|
You're in luck, the Canadian Housing megathread will tell you everything you need about buying and owning a house in BC! 
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2017 16:10
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 19:04 |
|
|
Jan posted:everything you need about buying and owning a house in BC!
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2017 05:29
|
|
|
Baloogan posted:anyone have links to like, information about morgages in canada (BC)? i wanna buy a house and i don't know anything at all Step 0 is becoming a Legitimate Businessman in china
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2017 07:00
|
|
|
Alternately, let's make adverse possession a thing again.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2017 10:24
|
|
|
Jan posted:You're in luck, the Canadian Housing megathread will tell you everything you need about buying and owning a house in BC! lol im not posting in d*d morgage broker like i just call em outta the blue? what information do I need?
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2017 10:34
|
|
|
Shoo, troll.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2017 11:34
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:Shoo, troll. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtN1YnoL46Q
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2017 12:32
|
|
|
Been digging into this cash back credit card thing since it came up a bit ago. Assuming I could get CIBC to waive the annual fee (A thing they offered to me when they were hard selling me on the penguin travel card--pulling all of my business a year or two ago surprisingly got their attention and they did really well by me for my mortgage renewal) I would have brought in another $140 in cash back by changing to one of their annual fee cards. This is what the MNBA card would have also netted after the annual fee, although they are also dangling that $100 bonus which is enticing. Either have the additional rental/travel insurance benefits I don't currently have so time to upgrade. Additionally that Rogers 1.75%/4% foreign expenses card is something I am definitely going to get since I travel a fair bit. Torn though because the Scotia Amex Gold gives 4% for gas, groceries AND restaurants. Restaurants are for personal reasons a major spend area, so this might actually be the best option despite so many places not accepting AmEx. OTOH it seems logical to dump the Air Miles AmEx I have had since forever for either it (or the Simply cash card). Its going to take a while to mine these data though since there doesn't appear to be an easy way to get the CIBC spend report from the entire year. Presumably however I don't want to slam my credit report with a bunch of applications at once, correct? How would you suggest I make this transition--convert the primary card, then add on the Rogers card in a month or two, or get the Rogers' card now since I will be heading to the States in a month? Or am I making too much of this and I should take care of these crappy cards all at once. (Hi baloogan!)
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2017 21:16
|
|
|
I can only assume Rogers offering credit cards is a loltario thing.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2017 21:29
|
|
|
Lexicon posted:I can only assume Rogers offering credit cards is a loltario thing. It's so they can give the cards to low income people, and charge interest on top of $100 a month for an iPhone.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2017 22:46
|
|
|
Does anyone have recommendations for life insurance providers/brokers?
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2017 19:44
|
|
|
Is anyone else a US dual citizen who has to file FBAR? I became a permanent resident in Canada this year and now have over $10,000 in my checking account so now I apparently need to file an electronic form telling the US Treasury department about that.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2017 22:59
|
|
|
Ccs posted:Is anyone else a US dual citizen who has to file FBAR? I became a permanent resident in Canada this year and now have over $10,000 in my checking account so now I apparently need to file an electronic form telling the US Treasury department about that. I have filed several FBARs as a Canadian citizen living in the US. You can do it online and it's pretty easy. The more accounts you have, the worse/more time-consuming it gets -- but once you do it the first year you can basically copy all your data into subsequent years + just update the balances.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2017 00:21
|
|
|
How does one deal with RRSP wrt FBAR? e. nm, will just call their information line Bilirubin fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Apr 11, 2017 |
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2017 05:11
|
|
|
RRSP don't need to be reported. RESP do. TFSA is apparently unclear from IRS rulings, so I just report it anyway.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2017 12:03
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:RRSP don't need to be reported. RESP do. TFSA is apparently unclear from IRS rulings, so I just report it anyway. Yeah, IIRC, there is no reciprocal treaty regarding the TFSA, so any gains technically have to be reported on any US return as worldwide income.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2017 16:07
|
|
|
mojo1701a posted:Yeah, IIRC, there is no reciprocal treaty regarding the TFSA, so any gains technically have to be reported on any US return as worldwide income. Yeah, we had a strict "don't touch it, no dividend-producing anything" policy for our TFSA while we were in the US to avoid that. Unfortunately I was dumb and put everything back when I got back to Canada, forgetting that I had to file in the US this year still.  Our accountant has said that TFSA may not be required under FBAR any longer, but that it's still taxed? Apparently the IRS rulings are not crystal clear in their scope.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2017 17:05
|
|
|
From my own research, everything indicates the TFSA is still in a grey area. Accountant opinion is that it is taxed as a kind of foreign trust, which requires expensive accounting paperwork that generally end up being more expensive than whatever gains you could currently get in a maxed out TFSA. But literature out there is also heavily skewed towards US citizens living in Canada, not the other way around. There doesn't seem to be any reports of the IRS going after Canadians' TFSAs, but god knows that is not something you want to find out the hard way.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2017 18:40
|
|
|
I wanna say thanks to this thread for letting me know how incredibly expensive Canadian mutual fund fees could be. I had my meager assets set up with Questrade already, but reading the thread spurred me into action on unfucking my parent's retirement savings. They're both looking to retire in the next year or two, so it's definitely time. My mom somehow had 3 RRSPs and 3 TSFAs (though one was with the bank and had, like, $2 in it) across multiple advisors/companies, and they were all ripping her off. One fund she was invested in had an MER of loving 3.8%!  The rest were all in the high 1.X% to mid 2.X%. She thought she was doing ok, but when we compared the return rate I got last year with passive index ETFs to what little scraps her mutual funds passed on to her, she was pretty willing to switch. We're gonna see how Questrade's authorized trader system works so I can set up/rebalance her portfolio for her. That way I don't have to walk her through everything using Teamviewer or something.I haven't gotten to my dad's finances yet, but I'm not expecting much better there. He's with Investors Group.  When I think about how much better off they could have been if they'd switched to cheaper plans 15-20 years ago, I get pretty pissed, but at least this will make their humble savings last considerably longer. Thank god they both also have public sector pensions.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2017 03:10
|
|
|
Good job thread! 
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2017 03:41
|
|
|
To be fair the lowest MER you could get a decade ago was 3%. Low MER funds are new and Canada lagged about five years behind the US.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2017 03:59
|
|
|
Square Peg posted:I wanna say thanks to this thread for letting me know how incredibly expensive Canadian mutual fund fees could be. I had my meager assets set up with Questrade already, but reading the thread spurred me into action on unfucking my parent's retirement savings. They're both looking to retire in the next year or two, so it's definitely time. Review your boomer parents finances with them.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2017 15:10
|
|
|
Lexicon posted:I can only assume Rogers offering credit cards is a loltario thing. I actually just signed up for their ~~platinum~~ credit card which I'm pretty sure is their only offering. There is no annual fee if you sign up for pre-authorized payments on one of their services (I snagged a good deal on Fido internet) and it has decent incentives.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2017 15:14
|
|
|
Is there any consensus on what is the best investing strategy once one has maxed out their RRSP/TFSA? * Do nothing differently and just keep investing in a balanced ETF portfolio in a taxed account. * Invest everything (or at least more heavily) in Canadian dividend yielding equities in order to take advantage of the dividend tax credit. * Make a lump sum payment on a mortgage in order to pay that off faster * Put the money under a mattress so that one has cash on hand to buy a house when (lol) the housing bubble bursts. * Build truck equity
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2017 01:25
|
|
|
Femtosecond posted:Is there any consensus on what is the best investing strategy once one has maxed out their RRSP/TFSA? Housing
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2017 01:28
|
|
|
cowofwar posted:Housing Which of these two do you mean? quote:
I live in Vancouver so that down payment is gonna take a while...(especially if it's for a detached house) I guess there's another option: * Buy a cheaper condo for investment purposes and become a landlord. This is not super enticing to me at the moment because most condos in Vancouver strike me as very overvalued. On the more 'truck equity' side of financial responsibility I could save up for a dramatically shorter amount of time and buy some relatively cheaper bare land in the interior or on an island and build a cabin.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2017 01:51
|
|
|
Housing is too big to fail in Canada. It will get bailed out in one way or another.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2017 02:25
|
|
|
cowofwar posted:Housing is too big to fail in Canada. It will get bailed out in one way or another. Aren't some people in the US still underwater from 2008?
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2017 08:29
|
|
|
So, after resolving to not use paid tax software any more after some changes in my standby last year made me grumpy, I just found (& reported) a bug in StudioTax where it shortchanges me by the entire provincial portion of the credit for foreign income taxes paid, and it goes back years - I had 2014 installed and it's busted, and the affected T2209 form hasn't really been updated since before the first ever version of StudioTax was released. I wonder how much it cumulatively cost their users. It's a federal form that affects all provinces, but you need a) foreign taxes paid on investments and b) substantial non-refundable federal tax credits for it to make a non-negligible difference.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2017 09:52
|
|
|
edit: ^^^^ Run it through simpletax just for fun, see if it gets it right. It's free. Femtosecond posted:Is there any consensus on what is the best investing strategy once one has maxed out their RRSP/TFSA? Pretty sure "housing" was a joke answer. I think the usual guidance is to continue as you were. The two wrinkles I can think of once you leave tax sheltered accounts are: • Some investments are more favourably taxed than others, so it can make sense to shuffle which accounts hold what while maintaining your overall asset allocation. Sounds like you're already thinking about this. In practice this basically translates into "hold your bonds in a sheltered account". • There's some potentially annoying bookkeeping you have to do to track the adjusted cost base so you can correctly report capital gains. Here's a Canadian Couch Potato post about it. You might be able to avoid this for awhile by using regular contributions to rebalance, e.g. like this, because it only comes into play when you sell something. I'm pretty new at this and have never actually done anything with a taxable account so it's still theoretical for me. I'm sure someone will pipe up if I got something wrong here. pokeyman fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Apr 16, 2017 |
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2017 14:36
|
|
|
pokeyman posted:edit: ^^^^ You can even also run it through TurboTax for free - they only charge when you try to submit. I used to this back when my return used to be more complicated. StudioTax has never let me down though.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2017 17:08
|
|
|
pokeyman posted:• There's some potentially annoying bookkeeping you have to do to track the adjusted cost base so you can correctly report capital gains. Here's a Canadian Couch Potato post about it. You might be able to avoid this for awhile by using regular contributions to rebalance, e.g. like this, because it only comes into play when you sell something. This. Keep track of ACB if you ever plan on selling. It's a pain in the rear end to have to go back to determine the cost of any securities you've purchased, and you have no idea how many times my boss has to call a client's advisor to get the information he needs to calculate a true capital gain. Sometimes they'll give you a book value that includes the costs from any reinvested dividends, but it's always a good idea to have your numbers on hand. At least calculating ACB isn't hard. It just takes effort. Femtosecond posted:I guess there's another option: Even most of the landlords we do taxes for in Hamilton generally don't make much money on rentals. In fact, between mortgage interest, property tax, repairs & maintenance, etc. etc., they usually lose money (at least it's a deduction). Even if you plan to sell it for a gain eventually, the annual ROI may not justify the amount of time and effort you have to put in to get it back. The exception is if you hire family members (eg. children) who don't usually make a lot of money, and have them pay income at a lower rate.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2017 19:08
|
|
|
mojo1701a posted:Even most of the landlords we do taxes for in Hamilton generally don't make much money on rentals. In fact, between mortgage interest, property tax, repairs & maintenance, etc. etc., they usually lose money (at least it's a deduction). Even if you plan to sell it for a gain eventually, the annual ROI may not justify the amount of time and effort you have to put in to get it back. Oh yeah I totally agree. Rents have gone up quite a bit in Vancouver in the last two years, but I still can't see how any landlord is covering their costs factoring everything you've already mentioned. I've been told that strata fees in BC are quite low in comparison to the USA and Ontario as well, as developers set them initially low as a marketing tactic. $200/300 monthly fees, even in a no frills building, aren't likely to be enough to fully cover the depreciation of various building components, so there's going to be special assessments at some point too. Maybe there's some value to the concept as a form of diversification but that wouldn't matter as much until you're older. Femtosecond fucked around with this message at 20:07 on Apr 16, 2017 |
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2017 19:54
|
|
|
pokeyman posted:edit: ^^^^ Rick Rickshaw posted:You can even also run it through TurboTax for free - they only charge when you try to submit. I used to this back when my return used to be more complicated. StudioTax has never let me down though. I've now got three different answers from four different tax software families and StudioTax argues their behaviour is correct. Bit of fun with a situation that's outside the CRA's NETFILE certification tests, clearly.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2017 22:10
|
|
|
I know it's way too early for this, but it's still important for budgeting purposes. If I started a business last year and have to file taxes for it this year, what software should I use? Turbotax is like 250bux and that just seems like it's unreasonable to me (and probably comes with actual giant business bells and whistles).
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2017 00:17
|
|
|
I do it by hand because I'm a masochist. Also even though you don't have to file until June you still have to pay your taxes in April, so you might as well actually file in April because you're going to have to do all the work for it anyway.
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2017 00:37
|
|
|
Ernie. posted:I know it's way too early for this, but it's still important for budgeting purposes. I don't know what the real difference would be between most programs, but if it's simple enough to do yourself, I don't see why a T2125 would vary between programs.
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2017 00:47
|
|
|
Femtosecond posted:Oh yeah I totally agree. Rents have gone up quite a bit in Vancouver in the last two years, but I still can't see how any landlord is covering their costs factoring everything you've already mentioned. I've been told that strata fees in BC are quite low in comparison to the USA and Ontario as well, as developers set them initially low as a marketing tactic. $200/300 monthly fees, even in a no frills building, aren't likely to be enough to fully cover the depreciation of various building components, so there's going to be special assessments at some point too. Strata fees are low I BC because depreciation reports aren't mandatory so EVERYTHING is FINE until it isn't and you get a $20,000 special assessment for roofing (or one building I visited that had one for $100,000). There are a few complexes that have realized this is stupid and now charge a real strata fee but many that haven't. As long as you know that this is a 'feature' of BC stratas and plan for it you will be fine.
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2017 16:23
|
|
|
Kalenn Istarion posted:Strata fees are low I BC because depreciation reports aren't mandatory so EVERYTHING is FINE until it isn't and you get a $20,000 special assessment for roofing (or one building I visited that had one for $100,000). There are a few complexes that have realized this is stupid and now charge a real strata fee but many that haven't. As long as you know that this is a 'feature' of BC stratas and plan for it you will be fine. Almost everyone looks at property as an investment instead of a depreciable asset, so when that eventually happens, it fucks them hard.
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2017 16:25
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 19:04 |
|
|
mojo1701a posted:Almost everyone looks at property as an investment instead of a depreciable asset, so when that eventually happens, it fucks them hard. Yeah I left that part out but most people don't do this and this is when you see some panic sales of stratified units.
|
|
#
?
Apr 17, 2017 16:27
|
|