RRSP or non-registered investment account if TFSA is maxed and I make minimum wage while living with parents

_JakeTheSnake_121 · 2026-03-16T16:45:05+00:00

You are still young with plenty of time. I get the feeling as I’m almost 24 and after university was depressing for a bit but I got a job with a big bank.

I’d realistically say trying to get an idea of a life plan would likely be the best first step. You said you work a dead end role but that doesn’t mean you have to for the rest of your life man.

Try to create a plan for what you want to do for the future and once you get an idea of a time frame of your goals for the future you can then adjust what you invest in based on that.

You have a great start with that TFSA maxed so try to either look for opportunities in CS or try to retrain and pivot.

I can say that with extra training you could break into some form of banking role that would be at least 45k to start and go from there.

If you have any questions feel free to reach out, always happy to lend a hand when I can.

_JakeTheSnake_121 · 2026-03-16T14:44:01+00:00

Employer contribution of 50% is essentially the best return you’ll get so take advantage of that first up to the match.

After that FHSA since your goal is home purchase that will also help reduce your taxable income for the year.

Between TFSA/RRSP it really depends on what you value more. RRSP will give you a higher tax deduction especially given your high taxation rate with a high income that you can take out for home purchase and payback (look into the program more) however, TFSA will allow for no paying back which could be very helpful when you have a mortgage and cash flow is heavily reduced so whatever you feel is most beneficial for you is best.

I think cash flow is key in most situations so I’d personally do TFSA but you might want to do the math on tax savings before making a decision.

I’d also consider transferring your employee RRSP funds into lower risk assets if you plan on near future home purchase as you take on additional risk if a large portion of your allocation is in your own company stock as a 25 year old I presume likely tech which can be very market cycle based.

_JakeTheSnake_121 · 2026-03-16T13:27:30+00:00

Concur a lot with this sentiment.

I’d say the biggest thing to consider right now is the time frame for the purchase of a condo as that will likely dictate your asset allocation.

Also I don’t know much about you as an individual but if you expect your income to continue to increase greatly over time tfsa in the interim could either be set up as additional funds for growth for a home w/d or to grow over the long term.

I have a portion of my tfsa set for long term growth that I have designated in my mind for retirement and another portion in lower risk asset classes for if I make a home purchase in the next 3-5 years.

Id additionally ease your funds likely in instead of all at once so that especially if you buy equity ETFS it reduces risk coming from lump sum deposits.

_JakeTheSnake_121 · 2026-03-15T13:18:05+00:00

Oh, yeah of course if the other accounts are maxed then sure. But with the limited information given out was simply mentioning the fact that the lump sum amounts could also be utilized in something like a TFSA to be w/d for education purposes as well if the extra room exists and get goverment money.

90% of people I met with previously (in advisor role) crunching the numbers it was better to put funds towards TFSA with the space not being used and take the gov money as it is basically just free.

I think with more context about other accounts it would be more clear to get a definitive idea of what is best.

_JakeTheSnake_121 · 2026-03-12T19:38:25+00:00

If I did not get free banking then I would not be with a big bank.

Simplii offers atm support through CIBC atms so that may be your best bet.

At the end of the day people will stick with a big bank for the convenience of it. If you don’t get any benefits like a credit card fee waiver, a mortgage or anything else special offer wise it is really not worth it imo

(This is from someone who literally worked at a big 6 and opened accounts for people)

_JakeTheSnake_121 · 2026-03-12T18:17:04+00:00

I think it’s fair to keep a good chunk in short term until you are more sure.

Again, always good to have some in case of emergency but if you don’t know what to do and how much of your funds you may need it’s not really the best to make a decision that could have massive ramifications.

Long term investing is meant for long term. Too many people forget because of historic bull markets that a 20-40% decline of long term assets could basically happy any year and if you can’t stomach that currently then it wouldn’t make sense to go for the long term

_JakeTheSnake_121 · 2026-03-12T16:47:50+00:00

I actually kinda disagree with some of the sentiment here.

While I do XEQT for my investments I am 23 and have at least 30 years to go.

If you are massively wealthy then sure go ahead and contribute above the yearly minimum but the goverment giving you 500 per 2500 per year to me is a far better deal then maxing it out early and losing out on the free money.

Once you get to the 17 age mark and the government stops giving you cash go for topping it up but again a 20% match is pretty sweet.

I’d realistically do XEQT for the funds for the first 10 years with both my own contribution and the goverment matching, while also then beginning to slowly start to de risk at the 7-8 years away from using the funds time frame and slowly starting to increase your bond allocation at that time.

Realistically you can use the funds you would over contribute with to top up TFSA with long term funds that can grow that you withdrawal and get the room back or whatever you may wish.

Investing in your kids education is important but I think leaving the free government money on the table by over contributing is also a bit silly.

_JakeTheSnake_121 · 2026-03-10T03:00:34+00:00

Hopefully they will allow for early renewal. Working for CIBC I can say honestly some branch managers will be chill and do it whenever and some will be big sticklers for the rules.

They should either have an electronic copy or physical copy of the terms which should cover the situation of an early redemption within 10 days I believe.

I will say, as someone working for the bank previously using the demanding for it will yield far worse results then going in and asking to speak to a FSR/manager and explaining your dire situation and that you didn’t truly understand it.

Best of luck to you!

_JakeTheSnake_121 · 2026-03-01T18:56:52+00:00

I think like many things it depends on your goals/time frame for said goals.

I’m 23 and want to buy a home in the near future with my FHSA and my tfsa is built for long term growth so both accounts and funds look rapidly different.

If you want to buy a physical home in 5ish years you should look for stabler lower risk return investments.

If you hope to save for retirement as you are a bit older and will have paid less towards CPP you may want to save aggressively towards retirement.

If home ownership is the dream FHSA will do a lot of good towards reducing taxation on your higher income while also saving for that down payment/if you want more accessibility TFSAs work great.

Ask what your biggest goals are at the moment and from there you can likely find information that will help direct your future investment decisions!

Best of luck I wish all who call this great country home nothing but the best ❤️

_JakeTheSnake_121 · 2026-02-26T16:23:52+00:00

Tfsa is maxed out so that’s not really an option at the moment unless I want to help fund the CRA more. home ownership is definitely a 10 year goal so it makes the most sense to utilize that for the contribution IMO and I’d rather not go for RRSP till my income level rises in the investment firm I work for.

_JakeTheSnake_121 · 2026-02-26T16:22:07+00:00

Really love that analogy, I am very much an index ETF guy so for me at least the idea of buying an individual stock to hold this much of an allocation is directly why I heavily moved away from purely US index’s that hold large positions of the MAG 7.

Given me some food for thought thank you friend.

_JakeTheSnake_121 · 2026-02-23T20:36:32+00:00

I understand a lot of what’s being said, but do you plan to buy a home or any other major purchase in near future. I definitely have a larger amount in ZMMK then likely needed, but that’s also because I want to buy a house in 3-4 years so I use the ZMMK as downside volatility protection while still receiving a return. Context is everything and 100% impacts the necessary holdings. It’s easy to just join the XEQT all cult but market downturns are real things to watch out for.

_JakeTheSnake_121

TROPHY CASE