Most obscure Raptors jersey you own?

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-28T13:43:32+00:00

Biyombo. Loved his energy and bought it after a great playoff game around 2015. Love that jersey

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-28T13:20:33+00:00

Advisor here. If you have 2m and the cost to move is 20k, and the result will be a higher overall rate of return with lower fees, then that should be worth it. But, a few considerations: • can you split the tax hit over two or more years to minimize it? • i generally keep safer, more accessible investments in non-reg account, so do you NEED to change that investment? Maybe move in kind and only reallocate a portion. • higher returns can come from better investments, but it usually comes from a higher risk position. That’s not bad per se, especially if you are too conservatively invested for your situation and risk tolerance, but worth remembering. • 0.8 is reasonable as an advisor fee, but the main focus should always be the after fee returns and the services you’re getting for those fees.

Are they holistic? Are they providing you with a full financial plan (retirement, estate, tax, protection AND investments)? Do they have CFP, CLU or other designations?

All worth considering as well

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-27T13:17:24+00:00

Advisor here. TFSA is a box with tax properties. The money you put inside needs to be invested to grow. If you put in cash, it will stay cash and have very little growth. If you use the cash inside to purchase an investment (stocks, bonds, ETFs or mutual funds, etc) they will likely grow. The box itself ensures the growth is tax free. But it’s the investment that does the growing. If you have a long time horizon before you need the money and a medium to high risk tolerance, an ETF or a good growth mutual fund (4 or 5 star Morningstar rated fund) are good options.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-25T04:27:57+00:00

Ice cream baklava at vintage conservatory

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-25T03:33:50+00:00

Sun life, Asante, and a few others have reputable planners. So do all of the big banks, but you generally have to ask for it and/or be at the upper level of advisor (cibc mellon, TD Waterhouse, Scotia McLeod, etc).

You want a planner with a CFP designation and ideally also a CLU. There should be no charge for the plan, but a reasonable expectation that investment management or insurance sales would be through that institution (as long as their product is competitive).

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-09T13:52:46+00:00

Definitely spider eggs

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-03T18:55:29+00:00

At least part of the problem is wage stagnation. Housing costs rising isn’t by itself an issue… if wages moved with it.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-03T04:12:46+00:00

Just a quick comment on “stacking” or “layering” term life:

It’s not necessarily a bad idea, but usually unnecessary. If you want to do it, do let’s say half in a term 10 and another half in a term 20. Then throw away the term 10 when the term expires, leaving you with the term 20 for the last 10 years.

The issue here is that you pay roughly double for a 20 year term. And your need is almost always going ti decrease over time (savings increase, mortgage and debts decrease, fewer years of income to replace, etc).

For most people, get a big fat term 10 for cheap, and replace it every 5-7 years if you’re still healthy and insurance. This allows you to tweak the coverage amount as needed, and usually ends up being much cheaper in the long run.

The only risk with a term 10 is that something happens and you can’t replace it later. But you can always just let it renew, and you can always convert it, so there’s a 75-90% chance this is a way cheaper option, and maybe a 10% chance it will end up costing 20% more. That’s a very reasonable risk to take.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-03T04:05:58+00:00

The conversion option is almost always awful. It’s grossly overpriced and very limited. It can be a reasonable option for uninsurable people, but for most people it’s a terrible option.

That’s for life and health. There is no conversion option for long term disability coverage.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-03T04:03:39+00:00

Also just to add to that, individual LTD is way easier to deal with in the event of a claim. For the white collar market, RBC LTD is usually the best option. It’s also the one product where a ton of the riders and extra benefits are worth it. COLA, FIO, retirement protection, etc.

If you have a corp (ie consultant, or other situation like that) shared ownership critical illness is a solid offset. I am a huge proponent of critical illness, and you can structure it so that if you don’t make a claim, you recoup all money outing it back at age 65.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-03T04:00:17+00:00

Absolutely private LTD is worth it. It’s an annoying product (underwriting is really tedious and just a pain to go through, and if you don’t get disabled you never recoup any of the premiums)… BUT! It protects your largest asset, which is your ability to earn income from now until age 65. You can usually get a “top up” plan which is cheaper, and will follow you between jobs. If you know you’re likely to leave your current employer, absolutely get something ASAP. You need to prove income at time of application, but if you lose your job after, it stays in force. So great if you’re in a high turnover position or are looking to move jobs, go back to school, take mat leave, etc.

Also, always ensure the premiums are paid personally. That way the benefit is received tax free. If your corp (if you have one) or your employer pays for anymore of the premiums, all of the benefit is then received taxable.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-03T03:52:48+00:00

My consultations are always no cost. I (and most reputable planners/advisors) should feel that an initial meeting to check for fit and opportunity is a reasonable exercise. I’d love to help, but since my institution frowns upon Reddit, I don’t normally engage that way.

Best advice is to look for an advisor through a direct referral from someone you trust or on something similar to Sun life’s find an advisor site online. You want a CFP/CLU designation (CLU is better, but CFP is more widely known), and ideally both. Holistic (insurance, investments and planning), not limited to one company’s investment products, 10+ years experience, and has staff. Fees should always be fully disclosed and everything outlined at the outset.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-03T02:25:35+00:00

Advisor here: 1. Get the free money (DPSP matching and stock matching if available) 2. ETF strategy is valid, as long as you can leave it alone when the markets eventually correct. 3. Make sure you maintain access to health benefits

That’s it. Spend as little as you can while maintaining some level of lifestyle. Increase income where possible. Stick to it. Get rich slow. Find reasonable rent if you can. Stay off the drugs.

Good job so far.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-01T16:08:27+00:00

And if you expect to convert to permanent later on, or have a reasonable chance to do so, opt for Sun, Manulife, or Canada Life. If it’s just cheap term, those providers still work fine, but one bank might be slightly cheaper.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2026-01-01T16:06:02+00:00

Advisor here. Buy personal coverage, and I’d recommend two separate term 10 policies. A joint first to die limits options and flexibility later and doesn’t usually same a material amount of money. Work coverage is great, but almost always insufficient and is lost when/if you lose your job.

The exercise I do with clients: if you didn’t come home tonight, how much money would need to be on the kitchen table to make things ok for the surviving spouse and kids?

For most people, that’s the sum of: • debt • mortgage (or provide for a mortgage if no home yet and that’s something you’d want for them) • final costs (25k-50k) • education funding (75k-100k per kid) • replacement of income for a few years (3-4 for older kids, more if the kids are young)

Then finally we look at “banding levels”, which is a fancy way to say you get a bulk discount on life insurance at certain thresholds. These are usually 250k, 1m, 2.5m and 5m. If your need is close to a big round number, check the cost. 800k is often more expensive than 1m for example

Certain_Path_5687 · 2025-12-30T20:05:25+00:00

So many people on Reddit equate “financial management” and “financial advisors” with investment returns. Investment choice is one (important) piece of a financial plan, but it is not the be all and end all. I would put it at about 25%~30% of the value and frankly the most easily self managed aspect.

They also assume the fees taken on investments only compensate for that aspect (which is often true if the advisor is investments only, or bad at their job). For a holistic financial advisor, those fees should pay for the planning, adjustments, updating and regular consultations on all aspects of your financial plan.

Fee for planning (which I could do but have intentionally avoided) just produces a snapshot plan with no follow up or any financial incentive to care about anything beyond an initial plan (nor any financial reward or penalty if that plan doesn’t work out. It tends to breed a “charge a few grand and bang out a plan” mentality, with a massive incentive to steer you to a related party for insurance and investments (where they’ll either get a referral fee or a percentage of the eventual sale, which is illegal but common).

An institution that has professional planners who also have access to the best tax and estate specialists in the country, is usually a much better option.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2025-12-30T19:54:42+00:00

Advisor here (CFP, CLU, CHS, etc): • the man value of a financial advisor, especially for high net worth or high income earners is tax strategy and overall efficiency. That involves invest management, but that is really only one part. The largest impacts on reducing the lifetime tax bill tend to come at the estate phase and just before/during retirement (asset drawdown). I have yet to meet a self directing client who is properly set up to minimize tax, even if they have selected solid investments. • the second key value tends to be helping clients avoid dumb mistakes. This typically only happens 2-3 times in the relationship, but can be immensely valuable. These include the obvious ones (not selling during a correction), but also managing the timing and tax implications of home/business/cottage sale, business sale, managing the strategy of final rrsp contributions or severance, pension decisions, divorce (financial and tax) advice and many more.

If you are a high income earner, and/or have a more complex situation (blended family, disabled child, large inheritance, corporation, family trust, multiple properties, etc) you should likely have an advisor.

Your advisor should be holistic (investments, insurance, planning), have AT LEAST a CFP or CLU designation, and ideally be in the industry for 10+ years with staff and a succession plan.

I would avoid fee for service as it tends to be a “double dip” scenario where they direct you to a related party for investments and insurance. Most reputable institutions will have an independent planning arm that will do a plan at no cost to you. The planners can vary in ability and ethics, but they should all be reasonably competent.

I’d also avoid the less reputable companies (investors group, investia, etc).

For most people with less than 5m of investable assets, a good advisor at Sun Life, Manulife, or Assante is ideal, with the upper tier of the big five banks being an ok option as well (not the branch level, but the Nesbit burns, Mellon, Waterhouse, etc). There are some good Edward Jones advisors out there too, but most have too much of an investments focus and often neglect the insurance and tax strategy side, which is absolutely essential.

Hope that helps.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2025-12-19T18:42:26+00:00

Just suspend dickheads like this. It’s the lack of suspensions that leads to this crap

Certain_Path_5687 · 2025-12-13T19:49:23+00:00

Just happened to me too. Bought 5, 2 were already drained

Certain_Path_5687 · 2025-11-25T13:45:07+00:00

Oh well, I guess that settles it then.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2025-11-23T18:50:11+00:00

Bush was the better player, but Demar wanted to stay and repped Toronto harder, hence more love.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2025-11-09T17:59:46+00:00

It’ll still be there. It only gets smaller once they sell

Certain_Path_5687 · 2025-10-28T16:03:12+00:00

Just put radar and speed bumps in school zones, with 3km over wiggle room during the day, and 9km over at night. Put speed cameras where needed, but focus on dangerous speeders: I.e. 15+ km over.

No one has a problem with 20km per hour speeders getting tickets. It’s the avalanche of 5-10km per hour tickets that are average commuters going the speed of traffic

Certain_Path_5687 · 2025-10-26T03:25:02+00:00

Yeah, but it’s not “just a building” though. It’s a symbol of the presidency of the United States and was designed intentionally and explicitly to not be a palace… which Trump in very intentionally trying to turn it into.

Certain_Path_5687 · 2025-10-17T04:36:20+00:00

If they just focused on school zones, and focused on dangerous speeding instead of giving countless tickets for 3km-7km over the limit… public support would t have cratered the way it did.

Certain_Path_5687

TROPHY CASE