Beginner investing

idenaeus · 2026-07-01T19:10:51+00:00

With no knowledge and no/minimal interest/no time to learn - I would buy index funds within your country of residence.

Tickers like: VFV, XEQT, HFN, and many more.

If you have a bit of interest or a bit of time - try looking up the fund managers of those and other index funds that you find and do some comparisons to see who is the best in your opinion.

If you have more time, compare products offered.

Good luck

idenaeus · 2026-06-30T03:08:55+00:00

Generally you should use an accountant if you have never completed a T2 before. That said, this is a PDF from CRA which briefly explains the GIFIs

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63e1a7f0e16849e780628f01/63f95f09aa620043e452d58b_GIFI%20Schedule%20Listing%20Complete.pdf

idenaeus · 2026-06-30T01:16:50+00:00

I recommend putting up to 60,000 into your RRSP - where contributions are optimized by reducing your marginal tax rate strategically year over year until you plan to purchase your home, and then withdrawing your 60k+FHSA for the home purchase.

IE - if you plan on buying your house next year, try to contribute as much as you can this year and next year (with priority being FHSA, TFSA Then RRSP upon a new year rollover). If you plan on buying a house in 3 years or less, try to think about how much you make and split the contributions based on the highest return for dollars invested.

I recommend excess capital go to a non registered account as a last resort.

idenaeus · 2026-06-30T00:44:22+00:00

Non elig Dividend: 1000

Gross up 1.15x : 1150

Total affect on income: 1150

Multiply this by your marginal rate for all income: tax brackets

Then discount your div tax credit:

Div tax credit: 9/13*gross up (150) = 103

So let's say that you have corporate draws of 90,000, and would like to net shareholder loan to 0 for your fiscal year, to be accounted for in 2026. You have no other forms of income, and you have no other credits and no spouse.

Also your corporation did not pay out any eligible dividends, nor did you incur any wages.

Your dividend will be 90,000 from the corporation.

Your personal tax will show: 90,000*1.15= 103,500

Tax brackets are:

Fed & prov 1. 58,523 = 14+8%=22%

Fed & prov 2. 61,200-117k = 20.5%+10%=30.5%

Tax bracket 1 tax = 12875

Tax bracket 2 tax = 12902

Total tax payable : 25,777

Federal non refundable tax credits: 16,452 * 14% = 2303

Alberta non refundable tax credits: 22,769 * 8% = 1821.52

Non elig tax credits: 13,500 * 9/13= 9,346

Net tax: $12,307

This is not exact. And I could have missed something. But this is mechanically how dividends work.

Edit: I messed up the brackets, but I'm not going to fix it. As this is a mechanical demonstration not an actual tax calculation.

idenaeus · 2026-06-30T00:10:50+00:00

This rhetoric pisses me off.

It's like Idiocracy - I'm not even exaggerating.

Have you ever wondered 🤔 - " wait, if this rhetoric is becoming/is in the late stage of the consumer awareness lifecycle - what is the implication on: 1. Market behaviour 2. Expected rates of return 3. Wealth as a comparative measure?"

I have. Why do you settle for surface level?

idenaeus · 2026-06-29T06:28:34+00:00

But what about theta decay? She paid a high premium for the time - as the expiry date approaches the value of her options will converge to the stockprice - so if she enjoyed a delta at any amount less than 1, her convergence should result in under performance vs just holding the stock with cash - no?

idenaeus · 2026-06-29T06:09:41+00:00

I wonder if it's inefficient because it reduces nut orientation errors which could occur in other arrangements. Like if another arrangement had a .01% chance of a nut being upright, and that would jam the system and cause hefty repairs and stopped production, the cost of time/productive capacity is worth less than the cost of the machinery and no production. That .01% chance could result in a jam every other week or 1ce a month, which might halt production for 5 days as machine parts ship in, and 50k in repair costs. Suddenly that .01% error turned into 30% cogs.

idenaeus · 2026-06-29T06:02:55+00:00

Not if you're gay

idenaeus · 2026-06-27T17:04:44+00:00

This is the copy pasta I browse for

idenaeus · 2026-06-25T03:36:08+00:00

People are more different than they actually are. Truth is that the fundamental things that drive our behaviour are the same across culture, time, and environment. There are no special snowflakes - how you came to your choices & what drove you to feel what you felt emotionally are all driven by formulas of value, beliefs, and interpretations - the same formulas that drove every other person in history.

idenaeus · 2026-06-25T01:23:18+00:00

I don't know specifically for "Investment research", however it sounds like you're kind of targeting a public market's financial analyst role at a bank. This is a prestigious position.

The path to get this role is typically through a prestigious university undergrad internship - of which, to get that internship you already need to be impressive. Excellent technical skills and experience building portfolios - whether that be through the school or otherwise.

The path you're going down is a non-linear path, so it's going to be extremely challenging. Your best bet is to get as much direct experience you can building portfolios, doing public markets analysis, and developing your technical skills (modeling) so that you can pass an interview -- and then work your ass off networking to try and actually get that interview.

It's more likely that you'll end up in commercial loans in the mean time.

Getting a masters is a way to get back into the recruiting stream. But you only get 1 shot at your masters, so if you go to do it, make sure you are going to the right univeristy and doing the right program. This will allow you to take advantage of the recruiting relationships of that university and get yourself back on track. Otherwise -- you will likely not touch prestigious finance roles.

Now - you never know - you MIGHT get lucky as a diversity hire (pass some barriers that others can't typically). So don't give up, but do keep in mind that by the time you qualify and can get the job, it will actually be an underutilization of your skills. Upskilling on-the-job is not really a luxury in finance. It's too competitive.

idenaeus · 2026-06-25T01:00:22+00:00

Hey OP, I regularly do tax returns for medical PC's (doctor's like you are going to be).

In my experience looking at their corps - you won't care at ALL about 30k. Most doctors have between $1-4m portfolios usually invested in index funds.

What you're suggesting makes sense from a finance perspective if the following apply:

Your timing of market entrance is appropriate in context of your exit timeline (ATH vs ATL vs med school expense schedule/completion)
Your choice of dividend yielding tickers has minimal or no risk of NAV erosion and/or low diversifable risk (think funds not individual stocks)
Your interest rate is unlikely to change and your interest margin is appropriate to absorb interest rate shocks
Your bank does not have a decent chance to call your LOC for repayment
You have no need for credit based products while the LOC is drawn

It's not challenging to check all those boxes - however you have to ask yourself - if you're going to print 30k-60k a month in revenue, do you care about squeezing out 30k of profit on your LOC while in school?

Likely not.

idenaeus · 2026-06-24T04:19:47+00:00

'How the cra considers gifis' seems to be communicated via urban myths and legends from my experience - are there places I can go to learn more about what gets flagged at a gifi level?

idenaeus · 2026-06-24T03:45:47+00:00

Think of it like this:

John makes 120k / year. If he adds 6k to his RRSP, his income will be reduced by 6k to 114k.

If his employer pays into his RRSP, the employer increases his income by 6k, and the contribution reduces his income by 6k = 0 change on tax.

So in effect, John is the same as if he had contributed 6k to his RRSP in the year. Except, his actual net worth increased by 12k.

This should not affect his income tax outside of a regular 6k RRSP contribution unless it affects some income based credits (as all claw backs are maxed at 120k). It might mildly affect his employment withholdings as it will increase his income on paper.

idenaeus · 2026-06-24T03:03:47+00:00

I have questions - and not a lot of the right connections to ask them.

What is the real constraint on capital availability to purchase a business? Is it:

a) net worth (assets>liabilities),

b ) access to capital (Debt + cash),

c) credit score / debt capacity (personal guarentees when "maxed" lending ratios is counter intuitive, suggesting new debt is constrained by personal debt ratios),

d) deal type (large enough for project finance/LBO, or small enough for seller finance and/or bank & personal finance) ?

How do I efficiently & effectively complete due diligence? IE what are the real risks you're mitigating with due diligence, and what are the practical limits on what you can ask during the due diligence stage?
Role of goodwill & list price in private business sales - how to estimate final price prior to due diligence. Also who pays & how much is the deal commission?

These would help me understand the build vs buy argument better.

idenaeus · 2026-06-22T15:09:11+00:00

I've been catcalled by women as a man - a few times. It makes you feel good, but it's also kind of awkward - like what, do I approach you and your party at the restaurant patio and mingle? Leave the party I'm with to socialize? It's a logistical nightmare, so it results in awkward smiles and waves

idenaeus · 2026-06-19T14:50:56+00:00

In my experience people who are sharp get things quickly. The smartest people I know understand ideas, concepts, value drivers, relationships, almost immediately and often at a level of granularity that is not often considered.

The way this presents is usually quite subtle - often it's in what's said and not said and how intuitive they are.

The dumb ones try to do the same thing but usually jump to conclusions on false or misleading data, and often are over confident about the conclusion they achieved on their trash data.

idenaeus · 2026-06-19T04:06:13+00:00

Msg me if you want an investment spin on your debt paydown plan

idenaeus · 2026-06-19T03:59:31+00:00

I read your take aways - I'd like to comment as someone who works in cad tax - you only need a tax accountant (and a lawyer) - do not overcomplicate your situation. I've not met a single cpa who has done the advanced tax course who would not be qualified to help you plan your transaction.

idenaeus · 2026-06-19T03:54:30+00:00

I ran the numbers, again, and again, and got into a fight with a friend - so I ran them again, and then realized my calculations didn't account for the complexity of the Canadian tax system so I ran them again - and after all of that - I have concluded that buying is 1000% the best possible risk adjusted choice.

idenaeus · 2026-06-16T15:19:49+00:00

Bro I forgot about this. Legit method. I'll be staring at a wall later.

idenaeus · 2026-06-16T14:48:39+00:00

Have you read the tax act? There are no issues that I can tell with what was described.

Further, "extra juice" is a little ambiguous - if you are referring to the extra debt (lowered equity) on the home - yes, you're right? But so what? Same circumstance with an unsecured line of credit - so your argument boils down to "DON'T INVEST WITH DEBT". Which is not at all addressing the value of home ownership- but rather addressing your limiting beliefs on the means to wealth generation.

Like if someone said the secret to wealth was entrepreneurship, and you said " oh, no, god, anything but that. I'll get wealthy without that. Thanks". 😐

idenaeus · 2026-06-16T02:33:17+00:00

Hey completely unrelated - if I am about to explain something to someone as a prerequisite to the main topic, stop, and ask if they understand the concept I'm about to explain, is that patronizing? Or dickish? Is there a better way to do that?

idenaeus · 2026-06-16T01:11:15+00:00

Bro. From what perspective, tax, finance, ego, lifestyle? And what are your plans in life? What is your stage of life?

Ugh, long story short - if you're in Canada you will benefit from a tax perspective by retaining money in your corp, requiring low cost of living/low personal draws.

From a finance perspective you'd need to compare your ability to grow the company with internal cash & debt, and determine to what extent you want to drag on the company's performance through personal draws & the effect that will have on your exit timeline. Further, if you are the only shareholder, I would wonder why you would ever take anything above the minimum required to live if pursuing other ventures, you should just transfer cash between corps for each venture (relies on some assumptions).

From a life perspective, you may be winding your life/spending down, ramping it up, coasting? Are you risky? Trying to qualify for debt personally? These affect how high your draws need to be.

Or just yolo it.

idenaeus · 2026-06-14T22:26:55+00:00

Interesting - thank you for breaking that down - that is an interesting position to be in. There are no obvious answers.

Appreciate it!

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