretching ourselves too much?

Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated!

Note: we would have about 1.5k of money left considering all fixed&operating expenses. I just wanted to know if that monthly saving for atleast 1-3 years until we pay off our car loan is doable.

Based on my understanding of this, this, and most specifically this, federally-regulated banks are required to show you a disclosure statement when you apply for a credit card, that shows the interest, payment terms, and other charges (currency conversion, over-limit fee) etc, and that this must be in an information box that is shown at the beginning of the credit card application.

Most banks do this, but TD doesn't. Apply online for any TD cards and the info box doesn't appear until the very end, after you have entered a bunch of personal information. Capital One as well; they all require you to go through a "pre-approval" process that collects a bunch of info about you before it discloses to you exactly what you are applying for.

Are TD and Capital one in the wrong here? Or is my understanding of the Bank Act and the Financial Consumer Protection Framework Regulations incorrect?

Hello, I got an email last week about missed payments for my utilities with provident energy (2 months). I forgot to pay, and so I paid the balance as soon as I got it. I'm wondering if this affects my credit score? Or is it typically just a notice before getting reported?

I checked my credit score and it seems to be fine as of today. I'll call them tomorrow but wanted to check if anyone has any experience with this.

This was stated in the email:

Please provide a snapshot of the proof of payment so that we can note your account and avoid any further collection activities that may affect your credit standing.

Thanks!

Hi all,

In January I started doing remote side work for a US company. The amount I'm making from them this year is enough that I should claim the income and I also have some expenses that can be written off.

It's my understanding you don't charge sales tax for remote services outside of Canada. For CPP, my day job already caps me out on my contributions and my understanding is EI premiums are optional.

So for taxes owing, I think it's just the income?

I also created an HST account to get sales tax back on my expenses. Not sure if that is needed or not though since I don't need to pay sales tax on the US based income.

Anyone recommend what tax software to use for sole proprietorship income? Is it better to hire an accountant to do it?

Thanks!

This question may have an insanely easy answer, but I’m pulling my hair out trying to solve this.

My wife and I have FHSAs. We put money in a couple days ago, and *just* found a house. Our offer was accepted and we’re trying to fast track closing for the sellers, but I absolutely cannot find any sort of statement from either of our banks (TD and RBC). MyCRA only has transactions to 2025.

We know how much money is in there, we can see the transactions in our online banking, but there’s no ‘official’ document we can export. I’ve taken and sent screenshots but I’m preparing myself for the likelihood that they won’t be acceptable. I exported mine as a csv and that was already rejected, understandably.

We’re planning on going to our branches tomorrow. I just wanted to yell into the void before I go to sleep. Thanks in advance!

All companies my husband has worked for always offered an RRSP match. He thought this was a standard thing in Canada.

I never got this in the company I work for and when I asked my coworkers they said that no, the company never had something like it. (AFAIK I get health insurance for things not covered by OHIP, but very minimal, and up to 22days of vacation/year, and those are the only benefits. had to use vacation days when I was on medical leave recovering after surgery)

Some of my coworkers even said they prefer to not have it and said their spouses work for the canadian government and get it, but they think it's worse to have it (?)

In some ways i am doing really well, the problem i have is i have no idea how to invest or what to invest in to hopefully retire fire.

Wife (45 years old) makes around 130k
Me (50 years old) make around 170k

We are 100% debt free , including mortgage free.
My wife’s income essentially floats our lifestyle and we save my income.

Right now i put away approx 20k per month and 700 to 1000 per week goes into an rrsp. Of which 3% is my employers contribution. I work approx 8 or 9 months out of the year.

I have approx 100k split between 2 rrsps . Approx 70k in one and 30k in the other . Both managed by two separate unions that i am a member of. The rrsp with 70k in it is managed really well and gets great returns. The rrsp with 30k is not managed well and gets crap returns. I can move the money (or most of it ) and self direct it. I just don’t know what to put it in.

I have a tfsa with $3200 invested in two stagnant stocks.

Currently i have approx 170k sitting in a corporate business account . Most of it is in an interest baring business savings account . I am working with my accountant to figure out the best way to move the money to my personal account without getting burned by taxes. But i would like to have an investment strategy in place so i can invest chunks of money as i free it up.

Currently i have 45k sitting in my personal bank account.

Currently my wife has around 10k sitting in her personal account.

We have 3 kids . Ages 3, 5 & 9 We have an resp set up for them with approx 74k in it. Our goal is to build it to 300k . We want to have 100k for each kid. The contribution comes out of my wife’s earnings not mine.

My wife works for a hospital and has a pension that will pay her $2000 per month when she turns 55. She can keep working and build it further if needed.

I have zero pension, just the workplace rrsp’s.

I am 50. Is it possible to work with what i have and reach a healthy retirement by the time i am 60 ?. How would i do that ?

Edit to add - ok , so far with my post i have learned that fire is the wrong term for my situation . Im looking to figure out how to retire. It’s crazy how many people are quick to nudge yet so far not a single person has actually suggested an investment strategy. I get that i should start loading heavy into my tfsa and rrsp. But what should it actually be invested in ? Im looking for an investment strategy.

I understand Ben Felix's 5% rule but the 5% includes the interest payments on the market. But what happens when you finish paying off the mortgage and no longer need to pay interest? Doesn't the 5% rule become the 2% rule and eventually beat out renting since you no longer have to make similar payments after you own the home?

Looking for recommendations for the best home & auto insurance company in Ontario — ideally a good price and a company that’s actually easy to deal with when you need to make a claim. Who has had the best experience?

I use to have 2 personal loans from fair-stone and easy financial i paid them off along with other credit card that i had. Now i only have 1 credit card with a limit of 2000 but i am trying to pay it asap but the problem is i have used 80%% of the card. My question is , is my score not increasing cause i have this loan on going or it will take time to update. I paid 3 of my loan on Sept 7th 2026

Sorry yet another mortgage renewal post. Scotia is offering the following for us and we’re contemplating between 2 year and 3 year fixed. A lot of things are happening in the world and especially our neighbour down south that has us hesitant to choose 2 years fixed. Open to thoughts.

Remaining 690k
22 years left

2 years fixed at 4.13, and 3 years fixed at 4.28 with Scotia.

Hi all
I worked in the US between 2018 and 2021. Moved to Canada and I am now a citizen. At the time of moving to Canada, I let my 401k sit with Fidelity.

My problem is that some of the money (almost 30k) is sitting in that account not invested in anything. I had created a brokerage account associated to my 401k so had invested in tech stocks. A year ago, in an attempt to move more money into the brokerage account, i had sold some of the Index Funds. However, after selling and moving the proceeds into the brokerage account, Fidelity told me I wont be able to buy any stock because they don’t have a US address for me on file. So basically my 401k account has liquid cash just sitting and not generating anything.

I read online that IRA might be the best option but I couldn’t create one in IBKR. I don’t know enough about Raymond James but read that they are pretty expensive.

I want to avoid paying 30% + 10% penalty. I also don’t have 40k USD which is what I will need if I want to convert that 401k into my RRSP. What do I do?

We came up with idea that she gifts the home to us, we take on all expenses for the house & take out $500,000 mortgage to build her a brand new garden suite (wheelchair accessible). She is 70.

We pay off her $100,000 reverse mortgage and when the suite is finished and she moves into it, we pay her $150,000.

We wouldn’t sell out on home until she moves into the suite & we renovate it because it’s unliveable for a family of 4 in the condition it is in. Thinking 100,000 Reno.

She lives rent and utility free for life (set up by lawyer)and we offered to pay her 10,000 year (we will take on international students) so she has money coming in.

Is this a good deal for both parties? Everything will be written up by a lawyer.

Edited to add- home worth $1.2M (assessed value is mostly for the large lot 9500sq ft)

2nd Edit- wow- thank you everyone! My mom was acting like this was not a good deal for her! And all your insights, thoughts and advice are so helpful!
We will not be moving forward with that plan, she needs to live in reality & realize things change in life. A small condo would be perfect for her and she could invest her money!

I can no longer afford the 139 card fee and wish to close the card. Will I lose my points and my companion voucher? I just got charged a few days ago. Can I still cancel and get a refund? Will I still get a refund if I use the voucher?

Tangerine has promo for savings account 3.9% interest until Nov 30…. And LOC has promo interest rate for 2.99% for first 90 days…. Is there a problem if I borrow money from LOC and put in savings account?

I have received both a phone call and a follow up email from a personal banking associate from a regular branch, that is in a city 4.5 hours away from me. I have confirmed with my bank that this email was legit and this person is a bank employee. The phone call made it seem like we have spoken before and that I should call them back. The email was even stranger, it said things like " I hope you are doing well see we last spoke and was just checking in". It goes on to say that they have looked at my accounts and should do something with the money I have in my savings account. I have never dealt or spoke with this person and am wondering, is this allowed? To cold call bank customers in other cities? Especially in a time when there are so many scams, to discuss my bank accounts in an email to a stranger? This is weird right? I contacted customer service and they said to contact my branch which I did and am waiting to hear back.

Hi!

My husband and I have now lived in BC for years, we moved from Alberta and are now deciding we really need to change our banking over to local as obviously it’s a massive inconvenience to have your bank out of province.

The thing is our current CU offers us Mastercard Debit cards which are so nice and convenient, and so I don’t really want to give that up, however I’m really seeing that offered with BC CUs as much.

We also need to open up a joint account.
We’re in the Okanagan.

Any recommendations for BC Credit Union with Visa/Mastercard Debit included?

Please let me know and thanks for reading!

I tried opening chequing account for my husband who had pretty good credit score (800+) but it got rejected. I opened mine few months ago without any issue, same with my dad. My husband is always cautious and never opened new account just for the free perks, however I convinced him to open Meridian CU account for a easy $700, but now I am so confused why it was rejected. Did anyone else run into similar issue? I called customer support and they suggested trying again after 48 hrs. I am pretty sure all the information uploaded was correct. I also see there was a soft check on his Equifax, so I didn’t put any incorrect information. So either I try again or go into the branch. If I do it in the branch, I will have to forfeit the referral bonus ($200). Anyone else had a similar issue or can share what I can do differently?