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My girlfriend had no idea that tuition tax credits could carry forward, and never bothered reporting any tuition on her tax returns. Is there any reason we couldn't go back and file an adjustment for every year starting in 2005 (when she paid her first tuition), carrying over the tuition credit until we get to the years she has been actually paying tax?
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Feb 15, 2016 18:14
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Kreez posted:My girlfriend had no idea that tuition tax credits could carry forward, and never bothered reporting any tuition on her tax returns. Is there any reason we couldn't go back and file an adjustment for every year starting in 2005 (when she paid her first tuition), carrying over the tuition credit until we get to the years she has been actually paying tax? Do it. That's thousands of dollars. The CRA would do the same to you if the situation was flipped.
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Feb 15, 2016 19:16
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Kreez posted:My girlfriend had no idea that tuition tax credits could carry forward, and never bothered reporting any tuition on her tax returns. Is there any reason we couldn't go back and file an adjustment for every year starting in 2005 (when she paid her first tuition), carrying over the tuition credit until we get to the years she has been actually paying tax? 
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Feb 15, 2016 19:21
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Cool, that's what I figured. Just to play around on this year's return, I've plugged 30k into SimpleTax as carried over tuition, as well as 4k of interest paid on student loans (which she also hadn't claimed). SimpleTax insists on only using the loan interest credit that expires this year, and covering the rest of the tax with tuition credit. She may well have no income next year, and thus not be able to use the interest credit that expires next year. It seems optimal to me to use up all the loan interest credit first, before "dipping in" to the tuition credit. There's not really much of anything else going on in the return that could complicate the situation. Is this a case of the computer being smarter than me, but not programmed to tell me why? Or am I in fact smarter, and this is a drawback of using a computer to do your taxes?
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Feb 15, 2016 19:31
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How do I play this currency situation? I'm planning to make a large contribution for 2015 RRSP for this year's income tax savings, but I'm not comfortable buying into my usual US-based ETFs at 70% value. What is everyone doing this season with their monopoly money investment contributions?
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Feb 15, 2016 20:57
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mr.belowaverage posted:What is everyone doing this season with their monopoly money investment contributions? I'm sticking to my allocation. Any other approach leads to madness.
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Feb 15, 2016 20:59
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Kreez posted:Cool, that's what I figured. I can't tell if there's a problem or not by your description. Yes, I would apply the tuition tax credit last because you can just keep carrying it forward. I can't recall the SimpleTax interface, but I think the amount of tuition tax credit to use for the year was an electable amount in a different tax program. Maybe you have to go in and plug in a number to reduce her taxes to zero?
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Feb 15, 2016 21:00
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Lexicon posted:I'm sticking to my allocation. Any other approach leads to madness. For small fluctuations I'd agree. But if I buy $10,000CDN now it nets me (say) $7000USD. If/when the CDN dollar rises, those stocks are now worth (say) $8000 CDN. Isn't this a bad time to carry on like nothing has changed?
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Feb 15, 2016 21:51
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mr.belowaverage posted:For small fluctuations I'd agree. But if I buy $10,000CDN now it nets me (say) $7000USD. If/when the CDN dollar rises, those stocks are now worth (say) $8000 CDN. Isn't this a bad time to carry on like nothing has changed? On the other hand, you'll feel pretty clever if the Canadian dollar drops to $0.60 USD, and there's no reason to assume this is a less likely outcome. To be clear, I definitely understand your hesitation. But there's no other sane course of action - you [presumably] once decided on a particular allocation, and you should stick to it. The history of USDCAD is irrelevant - all we have to work with is what a Canadian dollar is worth today. If it makes sense to have 40% of your portfolio in US-based assets, and the Canadian dollar happened to shift - well, 40% of your portfolio is still 40%. Adjust accordingly.
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Feb 15, 2016 22:29
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Lexicon posted:... If it makes sense to have 40% of your portfolio in US-based assets... I guess this is what I'm getting at. Signs are that the dollar may still dip, but there's no support for the idea of a rapid strengthening. What time scale should we be using for current allocation decision-making? For instance, if I'm aiming at a 10-year FI goal, and we're not going to be anywhere near parity in that time, what's the smart move? Or, same time frame, what is the best current decision to maximize on an eventual rebound? Normally I wouldn't be worried about timing or Forex within long-term investment, but these changes are huge percents. Maybe I'm unclear on the established wisdom for us Canadians.
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Feb 15, 2016 23:14
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Currency hedging has come up in this thread a lot lately, and given the state of the USD/CAD conversion, it's not surprising. Not too long ago I was also considering currency hedging because, jesus H. christ if the CAD recovers it'll suck for our foreign investments! But as I explain in the post below, currency hedging in the long-term isn't really a good idea:Rick Rickshaw posted:We've talked about this in this thread a couple of times recently. In short, there's nothing you can do. You can't time the market, and you can't time currency valuation fluctuations. If you're investing for retirement / financial independence, hedging seems really silly when you think about it hard enough (you aren't buying all at once, and you aren't selling all at once, for one thing). Rick Rickshaw fucked around with this message at 18:06 on Feb 16, 2016 |
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Feb 16, 2016 17:57
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Ok, so the prevailing forum wisdom here is to, for example, keep buying my CDN-dollar-denominated US-market ETFs like I had been doing, and just not sweat the poor exchange, because I'm still just saving CDN dollars? Forgive me if I seem repetitive, I'm new to serious saving and investing, and this sudden exchange rate drop has thrown me a major curve in my understanding.
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Feb 18, 2016 02:06
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mr.belowaverage posted:Ok, so the prevailing forum wisdom here is to, for example, keep buying my CDN-dollar-denominated US-market ETFs like I had been doing, and just not sweat the poor exchange, because I'm still just saving CDN dollars? This is my suggestion. I can't outline a better strategy, and I can make a fairly good case that such a better strategy cannot exist.
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Feb 18, 2016 02:35
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I am a recent graduate, recently started my career in engineering. I am looking at getting a personal line of credit so I can buy a car. I live in Ontario and have no debt aside from my student loans. What are the best banks/credit unions to approach about a personal LOC? What kind of interest rate can I expect?
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Feb 18, 2016 16:38
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Exactly how much are you planning on spending on a new car?
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Feb 18, 2016 17:40
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Lexicon posted:This is my suggestion. I can't outline a better strategy, and I can make a fairly good case that such a better strategy cannot exist. I'm not as smrt as Lexicon but this is what I do. I think of the lack of hedging as a feature, not a bug. My CAD losses were tempered by the huge bump to US equities because of the exchange rate. When the opposite happens the reverse is true. Sticking to your allocation forces you buy low and sell high (or at least buy less of what's expensive and more of what's cheaper, which works out to the same thing once you start rebalancing).
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Feb 18, 2016 18:01
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Pawl posted:I am a recent graduate, recently started my career in engineering. I am looking at getting a personal line of credit so I can buy a car. I live in Ontario and have no debt aside from my student loans. Not directed at you specifically, Pawl, but a general question: when, as a society, did we decide what "counts" as debt when discussing it with others? It is commonplace to hear someone say, "well I'm debt-free except my mortgage" or "I have no debt except student loans" as if these don't count. "Hey guys I'm interested in buying (big ticket item X) and am debt free except for student loans ($60,000) and a mortgage ($350,000)". Is this part of the debt problem we've dug ourselves into? (CI - almost done reading House of Debt and the whole leveraged-losses situation sounds like the road we're on, and watch out for the credit crunch) Is there any compelling reason to exclude these debts when deciding what one can/can't "afford". Honest question - I understand that these are "investments" (your education should earn you higher pay, in theory, and when you own your house it's an asset), but taken to an extreme (the length of time to get an education vs. opportunity cost, the sheer amount of debt on a house/total interest paid and repairs/taxes over time) it seems like high time to stop having these as blanks under "total debt".
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Feb 18, 2016 18:06
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Aagar posted:Honest question - I understand that these are "investments" (your education should earn you higher pay, in theory, and when you own your house it's an asset), but taken to an extreme (the length of time to get an education vs. opportunity cost, the sheer amount of debt on a house/total interest paid and repairs/taxes over time) it seems like high time to stop having these as blanks under "total debt". I agree with your general stance, but there is definitely a distinction to be made between consumer debt (i.e. pure overspending) and investments in education or debt underpinned by an asset. The problem arises, of course, is when either the education is bullshit and doesn't lead to higher cash flow in the future, or when the asset is being purchased in a speculative, risky market that goes pear shaped. lovely investments in other words.
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Feb 18, 2016 18:55
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I did not intend to discount my student loans, but rather specify that I have no other debt. It is fairly common for people in my situation to have credit card debt and other loans. Cultural Imperial posted:Exactly how much are you planning on spending on a new car? Looking at a maximum of $18,000 - $20,000 right now. I have been driving an old clunker into the ground and after 3 years of constant auto problems I'm looking for something new that won't cause me any more grief. Not necessarily a brand new car, but something made in the last 2 years would be preferred. I have seen a few good options in the $14k - $16k range. Pawl fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Feb 18, 2016 |
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Feb 18, 2016 18:57
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Cultural Imperial posted:Exactly how much are you planning on spending on a new car? I'm not sure he said "new" but that would factor in. If you're buying new the best rate you are going to get is almost always with the financing wing of the manufacturer. You have to factor in the cash incentives that apply to cash purchases and figure out which is better, bank loan or dealer financing. On a common car you can get 0% though. From the bank? Even with a good credit rating a car loan can be 7-8%. They are very unlikely to extend an unsecured LoC to you for less than 8% either. The banks hate unsecured LoC. Got a house with some equity though? Hooo boy, back up the truck! Saltin fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Feb 18, 2016 |
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Feb 18, 2016 18:57
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Saltin posted:I'm not sure he said "new" but that would factor in. If you're buying new the best rate you are going to get is almost always with the financing wing of the manufacturer. You have to factor in the cash incentives that apply to cash purchases and figure out which is better, bank loan or dealer financing. On a common car you can get 0% though. From the bank? Even with a good credit rating a car loan can be 7-8%. They are very unlikely to extend an unsecured LoC to you for less than 8% either. The banks hate unsecured LoC. Got a house with some equity though? Hooo boy, back up the truck! I know a couple of people that picked up a Ford in the last 3 months with 0% for 5 years, neither of them are recent graduates though (Early 40's, mortgage, etc). I managed to get an unsecured LoC for prime +3.25% at RBC last week. My credit rating is "Excellent", so that obviously influenced matters, along with being a customer for a few years. So, investment time. I just landed a $3,000 lump sum. Where should I throw it?
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Feb 18, 2016 19:18
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No poo poo, I'd look oil etfs like $VDE.
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Feb 18, 2016 19:21
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Aagar posted:Not directed at you specifically, Pawl, but a general question: when, as a society, did we decide what "counts" as debt when discussing it with others? It is commonplace to hear someone say, "well I'm debt-free except my mortgage" or "I have no debt except student loans" as if these don't count. Debt free but your mortgage is pretty good given you have to live someplace. So provided you didn't overextend yourself on that it's ok. Like 2 months from now I finish paying off my student loans and a line of credit we took out for IVF. After that we are down to our mortgage which is less then a grand a month, that's nothing based on what we make.
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Feb 18, 2016 20:42
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I think becoming consumer debt free is something people should strive for and should be proud of once they've accomplished it. Therefore, saying "I'm debt free other than a mortgage" is perfectly acceptable in my book.
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Feb 18, 2016 21:15
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Lexicon posted:I agree with your general stance, but there is definitely a distinction to be made between consumer debt (i.e. pure overspending) and investments in education or debt underpinned by an asset. The problem arises, of course, is when either the education is bullshit and doesn't lead to higher cash flow in the future, or when the asset is being purchased in a speculative, risky market that goes pear shaped. lovely investments in other words. I guess this extreme is the rub. It's like a perfectly reasonable supposition 10-20 years ago (higher education leads to better paying job, house with mortgage is good in the long run) is now becoming an unreasonable one (e.g. doing a Ph.D. for an average of 6+ years is not a slam-dunk proposition for making more money in the long term). Kal Torak posted:I think becoming consumer debt free is something people should strive for and should be proud of once they've accomplished it. Therefore, saying "I'm debt free other than a mortgage" is perfectly acceptable in my book. I'm torn on this. On that face, yes, it is good to become consumer debt free. But on the other hand, are we so addicted to debt that it's now a huge accomplishment to not be in consumer debt? Is a credit crunch going to save those saying "I'm consumer debt free" when they are carrying a $400,000 mortgage?
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Feb 18, 2016 21:53
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Aagar posted:I'm torn on this. On that face, yes, it is good to become consumer debt free. But on the other hand, are we so addicted to debt that it's now a huge accomplishment to not be in consumer debt? Is a credit crunch going to save those saying "I'm consumer debt free" when they are carrying a $400,000 mortgage? It doesn't have to be a huge accomplishment. I didn't throw a party or anything but when I made my last student loan payment, I did a fist pump or two. I think a mortgage at 2% for real estate compared to a credit card at 20% for *stuff* are two very different animals.
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Feb 18, 2016 21:58
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Aagar posted:Is a credit crunch going to save those saying "I'm consumer debt free" when they are carrying a $400,000 mortgage? Living in Toronto gives you a weird perspective on things. Right now I wouldn't mind a 400k mortgage, considering pretty much everything is 700k+ right now.
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Feb 18, 2016 22:05
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I think student loans should be considered at least partially consumer debt in many cases. I know my roommate's student loan balance includes many computer upgrades and flights to visit WoW-girlfriends.
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Feb 19, 2016 03:30
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Guest2553 posted:I'm not as smrt as Lexicon but this is what I do. I think of the lack of hedging as a feature, not a bug. My CAD losses were tempered by the huge bump to US equities because of the exchange rate. When the opposite happens the reverse is true. Sticking to your allocation forces you buy low and sell high (or at least buy less of what's expensive and more of what's cheaper, which works out to the same thing once you start rebalancing). Apparently I'm not as smart as either of you, because this makes no sense to me. Or our portfolios are inherently different. My US-exposed security investments are Canadian dollar denominated. So their value rises and falls proportionate to the market they index, in CDN. Currently I'm showing a 2.6% loss, with the amount of value shown in Canadian dollars being 2.6% less than what I invested in Canadian dollars. Is the lesson here that I should have been buying USD denominated funds when our exchange was near parity? I done f'd up?
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Feb 20, 2016 02:56
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The problem is you believe you can beat the market by predicting the future of exchange rates and are betting the extra expense of currency hedging on it.
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Feb 20, 2016 03:48
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mr.belowaverage posted:Apparently I'm not as smart as either of you, because this makes no sense to me. Or our portfolios are inherently different. My US-exposed security investments are Canadian dollar denominated. So their value rises and falls proportionate to the market they index, in CDN. Currently I'm showing a 2.6% loss, with the amount of value shown in Canadian dollars being 2.6% less than what I invested in Canadian dollars. No, you're fine. The point is that with the Canadian dollar having dropped precipitously, you shouldn't therefore decide to hold off on US investing. Stick to your allocation, and if that means you get a bit less US equities for your Canadian buck, so be it.
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Feb 20, 2016 08:41
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Yeah I could have made it more clear that markets making GBS threads themselves and the exchange rate croaking were two separate events. On the FOREX side, gains in one mitigate losses in the other all else being equal. With markets being down on top of that the best you can do is mitigate losses by being well diversified, and the way to do that is by sticking to allocations to take the emotion out of it.
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Feb 21, 2016 08:44
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So let's see if I have this correct: I finally went into the local TD and got a TFSA set up, and based on what I read here, I set up a mutual fund TFSA, with the hopes of converting it into an e-series portfolio. After going through the rigamarole of setting up my risk tolerance and time horizon, the agent setting up the account for me pointed me to one mutual fund that was supposedly a basket of mutual funds. I still set it up (with no money in it), and I was wondering if I'm on the right track. I assumed I'd be able to pick which funds I want. Should I have gone for direct investing? I thought I kept reading TD mutual fund TFSA over and over again in this thread.
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Feb 25, 2016 01:52
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Download the eseries conversion form, and submit it via snail mail
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Feb 25, 2016 02:16
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jm20 posted:Download the eseries conversion form, and submit it via snail mail Thanks. See, that's exactly what I figured; I just found it weird that the in-branch account would only let me select one mutual fund (heavily weighted towards Canadian -- something like 45% exposure), but an e-series would let me pick and choose. Edit: the part of the application asking me to associate a non-TD bank account is to allow me to deposit money from my Scotia chequing account, but how will that work exactly? I should probably give them a call after I come home from work. mojo1701a fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Feb 25, 2016 |
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Feb 25, 2016 21:03
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Anyone know if the government will be a dick and fine me or something if I do the RRSP lump sum deposit late a couple days? I only got the metrolinx annual report today so I was going through my taxes this weekend and notice the option for lump sum is January 1st to February 29th. I would like to put 1000 into the RRSP with this years tax return. edit: God drat, it's probably a lot. If I do it with my bank tomorrow, how hard is it to move the bank RRSP from my bank to great west life? lol internet. fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Feb 27, 2016 |
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Feb 27, 2016 02:15
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lol internet. posted:Anyone know if the government will be a dick and fine me or something if I do the RRSP lump sum deposit late a couple days?
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Feb 27, 2016 02:27
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cowofwar posted:You can do it but you can't claim it on 2015 taxes. Yeah I figured as much. I ended up calling PC financial, opening a RRSP savings account, and transferring it over instantly over the phone. It's a $50 dollar fee to transfer out which I'll do in a couple months.
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Feb 27, 2016 02:37
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I'm also in the same situation, which I've never been in. If I were to submit a RRSP transfer right now would it go through before the 29th? Money would have to transfer institutions so I'm guessing no.
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Feb 27, 2016 03:57
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Are there any discount brokerages with either an external API, or internal rules, that you can use you buy ETFs on a regular basis? This is one thing I like about mutual funds, is that you can set you a monthly buy of, say, $1000 of TDB900. Ideally it would be great to be able to script things like rebalancing as well, and completely take out any emotion from trading decisions. edit: To basically make a Low Frequency Trading platform, based more on factors like the date and portfolio composition, rather than any technical factors. spoof fucked around with this message at 10:42 on Feb 27, 2016 |
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Feb 27, 2016 10:39
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