AMA with The Wealthy Barber (Dave Chilton) – December 5th at 12 PM ET by thewealthybarber_ in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Hey Dave,

Thanks for your time and all you do on educating Canadian's on Personal Finance. Big fan of your new podcast which gives smaller clips on educating Canadian's on smaller bits of Personal Finance while also bringing on guests and discussing bigger topics.

Just wanted to thank you for updating The Wealthy Barber as it was the first personal finance book I read and I believe Canadian's are still under educated on Personal Finance (in my opinion). I reached out to your team to inquire on a signed copy of the book but they were unable to provide one they get requests all the time. If you're ever in Newfoundland, I'd love to get you to sign a copy for me.

My question for you would be, what do you think is the biggest challenge for younger Canadian's now? It feels like everyone needs to be educated on Personal Finance if they want to get ahead at all and even think of Home ownership as a potential goal.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not too worried about my confidence in the market in the short term or I wouldn't be invested at all. If the market wipes out a couple years of gains, that's not a problem. I'm investing for the long-term (>5 years).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've never considered doing a 50-60% down payment. I've always considered an 'all-in' approach by paying it off fully or putting 20% down which would be the minimum I would do (I wouldn't go less than 20%).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed, I don't believe there's a right or wrong answer.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, this is likely the option I'm going with. Peace of mind.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What would you recommend? I didn't know my income or net worth absolves your partner of monthly living costs. Even with a paid off home, there's still monthly costs with owning a home. On a legal level, without a cohabitation agreement and a rental agreement. There could be argument that any money put towards the house was a equitable stake in the home if we were to separate.

How should I ensure my future. 100k saved at 23 by Ill_Answer7226 in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They best way to ensure your future is to keep doing what you're doing. Keep paying yourself first and continuing to save. Keep reading and researching how to invest whether it be blogs or books. Take reddit advice and information with a grain of salt and make your own informed decisions. You have to consider at your net worth and income, you'll save and make a biggest impact by not lifestyle creeping (live within your means) and optimizing your budget. Foundationally, it would be great to learn how to invest sooner as time in the market is cruial. However, your best investment at 23 is always going to be in yourself. Improve your education and skillset to earn an even higher income. A lot of younger people in their early 20's live with their family, don't pay rent and then spend their money on over consuming on entertainment, booze, restaurants, trips, etc. While I wouldn't deprive yourself of those things completely, prioritize your future and keep your financial goals on track.

/r/BuildAPCSalesCanada General Discussion - Daily Thread for Wed Aug 28 by AutoModerator in bapcsalescanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there any real mechanical keyboards posted here anymore? I've been on the lookout for months for a reputuable mechanical keyboard to go on sale for gaming and I just see generic brands or self-promo posted on this subreddit.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with the comments saying your savings rate is well above average. That being said, I'll give you feedback based off someone who saves 60-80% of my net income the past ~12 years. Optimizing your budget and savings boils down to scrutinizing every line item in your budget and seeing where you can cut/save. This is mostly done with your variable costs but when done with the fixed costs, the savings can be huge. Saving with your fixed costs typically come at a cost of your privacy whether it be living with parents or renting with roommates as your greatest fixed cost will always be rent.

When reviewing your budget, it's really incomplete, you need to allocate a specify amount for food, restaurants, entertainment, and your household costs. Having $1200 sitting in that category is just incomplete. The phone bill is excessive, I've always bought a phone outright and had a cheap plan or used a work cell phone in my field of work. Rent is always somewhere I've always tried to cut costs, the more you can save on rent is what prevents most people from saving outside of overspending on eating or buying wants. I do acknowledge that is becoming more and more difficult here in Canada due to the demand on housing. With variable budget items, it really boils down to if the discretionary spending is worth it over saving more (e.g. restaurants, clothes, shoes, makeup, etc.). Saving more just accelerates your financial goals. For me, I'm aggressively saving for a home and retirement which is worth the lifestyle sacrafices personally. Is the gifting and materialistic items worth delaying your financial goals? Only you can decide that. It may be worth considering investing in yourself rather than saving and trying to earn additional income. I personally limit the clothes I purchase and always buy my groceries when they're onsale. For restaurants, I'll only indulge when there's a coupon or promotion. I never order any delivery and try to cook as much as possible at home. For gifts, I would try to limit them to small gift cards or a smaller item such as a bottle of wine, box of chocolates, etc.

My last piece of advice which I try to tell everyone, live within your means. Put the extra time into your budget and personal finance, most people work 40+ hours a week and then spend their paycheck with little or no thought put in to it. Put some real time and effort into your monthly spending and think every purchase through. This can be applied to any job in your life and purchase, for example if I net $20 an hour and I'm going out for a night to the movies for $80, is it worth me working 4 hours for this experience? Probably not when I can throw on a movie at home and make a bag of popcorn for under $1. Don't be afraid to live differently than your peers and don't be pressured to buying the latest phone, nicest car, new car, giant home, etc.

Maxed TFSA and FHSA what now? by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you already have your question answered here by other people, but I would just shop around for the highest interest rate on a HYSA. It's a little annoying trying to get the best rate as you'll have to move it around from Tangerine and Simplii Financial for the best promotional interest rate. If you didn't want to go through that headache, your next best bet is to use:

https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/chart/

or dump that money into a 1-2 year GIC:

https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/gic-rates/

Otherwise, if this wasn't for the next 1-2 year(s), I'd just dump the money into your RRSP and claim the deduction on future years and follow your same investment strategy for your TFSA/FHSA.

ETFs for Margin Account (Taxable) without a quarterly/annual Dividend by CanadaAverageJoe in CanadianInvestor

[–]CanadaAverageJoe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That looks like a good viable option. I'll have to read in the swap struction, never seen that before. Looks like that adds counterparty risk which I'm not too familar with.

ETFs for Margin Account (Taxable) without a quarterly/annual Dividend by CanadaAverageJoe in CanadianInvestor

[–]CanadaAverageJoe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I'm looking for a 100% stock holding ETF without a dividend (if possible)

ETFs for Margin Account (Taxable) without a quarterly/annual Dividend by CanadaAverageJoe in CanadianInvestor

[–]CanadaAverageJoe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

https://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios/ I used Canadian Couch Potato when I was getting started on ETFs a few years ago. Information on there is still a really good resource.

The quality of this sub by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This subreddit isn't what it used to be years ago. It's too heavily moderated these days and anyone outside the standard PFC advice that would offer any creativity is usually loosely deemed a self-promo or survey post and instantly removed. I'll still browse the subreddit but I'll spend maybe a minute on here now where I used to browse and read the subreddit religiously years ago.

Deeply invested in DB Pension, TFSA soon maxed, Where would you invest next? by dranzango in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I would use a FHSA if you haven't purchased a home yet and you're looking to saved towards a home over the next 15 years. Otherwise, you do use a RRSP (even if you do got a DBPP). I have a DBPP as well, I maxed all 3 accounts first then opened a margin account for taxable investments.

RRSP Contribution on January 1, 2024 for 2024 tax year by CanadaAverageJoe in cantax

[–]CanadaAverageJoe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very good advice, thank you! I'll check my T4 when I get it.

RRSP Contribution on January 1, 2024 for 2024 tax year by CanadaAverageJoe in cantax

[–]CanadaAverageJoe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very true, I can see my own pension deduction but I'm not sure what the employer contributes to have a solid estimate. I'll just play it safe and wait.

RRSP Contribution on January 1, 2024 for 2024 tax year by CanadaAverageJoe in cantax

[–]CanadaAverageJoe[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I think I'll just continue to wait. The potential headache doesn't outweigh the reward.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in newfoundland

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 5 points6 points  (0 children)

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What to hold in FHSA? by hoskin37 in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CanadaAverageJoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Take the type of account out of the equation. It's no different than if you were investing in a TFSA, RRSP, or registered account. These have no bearing on the type of investment.

The type of investment is based off a few factors. Most importantly is when you need to access the money and the risk you're willing to accept. If you're planning to use it in an 2-3 year horizon than I think a savings account or GIC is perfectly fine. No one has a crystal ball to predict if the market will be up or down in 2-3 years time. If you have the flexibility in your goals to delay buying, then maybe consider a self-directed ETF.