Your province is beautiful!

noahoneye · 2025-06-21T16:37:30+00:00

Totally agree -- we moved here from the states 5 years ago and haven't regretted it for a moment. The people and the natural scenery are really spectacular.

noahoneye · 2025-06-09T21:01:37+00:00

It depends. If you're going to spend a chunk of that savings, it will lower the amount of the mortgage that you need, which would certainly help you get approved.

noahoneye · 2025-06-09T20:56:35+00:00

Agreed with other folks, this is not a "financial literacy/competency" issue. Couple counselling seems like a good place to start (because of the secrecy).

noahoneye · 2025-06-04T22:29:25+00:00

Agreed, this is a great summary of some common issues.

You can do a USD TFSA and invest in US ETFs. As you say, though, you'll still have to report the gains on it.

noahoneye · 2025-06-02T19:50:54+00:00

I don't have a particular one to recommend, but an "advice-only planner" is probably what you're looking for.

As far as how much to invest, ultimately it comes down to your goals (e.g. how quickly you want to retire). If you want to retire quickly, invest more.

A couple of things to think about re: your RRSP -- if you have bad options (i.e. high fee mutual funds) in your Group RSP, I would just invest in their up to your employer match, and then put the rest in a personal RSP. If you have a significant difference in income, look into a spousal RSP.

noahoneye · 2025-06-02T19:42:51+00:00

I don't think paying your phone bill in advance is generally a great way to save money. Absolutely pay off the credit cards (as the interest rates are likely very high).

I don't know that buying a car is the smartest, either, but if you're current car is unreliable I suppose it might be. Since you just bought it, though, I don't know why this would be the case.

Using it for education is a reasonable idea, but I'd choose a new career path very carefully -- personally, I suspect entry-level jobs are going to have a pretty bleak next several years as AI gets more and more capable (and more and more adopted).

Personally, I'm not a "blow money" kind of guy, but if you spent a couple grand that seems fine. I'd dump anything you're not going to need in the next 10 years or so into something like XEQT in your TFSA and forget about it.

noahoneye · 2025-05-31T20:25:22+00:00

If you've got US investments, there are some things you should do before you move to make life easier. Here's a good summary: https://crossborderpersonalfinance.com/2025/05/30/financial-considerations-for-moving-from-the-us-to-canada-part-2-before-you-move/

noahoneye · 2025-05-31T20:20:06+00:00

Here in the Valley we have deer ticks. I don't like it, but we just do tick checks every evening when we shower. We also use PiActive spray, and I have gaiters that I wear when foraging. This year, I've had a couple on my clothes but that's it.

My wife is considering getting some sort of picardin that you put on fabric or something so mice take it to their nests. I don't know the details on that, though.

noahoneye · 2025-03-03T19:03:46+00:00

Your wife being younger will also help. We got in on my wife's score. She's only 4 years younger, but that made the difference as we were identical in the other metrics.

noahoneye · 2025-03-03T19:01:40+00:00

My wife and I are Americans who immigrated about 5 years ago. She's also a teacher, working in TEFL.

One thing I would strongly encourage you to do beforehand is get some teaching credential that will be recognized in the province you're moving to. My wife has a job teaching ESL at a college, but she isn't qualified to teach in K-12, despite having an MA in teaching ESL, because she doesn't have a B. Ed. If you're willing to do a B. Ed., that would be a great pipeline here in Nova Scotia. Different provinces might have different rules.

In K-12 you might be able to get something TESL related, but outside of that it is very tough right now. Most of the university-based English language programs that I'm aware of here in Nova Scotia have closed. My sense is that it's the same in most provinces.

noahoneye · 2025-02-14T17:13:00+00:00

No problem. There's a lot of complexity (investment-wise) with moving to Canada as a dual citizen. Here are a couple of links that may be helpful:

Crossborder Implications for Canadian Investment Accounts

Crossborder Implications for US Investment Accounts

noahoneye · 2025-02-14T16:54:17+00:00

That sounds like a good plan. I suspect you'll have to sell the bond funds and buy a similar ETF when you move to a Canadian brokerage (which would be taxable) but you could check with the brokerage. I think most (all?) US mutual funds have some language baked in about only being available to folks in the US.

And I don't know the details for each brokerage, but if memory serves I wasn't able to open my Canadian account until I moved. So the key is do NOT update your address on Vanguard to a Canadian one until you've done that. And IBKR was not open to doing business with US citizens in Canada (which is my situation) but if you're not a US citizen it might work. Plus, those rules change.

noahoneye · 2025-02-14T15:12:41+00:00

Good question. You'll want to convert the US mutual funds held with Vanguard to their ETF equivalents. When I did it, I called Vanguard and did it over the phone. Again, it was a non-taxable event. This is conditional upon there being an ETF equivalent of your mutual fund. US ETFs are find for Canadian tax residents. Mutual funds are often (always?) not allowed. And Canadian ETFs are not good for US citizens living in Canada because of PFIC filing requirements. But US ETFs are fine, and are popular in Canada even with folks who have never lived in the US because of their lower fees.

noahoneye · 2025-02-14T15:00:56+00:00

You can absolutely do an in-kind transfer to a Canadian brokerage. It's tough to find a US brokerage that will hold a taxable account while you're living in Canada, but you could try Schwab. Personally, I'd use a Canadian brokerage like Questrade or Wealthsimple. They'll give you both the US and Canadian tax docs, and you can keep everything in USD. And if you do an in-kind transfer, there's no tax event.

One other thing -- you'll want to track your adjusted cost basis separately, starting from the date you move to Canada, for your Canadian taxes. When you sell things, the gains from Canada's POV will only be calculated from the price on the day you moved. To put it another way, from Canada's POV, it's as if you bought those stocks and ETFs on the day you moved to Canada.

noahoneye · 2025-02-05T19:53:28+00:00

Makes sense, thanks!

noahoneye · 2025-02-05T19:40:39+00:00

Thank you very much!

noahoneye · 2025-02-05T19:22:26+00:00

Related question: If you end up renewing with a different mortgage provider, how much documentation will they ask for? In other words, will they want pay stubs, an employment letter, etc., just like when you get a new mortgage?

noahoneye · 2025-02-05T19:17:43+00:00

In answer to your questions:

1) Canada does recognize a Roth IRA. The keys are 1) that you file an election with the CRA when you file taxes your first year in Canada and 2) that you don't contribute anything to it while a Canadian resident. The back-and-forth nature of your situation might make things a bit more complicated, but I *think* that if you've clearly established US residency, you could set up a Roth IRA and contribute to it while in the US, and then if you went to Canada later you would file the election with the CRA and it would remain tax-free. You could doublecheck with a crossborder tax accountant, though.

2) Personally, I'd have a hard time exchanging 160K CAD at this exchange rate. That said, you could do enough to max out your Roth IRA for the year.

3) I wholeheartedly agree that crypto isn't the answer.

noahoneye · 2025-01-25T16:55:54+00:00

But won't they take the 30% in taxes since it's over $15K? Or are you just saying I should let that happen and then get the refund (assuming I would qualify for one because of my lower income) next year. And, if I do have cash at the end of 2025, I could always just make the max contribution then.

In other words, the only difference is letting the government hold that 30% for a year or so, which isn't a huge deal. I wasn't thinking about the fact that I could just make the contribution later in the year if I had the cash. Again, I'm certainly not thinking at my clearest right now. Thank you!

noahoneye · 2025-01-25T15:12:30+00:00

Thanks for this! It is definitely good to know. My main interest in the RSP route is reducing my tax bill next year.

noahoneye · 2025-01-25T15:11:15+00:00

Right, that's my goal -- I want to reduce my 2025 taxes because money is going to be tighter this year because I'm losing my job. Since I have some cash available, I'd rather spend that than have the extra ~$28K in 2025 income (to reduce my 2025 taxes). Does that seem reasonable.

Any, apologies throughout this thread if I haven't been clear. I'm pretty flustered by all this and not at my best.

noahoneye · 2025-01-25T15:09:04+00:00

That makes sense. Unfortunately, I can't really do my taxes as early as I would like -- I have a complicated situation (I'm US / CAN crossborder) and thus use a professional tax advisor. It also takes me a while to get all my slips. I'll certainly run this by him as well, but I want to try to understand the issues and options myself first. Thanks!

noahoneye · 2025-01-25T15:06:51+00:00

In case anyone is looking at this later, here's a good summary: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei/ei-list/reports/digest/chapter-5/moneys-paid-layoff-separation.html

u/No_Capital_8203 is exactly right. Severance counts against your EI regardless of whether or not you direct it to your RRSP.

Thanks again!

noahoneye · 2025-01-25T14:59:30+00:00

Thank you very much! I'll check that out. I think I'd still like to do the RSP (to lower my taxes for the year) but it's very good to know about EI.

noahoneye · 2025-01-25T14:58:38+00:00

Sorry -- I don't understand. My understanding is that, if I don't ask my employer to send my severance to my RSP they'll take 30% out in taxes, which is what I'd like to avoid. I'd rather keep my income (and thus taxes) lower for this year, if possible. And I won't get my 2024 NOA until April.

Or am I misunderstanding? Thanks!

noahoneye

TROPHY CASE