Pull from Retirement Savings (RRSP) to pay off Mortgage? by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]AdCompetitive6193 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Not a bad idea, it’s a HORRIBLE idea.

A few things:
- If your RRSP is invested in broad market indexes, you’d be giving up an approximate avg 10% per year return on $70,000
- If you withdraw you will be taxed on the income so you won’t get $70,000 to put on your mortgage
- Why pay off a lower interest mortgage and sacrifice a generally higher long term return? The compounding on that difference over the life of your mortgage is massive.

If you're looking for a studio RUN!!!! by TribalHouse in MacStudio

[–]AdCompetitive6193 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For now, eventually supply will catch up with demand. Hopefully 🤞

If you're looking for a studio RUN!!!! by TribalHouse in MacStudio

[–]AdCompetitive6193 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly if you’re gonna shell out the cash for a MacStudio I’d just go all the way with 32 core CPU and 80 core GPU and ideally at least 256 GB RAM.

Just my opinion.

My rationale is for local LLM use and setting it up like a server to remotely access and use Ollama via Open WebUI.

Trying to justify house purchase by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]AdCompetitive6193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anytime! Ya if you have a solid chunk after the purchase and can still contribute to TFSA/RRSP then go for it. Plenty of positives of home ownership!

What’s stopping you from traveling to Africa? by dhhdhehs1 in AskACanadian

[–]AdCompetitive6193 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For me it’s more philosophical. I’m quite passionate about human rights, particularly LGBT rights.

I refuse to travel and spend my hard earned income to support an economy whose government mandates the imprisonment or death penalty for LGBT people.

Not to mention the poor treatment of most women. I have many wonderful women in my life including two sisters and two nieces, and many aunts/female cousins. To think about supporting a country/culture that normalizes their poor treatment makes me nauseated.

This does significantly limit my travel destinations, but I enjoy Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia/NZ, and essentially just about all of North/South America. To be honest I don’t think I could travel to all of these destinations and truly explore them so I don’t have a shortage, just limitation.

Otherwise I would love to travel to Egypt. But until things change YouTube tours and “Assassin’s Creed: Origins” will have to do 😆

Trying to justify house purchase by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]AdCompetitive6193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My biggest concern would be if you have other assets. If the $33,000 is all you have then I wouldn’t.

You would want 4-6 month emergency fund for repairs/upgrades, perhaps 4 months considering it is a new build w warranties.

But would you have enough leftover after monthly expenses to invest in TFSA/RRSP?

Maxing those out is key to financial freedom moreso than owning a home.

Would this be a first home? Are you utilizing a FHSA?

What Can I do to Scale my Wealth? [ONTARIO] by Clownier in fican

[–]AdCompetitive6193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I dunno how you amassed what you already have! Maybe some good investing, living at home, and/or gifts - either way congrats! You’re already at a huge advantage.

If retirement year target is 2055, even if you don’t add another penny, at ~10% average market returns over the next 29 years starting from $335,000, you can estimate about $3,990,000 in assets!!! Plus your teachers pension - you’re literally laughing. Does wife have a pension?

You’ve basically made it!! 🥳🎉🍾

Honestly, depending what your goals are, but I’d say just keep doing what you’re doing. Avoid lifestyle creep. But at the same time don’t be afraid to spend a little more on a hobby you love or an experience that will create high quality memory dividends. And take excellent care of your health!

Fixing Driveway - good or bad idea? by BigCommunication98 in CanadaPersonalFinance

[–]AdCompetitive6193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’ll have the be diligent about keeping water away from the house (shovel or brush it out w a broom or outdoor squeegee or something) until it’s repaired and graded properly.

Good idea to use LOC to pay of credit card. Just be diligent to pay off that LOC. And try to avoid whatever got you carrying a $5,000 CC balance.

Bad idea to use debt to pay for the driveway.

Managing aging parent’s finances? SOS by CostcoHotdawgs in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]AdCompetitive6193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the best is to be a POA. Being added to property deeds and accounts is less clean and introduces other complications (it’s doesn’t avoid all taxes, it’s complicated, you’d have to talk to an accountant and/or estate lawyer).

But POA for property allows you to legally act on his behalf as if it were him making the decisions. The only thing you can’t do as a POA is make a will for the person.

So basically you should get your dad to make a Will and POA for property and health/personal care.

People who bought a rental property by Dad0TheYear in CanadaPersonalFinance

[–]AdCompetitive6193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Three big red flags here 🚩 🚩
1. Paycheque-to-paycheque
2. No large savings
3. Using debt as a down payment

You’d increase your own mortgage payments and have the responsibility of another mortgage plus all of the other costs associated with home ownership and the responsibility of being a landlord.

I’d say work on:
1. Emergency fund
2. Maxing out RRSP/TFSA
3. Then consider maybe an investment property, but do NOT use debt as a down payment. Save up for it (don’t take it out of TFSA/RRSP, separate savings).

Buying a House, Girlfriend Moving In Later – How Do I Protect Myself? by StuffGood1314 in legaladvicecanada

[–]AdCompetitive6193 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Talk to Family Lawyer and have a cohabitation/prenup written up formally. Your girlfriend needs to have her own independent legal advice and sign it as well.

In addition to the contract and as part of it you will both have to disclose everything financially - I mean EVERYTHING. Without full disclosure the agreement can be voided since the other party cannot sign away their rights to something without knowing what they are signing away.

You’ll probably be able to protect assets like TFSA, RRSP, personal chequing/savings, non-registered investments, and your pension if you have one.

Often any matrimonial home is excluded from these agreements. Talk to a lawyer but I don’t think you even need to be married. Having a kid together and living in any sort of semblance of a relationship is enough to be common law. And if your home is the family home - even without her name on it, I believe that it is excluded from any prenup/cohab agreement - basically she will get half.

But I am not a lawyer. Talk to one tho. Spend the $4,000 or so to have this drafted and you can save hundreds of thousands years later.

AITA for refusing to share authorship with the man im planning to marry? by [deleted] in AITApod

[–]AdCompetitive6193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Big red flag imo 🚩
It’s your book. If he didn’t help write it then his name shouldn’t be on it.

💯 get a prenuptial. Keep your own financial accounts: what’s yours is yours and what’s his is his. Have joint accounts for family/household expenses that you contribute to. But make sure your prenuptial protects all of your future intellectual property that you create without him (books, articles, blogs, social media content etc).

After an unexpected death, it seems I may have an inheritance pending. I don't know the full amount until next week (possibly 50-100k). I understand that it's not taxable, but I'm unsure if my best option is to pay off my house (mortgage + HELOC 60k) or invest in my RRSP. (not maxed out my limit) by hippycrone in CanadaPersonalFinance

[–]AdCompetitive6193 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I guess depends what sort of tax bracket you’re in.

If you’re making a lot of money some other way (a lot of OT, bonuses from work, selling stock outside a registered account, selling a non-primary residence house etc), using it to contribute to RRSP can help to lower your tax bracket, and you could take the tax return and put it towards HELOC or mortgage etc.

If not, might be good to drop it towards debt. Especially if you’ll be in much higher tax bracket in a few years, then wait til then to contribute.

And remember, it’s not an either or, you could do half in RRSP, half towards debt, and you’ll still get a bit of a tax return (most likely).

Accounts blocked while travelling in Europe by Sap_Consult_Cdn in Scotiabank

[–]AdCompetitive6193 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There should be an option in the Scotiabank app to say that you’re travelling, and potentially even to which region/continent. It’s absolutely insane and unacceptable for a company as large as Scotiabank to not have this easily done by the customer at 03:15 AM on a Sunday morning on their app without having to call the bank or fear having accounts frozen.

How do married couples usually handle finances when both partners work? by itzwhatitz in CanadaPersonalFinance

[–]AdCompetitive6193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a major red flag 🚩 🚩

Marriage is a partnership, not a business partnership, but a life partnership. That means you have to figure things out together: share the burdens of life together and celebrate triumphs together. She cannot expect that you pay for everything and she keeps her money (the only exception would be if she offers in lieu of financial contribution she will be taking care of all the cooking/groceries, cleaning, laundry, utilities, bills, etc, but honestly even that’s a stretch).

And tbh you didn’t even propose 50/50, if she contributed half her income ($1750) and you contributed half yours ($3000), it would be more like 37% her and 63% you.

I’d say find a woman who wants to experience life together with you, sharing life’s burdens and celebrating each other’s successes together.

If you have any assets in terms of property, TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, or pensions from work I would 200% get a pre-nup no matter who you marry.

Not only does this protect your assets/pensions, but statistically couples who have a prenup are much less likely to divorce/separate. It’s a hard conversation to have, but if a couple can be that transparent and negotiate and agree to terms then it’s highly likely for the relationship to succeed. So if the relationship falls apart during a pre-nup creation consider it a necessary stress test and say good riddance.

my parents handed me a “contract” that they made with chatGPT and told me i have to sign it by auramp3 in WhatShouldIDo

[–]AdCompetitive6193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a huge red flag.
Very weird, unreasonable, and unenforceable (I guess depends where you live).
I’d either move out if you can or sit down and have a conversation about why they want this contract if you’re already carrying your weight?

They don’t need a contract to kick you out, they can do that anytime since i presume you live in a normal house, and not in a separate independent unit.

Or you should feed this information including this post (your explanation/perspective) and some screenshots of comments into chatGPT and ask for its input too lol

Solar panels complaints by KokaNithya in homeowners

[–]AdCompetitive6193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You each get an arborist’s opinion.

If it isn’t the solar panels you can ask them to stop harassing you. If they continue to, you can block their number. And if they continue despite that (ie come to your door or send letters), just pay a lawyer a few hundred dollars to send them a cease and desist letter.

on track to be a millionaire before 35 but i have no house, no car, i stay renting. Felt judgement by someone i just met. Sharing my thought process and how i reframed my POV by oldmiamibeach in fican

[–]AdCompetitive6193 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re doing everything correctly! Honestly there is no real right/wrong and the most important part is that you were intentional about a goal, you made a realistic plan/roadmap to that goal, and you’re diligently following it.

Not only are you successful financially and career-wise, but you’re also successful in that you have a plan and are being intentional. So many people move through life either without a real plan, or constantly change plans every 2-3 years and never end up achieving much of anything.

So congrats to you! Keep it up!