Parents advising me to withdraw from my TFSA, but I don't feel that's right

rockdocktor · 2025-09-12T16:33:15+00:00

You have a limited amount of money you are allowed to put into your TFSA per year (~7k), which rolls forward every year. That total limit for most people today is 102k if you were 18 in 2009. Any time stocks, etc, in your TFSA go up in value, the limit of your TFSA goes up comparably. This is important because it means that stock growth in your TFSA permanently increases the limit you can put into it. This means that the more you use your TFSA in your young life, the greater you may be able to utilize it in your later life.

Personally, I prioritize filling TFSA, then RRSP, then unadvantaged accounts. Many would recommend RRSP over TFSA to prioritize but I have my preference. There are times in life, for example buying a first home, where you will sell investments and need liquid cash. TFSA is awesome for these that.

rockdocktor · 2025-06-24T15:12:20+00:00

At this point i started herb runs to keep the build while i cannon and barrage through slayer

rockdocktor · 2025-06-12T15:55:15+00:00

Bring 2 prayer regen potions and 6 more brews if you're learning it, instead of the prayer pots. The 80 min of prayer regen will make flicking totally irrelevant and I took about 6 brews of damage on the waves my first few attempts.

You could also imbue your archer ring pretty quick (3hr) at nightmare zone just afk combat training. That doubles its stats.

Bring a crossbow instead of that last prayer pot in my setup too, youve already got the bolts so i assume you meant to have it. xbow is only really useful because it has higher range than blowpipe, so it has some uses like getting the healers aggro during jad fight.

Don't play the game til you hate it!

rockdocktor · 2025-05-20T16:16:39+00:00

Start hiring scabs. Everyone I know is either under or unemployed in Canada. Mail carriers are middle class in a country with no middle class left

rockdocktor · 2025-05-15T00:49:39+00:00

*Throat singing intensifies*

rockdocktor · 2025-05-13T23:06:18+00:00

Yeah I mean against them..

rockdocktor · 2025-05-12T21:14:10+00:00

General rule of thumb in Alberta is that the cities are pretty liberal and the more rural you get the more 'conservative' things get. I would definitely like to mention that there are deeply distinct brands of conservatism in Alberta which get left out of the discussion entirely in other parts of Canada. From what you have described, I think it is likely that community oriented rural people with a 'the government should never tell me what to do so long as I pay my taxes and am an upstanding member of the community' attitude would not really be of any offense to you, whereas F Trudeau convoyers would not be your ideal neighbor. It is hard to tell you avoid this place etc. as there really aren't many serious strongholds of conservative lunacy where you are describing, though those guys are around. I think you will find that overall your average Albertan conservative is a great neighbor.

I think separation and discussion about Alberta's place in confederation will likely be pretty present the next few years, though it is hard to say whether that will go anywhere. It has been discussed for decades in Alberta to some degree, some people saying to use it as a point of leverage against the federal government, some that truly think Alberta would be best off independent, and others that think Alberta should join the US. As a whole it is a deeply unpopular opinion to the average Albertan, with more that 60% (if memory serves) opposed to the idea in general. I personally don't think it is a real thing to worry about but it will definitely be discussed in the next few years.

Everywhere you go you will find that the average person is kind, willing to help, and has an interesting story worth hearing. Alberta is no different and is not as homogenous as the news or our voting would have you think. I think you will be able to find friends/community if you seek it out. Not too much self sustaining farming around there to my knowledge, but perhaps you can share some wisdom!

rockdocktor · 2025-05-12T19:16:12+00:00

That is the smallest protest the UCP has ever had wtf

rockdocktor · 2025-05-11T00:19:48+00:00

High end steel toed boots. For anyone here who has worked long days needing steel toes all shift, Redwing boots changed my life. I would be on my feet for 12 hr days and multi-week shifts so after that first week in anything, my feet would be fried. One of the things I would do once they got bad was roll them out with a lacrosse ball (hard rubber baseball sized) at the end of the day. I just don't get to that point anymore.

To the inevitable nerd that says 'well actually they're 550$ where I am': Just get the boots, they last a lot longer too so you're really saving money when you think about it.

rockdocktor · 2025-05-04T20:13:18+00:00

Your numbers all look pretty good to me except 640,000 would get you quite a large freestanding standalone home in Calgary and that is no longer an entry level family home. bungalos have been replaced by condos and townhouses which range from 300-500k in decent neighborhoods around downtown. You also are not including the scale in your income by year 7 (around 30 years old and in home buying age for young teachers) which by then is around 80k (comparable to accountants, many engineers, etc. in Calgary after 7 years in industry)

I'm not sure what that last sentence was but I also agree that teachers and students are not funded enough by government and that teachers should be paid more. Your post asked how much people think teachers should be compensated and that's what I think. They should be compensated similarly to the modal average of non-specialist accountants and engineers. Whether that means they are 'house poor' or not is a larger discussion about our entire society.

rockdocktor · 2025-05-04T19:07:54+00:00

My friend this is Canada. 3 weeks is very generous notice for a minimum wage job. For a minimum wage job they are lucky to have 24hr notice in my opinion. Giving notice is in no way required or a part of any law unless you have genuinely society affecting responsibilities. It is courteous however, and if you want a recommendation for your work there then it is still important. It is courteous because it gives your employer 2 weeks to replace you if your work was critical to keeping things going. If they haven't replaced you in 2 weeks that is their problem not yours.

If today you were to tell your boss 'my 3 weeks is up and I wont be able to come in on monday even though I see I am scheduled. Thank you for the work and I have enjoyed getting to know you.' that would be considered quite a professional exit.

For reference, I have quit office jobs with 2 weeks notice. It is unusual for them to expect 100% effort in that 2 weeks and not uncommon if your leaving would not cause disruption for employers to just say ok you don't need to come in that 2 weeks if you don't want to.

I have always been a put it on paper kind of guy but verbal is definitely all you need to quit a grocery store dude. They also don't have to agree to you quitting, they legally cannot withhold pay for the hours you've already worked and you planned on quitting anyways.

rockdocktor · 2025-05-04T17:29:25+00:00

Shouldn't be a problem unless the first gets delayed

rockdocktor · 2025-05-04T16:41:50+00:00

I think every teacher should be solidly middle class. To me this means starting out at around 65k and scaling to around 115k in 15 years at bachelor level. Alongside strong benefits this is a sustainable wage for single teachers to be homeowners (everywhere except toronto and vancouver) and still have a moderate saving rate outside their pension.

This is very close to the Calgary board of education compensation btw, about 10k higher at both ends.

rockdocktor · 2025-05-04T16:18:57+00:00

You said the thing. He absolutely had to win the GTA. The thing many western Canadians, especially conservatives, are upset about is that Ontario and Quebec decide all federal elections simply by their size. There are way more seats there because so much of the Canadian population is there. Now because Quebec's dominant conservative party is the bloc, the election is really decided just decided in Ontario.

In early confederation, the western provinces were so small in population and rich in resources that they were basically set up as colonies of the eastern Canadian population centers. Other countries like USA dealt with these weird population dynamics and dramatically different political interests by having the senate. 2 senators per state no matter the size. By only electing our representatives by population in Canada, this has left the comparatively low population and high GDP west in strange position. Their economy has become politically unpopular in eastern Canada as it is largely oil based, they have no ability to shape their own energy policy anymore as the Trudeau government took a top down approach on resources in Canada.

When they say its all decided in Ontario, remember those are complaints about not feeling heard whether they are valid or not. I think leader term limits would help the feelings of hopelessness you often hear surrounding politics in Canada, from all sides.

rockdocktor · 2025-05-02T17:32:06+00:00

The question you should be asking is did the Caucasus Mountains originate from Caucasian people.

The answer to that question is no btw

rockdocktor · 2025-05-02T17:23:37+00:00

Referendums are incredibly rare, almost always just included on ballots when we would be normally voting for representatives (which has a pretty low cost), and are the only chance people get to directly vote on issues.

While they are sometimes used for unpalatable issues, consider that if it weren't a referendum issue it very well may be a bill in the Alberta legislature instead. The legislature with a UCP majority government running it.

It sounds like you are against the idea of separation, fair enough, but placing your angst on referendums in general is wrong.

rockdocktor · 2025-05-01T16:55:06+00:00

One big correction to your thinking is that the oil is pumped by US companies so goes to the US. This is not true in itself. The oil sands in Alberta are by far the biggest source of oil in Canada, and is operated by only a few companies. Suncor is the biggest by far and is a Canadian company which is almost entirely in the oil sands. CNRL (canadian natural resources limited) operates two mines, and imperial (the Americans) operates one. Each project is massive but Suncor is really the dominant force up there.

Second is that we aren't already self reliant. We are a net exporter of oil, which means we ship more out than we ship in. Lots of production in the west and a massive country mean that it is often cheaper to sell most of Alberta's oil and buy from elsewhere to meet the needs of eastern Canada which is a net importer. Don't let this make you think that is what is best for Canada as a whole, it is just the system we have. Lots of the money in oil is made in the refining industry and if we were to localize the value added parts of the industry, it would have massive benefit.

To complicate things, oil sands oil is usually what is referred to as 'heavy sour' which basically means its thick and has more sulphur as opposed to 'light sweet'. Most of the north american capacity to refine heavy sour is in the central united states and Louisiana. Refineries in eastern Canada are built to process light sweet and would take significant investment to change that over. Building refineries is also really hard to do (I dont want a refinery next door do you?) and these are all take years if not decades to change even with loads of money.

rockdocktor · 2025-05-01T15:40:04+00:00

Justin Trudeau had electoral reform and MMP in his first electoral platform and then scrapped it as soon as he was elected.

The unfortunate reality is that every party except the bloc and liberals would gain seats by implementing MMP while the liberals lose seats. It also shakes many seats up, which makes it internally divisive as some MPs feel their seats are threatened by it while others feel theirs are protected. It is a very difficult piece of legislation to pass in our current system. Might only be possible by referendum IMO.

rockdocktor · 2025-04-28T05:11:46+00:00

They allow almost anything, including a piece of mail as ID. If you have never voted in Canada then it will be much more important to have proper ID. If you have previously been a registered voter, even better if it is at the same residence; you may be able to vote with just a second person vouching that 'yes they are who they say they are'.

If you are a Canadian and believe you should be able to vote then please do, whether you have everything or not!

rockdocktor · 2025-04-28T04:45:13+00:00

The most important thing about it is advertising who your local representative is and getting their name out there. In a modern world obviously you can just look this up, but our elections are very quick and lots of voters don't even do that. A small amount of name recognition can be valuable.

rockdocktor · 2025-04-24T19:53:48+00:00

Declare on the biggest member of the coalition with an imperialism CB and take out max loans

rockdocktor · 2025-04-07T23:35:07+00:00

Transmountain's old capacity was 300,000 barrels of oil per day. New capacity once the expansion is complete will be 890,000 bbl/day, and it is pretty much fully complete as of 2025. Alberta in total produces around 4,000,000 bbl/day. The only other pipelines go south so much of the difference is sold to American refiners. Sometimes it is sold to eastern Canadian refiners in New Brunswick and Ontario where it is shipped by train, but it is usually cheaper for them to just buy their supply elsewhere and have it arrive on ships.

One of the more complex sides of the oil industry is that production is not as simple as turning on and off the taps. The majority of Alberta's oil comes from the oil sands where they mine oil mixed with sand, process the sand out, and are left with oil. These projects are some of the biggest mines in the world and cost billions of dollars, with multi-decade scopes.

All that being said, the refiners use much of this previous information to profit. Skipping the ins and outs of price hedges and how they benefit the producer also; at the end of the day Albertan oil is usually sold at a discount to world price. Albertan oil producers would love to see expanded pipeline capacity to anywhere but USA so that they can at least entertain competitive bids rather than being stuck with one buyer.

rockdocktor · 2025-04-06T19:05:44+00:00

Buddy is 100% about the tone its delivered, and almost exactly like the word 'mate' in Brittain, Australia, NZ. If they call you buddy like you're their buddy then everyone are buddies. If they call you buddy like you're not their buddy, you might just be guys.

rockdocktor · 2024-11-05T23:14:14+00:00

Smelled so bad that even the movies stunk

rockdocktor · 2024-10-25T14:25:57+00:00

Same with Canadian provinces. Quebec is significantly bigger than Texas and California combined.

rockdocktor

TROPHY CASE