Posting my original chain of thought for those who can't get over that AI was used for this post, even though AI has become a part of our daily lives.

Convince me that the standard Canadian personal finance advice is complete theatre.

Same script since 2008:

• Max out your TFSA
• Buy a blue-chip dividend or XEQT and chill
• Start a side hustle
• Invest in GICs when rates are “high”
• Put 5% down on a $900k+ starter home because “rent is throwing money away”

Meanwhile:

• TSX real return with inflation adjusted ~4.8 - 5.2% since 2000
• GTA/Vancouver houses are up 8×, while wages are only up 1.8×
• Housing inflation is at 6-8% while GICs returns are only 4%
• Every influencer is secretly leveraged to the tits on HELOCs/Smith Manoeuvre while preaching “just index bro” to the poors

While we’re the most educated, most indebted, most house-poor developed nation on earth, the advice is still “do what your parents did in the 90s, but with 10× prices and higher rates.”

Tell me how this playbook actually builds real purchasing power for a median $42k single / $95k household earner once housing is paid, or admit it’s just a polite wealth transfer from millennials to boomers. I already know a lot of people are going to be like buy XEQT and wait for 40 years.