|
Does anyone have a handy guide to the best Canadian credit cards? I read this entire thread, and I'm sorry if I missed it, but I've finally been working at my first full-time job for almost 8 months (after 6 years of university and 2 years of college). Hell, I literally bought my first smartphone today. I'm 28, still living with my parents, only really spending money on lunch and the odd purchase, so I'm planning on paying off my OSAP and max out a TFSA as soon as possible. Long story short, I'm looking for a general first-time credit card that would allow me to build some good credit and get some good rewards. I certainly don't plan on keeping a balance on it. Also, I work as a staff accountant in a tax accounting office, so I can at least add my voice to some of the more general tax questions that are asked (though I usually work on small corporate returns). I may not be able to answer questions 100%, but I can at least point in the general direction.
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2015 04:27
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 17:31 |
|
|
cowofwar posted:MBNA smart cash mastercard (2% cash back gas/groceries) or scotia momentum visa infinite (4% gas/groceries but needs 60k income). Thanks, I'll definitely have to take a look at that. I'm still banking with Scotia, and when I finally switched my savings account to a high-interest one, I mentioned that I'd probably be looking for a credit card. After having read this thread, I'll have to politely tell them, "Thanks, but no thanks." Unfortunately, I don't quite qualify for $60k yet. Maybe once I get my CPA (I'll be registering for that soon). Golluk posted:Mind weighing in on my questions a few posts up about when to claim RSP deductions? To be honest, I'm not sure that I could say much more. I'm still trying to think as to whether or not the future tax savings are worth the loss of current investing power (one of the rules of financial planning is that tax planning is always a secondary concern). I'm still relatively new to the gig, so I don't really deal with RRSPs all that much, and I'd rather not say anything stupid (or worse, useless or obvious). In fact, I'd say that if someone disagrees, please let me know. I'm here to learn more than anything. If anything, I can ask my boss or a coworker on Monday. Like I said, my job's mostly corporate returns (and I don't do super-complicated ones yet). As for the HBP, it's not the best idea because of the payback restriction, but if you think it won't be a problem, it's a better idea than taking money out of a TFSA since either way, you'll be losing out on investment gains, and the RRSP's will eventually be taxed anyway.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2015 06:20
|
|
|
Kal Torak posted:Scotia and high interest don't exactly go together. Well, it was originally just some bank accounts that my dad set up for me, and I've been coasting on it ever since (right now, it's a whopping 0.8% annual return). It was one of my first steps of getting everything sorted. I'm also looking at new banks right now, too. But for now, the credit card's a priority over that. Also, you're right. It's a small public accounting firm with about 4 people. Oddly enough, I've only been working there 8 months and I'm now technically the second-most full-time senior staff member. Sassafras posted:It's been a couple years since I surveyed the scene exhaustively, but back then, the very best credit card for people with lower incomes (15k requirement) was RBC's cash-back Mastercard. 2% on groceries, 0.5% --> 1.0% on everything else. Check it out here. Based on the very low income requirement, I assume that they issue it even to people with no significant credit history, but if not, you might be stuck just getting a mediocre no-frills one from Scotiabank and paying your bills reliably for 6-12 months before you can upgrade to something else. Well, my income's a little over $40k, so that should be no problem.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2015 15:05
|
|
|
Some good news to Canadian income tax filers! Due to a gently caress-up in which they accidentally declared the wrong deadline, the Canada Revenue Agency has decided to stick with its mistake and has extended its deadline to May 5th at 3:00am. Cross-posted from the CanPol megathread.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2015 17:50
|
|
|
I apologize if this has already been covered, but: I finally applied for the MBNA SmartCash credit card, but I was declined. I got a letter the week after saying it was due to my lack of revolving credit. What's my next step? Should I just go to my bank, get whatever card I can from them, use it as much as I can for six months and try again? I'm 28 years old, but I've never had to deal with anything like this (and my parents were never any help at all).
|
|
#
¿
Jul 3, 2015 17:54
|
|
|
Baronjutter posted:Why do you want that exact card? I don't want that exact card. It was just the recommendation that I got. I'll take any other recommendations, but considering my credit isn't exactly that well-established, I'm probably limited.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 3, 2015 18:57
|
|
|
Baronjutter posted:That amazon card a bunch of us got was ridiculously easy to get and seems to give pretty good rewards. Ooh I'll check it out. I was looking at that one too for Amazon purchases and foreign travel. Speaking of which, is there anything that I should know about using a credit card in other countries? (Remember, I'm pretty far behind when it comes to credit card knowledge).
|
|
#
¿
Jul 3, 2015 19:15
|
|
|
Weird BIAS posted:X posting from the newbie thread Most of this would probably be best if you talk to a live accountant, but yeah, if you're looking to write off expenses related to it, you'll need to start filing as an unincorporated business. It's not that difficult, but filing a T2125 (and whatever the Albertan equivalent is) requires a bit of record-keeping on your part.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 3, 2015 22:08
|
|
|
James Baud posted:Otherwise, make sure you file a copy of every single receipt and invoice! Ideally roughly organized and not just in a shoebox. This is very important: if you take it to an accountant, they will probably charge more than you hope for just because someone like me has to root through receipts for things. I did three years of back taxes for a client that buys and sells rental properties, and he handed three years' worth of receipts (segregated by year at least) in shopping bags, and at least half of my billable hours was spent just segregating them into repairs & maintenance, food, etc., and then adding them all up.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 4, 2016 17:33
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2016 01:52
|
|
|
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 |
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2016 21:03
|
|
|
Bilirubin posted:You will set up all of your transactions via TD Easybank, and it will be totaled and withdrawn from the associated bank that day if before 3 pm eastern, or the following day if after. Thanks. I get really nervous when don't have someone to ask directly. On a similar note, I can't find the recommendations anymore for bank accounts. Scotia's gouging me like you wouldn't believe (actually, you would), and I think I've narrowed it down to Tangerine and PC Financial: both offer similar benefits for chequing and savings (0.8% currently for both: Tangerine triples that for 6 months, but I shop a lot at PC stores), and I'm having a hard time deciding which one. I'm leaning towards PC Financial as they have a branch inside of a Fortino's that's right near my office, and a coworker of mine had a terrible time with Tangerine after her husband passed.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 3, 2016 22:57
|
|
|
My e-series TFSA is finally set up, so I owe you all a bunch of thanks! However, I have another question: I'm looking to transfer a large sum of money from my Scotia account to my PC Financial account, and it seems that e-transfers have a $3,000 limit. Is there a better (or at least cheaper than $1 for $3,000, if not easier) way to send... say, $20k to a new account?
|
|
#
¿
May 2, 2016 19:08
|
|
|
Kal Torak posted:Write yourself a cheque. Oh, I forgot to mention that I can't. I only got a few cheques from when I first opened the account, and I've used them all up a couple of years ago.
|
|
#
¿
May 2, 2016 19:56
|
|
|
Golluk posted:Can you set your PC account up as a bill payment in your Scotia account? That's how I move cash from my PC checking account to my TD Waterhouse TFSA. Takes 1-3 days, but I've moved 10K no problem. I already have it with my TFSA and my PC account, but I'll have to look into that for chequing-to-chequing transfers in the future. Thanks! In the meantime, update! I dug deep in my room and found the remaining initial blank counter cheques I got when I first opened the account 12 years ago. I wrote a cheque for $30k, cashed it that same day via my phone. I got a call from Scotia two days later, asking if I indeed wrote the cheque. Good to know they actually followed up on that. I became a new signing authority (one of three) at a not-for-profit institution last year, along with a new president for 2015. After registering ourselves at TD, we found out that the president that took over in the year before that (ie. for 2014) wasn't officially registered and had no actual authority.
|
|
#
¿
May 12, 2016 16:42
|
|
|
sbaldrick posted:I somehow made money in one of my funds but everything else was down an average of 3% Same here. Until this morning, anyway.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 25, 2016 17:53
|
|
|
Baronjutter posted:It ain't spending money until it's liquid, and it's not a loss you need to worry about until you plan on cashing out. Which is why, when I took accounting in school, we had it hammered into our heads that a good net income does not mean good cash flow.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 29, 2016 02:55
|
|
|
Aagar posted:Jesus tap-dancing Christ, I knew they were bad, but average maybe 0.5% since 2008? I really should have done a quick Google before recommending them. I thought they'd at least keep pace with a GIC, which seems to be on par with a high-interest savings account. Really? Holy poo poo, my PC Financial savings account is paying 0.8% (not including whatever temporary perks they throw at me).
|
|
#
¿
Aug 23, 2016 17:13
|
|
|
Pop-o-Matic Trouble posted:Are there any good low-fee chequing accounts out there, and is it worth it to switch to one? I'm currently with TD, but they're charging 10.95 monthly with the fee being waived if I maintain a 3000$ balance throughout the month. That seems awfully high to me, and I'd rather that 3000$ be invested in something. I've been using PC Financial for the past few months, and it's been treating me right so far. I signed up at the nearby Fortinos after work, and it was pretty drat easy. ATM's in most Loblaws stores, CIBC network, free cheques (which I still need to use for some reason), and not only do they not charge me fees out the rear end like my Scotia account, but there's even a minor interest rate on my chequing account. I even included their overdraft protection, which I was told would charge me only $4.50 if I went into overdraft, (but would cover the entire month), and it only charged me $0.22.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 12, 2016 15:34
|
|
|
Rick Rickshaw posted:Anyone else manage to buy the dip last week? I shovelled $4000 into VXC after the dip last week and it seems to have paid off. 10 month high today! I noticed my US and international funds were suspiciously low and I put in another $1,500 each. I know I shouldn't watch them daily, but I like seeing numbers.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 27, 2016 14:45
|
|
|
Jeez you guys aren't kidding. My original plan was to raise my portfolio from $15k to $20k before the end of the year (same as the amount remaining in my student loan), but I decided to add an extra $3k before October into US and world e-series. My plan was to start off 2017 with my TFSA having the same principal as my student loan and see if I could beat its after-tax rate within a year. Instead, I've already beaten it with my purchases sprinkled in since May. Wow. (I hope that makes sense).
|
|
#
¿
Nov 10, 2016 16:02
|
|
|
PittTheElder posted:0% Canada. Anthem of this thread right here.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 9, 2017 22:41
|
|
|
Electrical Fire posted:Wow, a Tangerine savings account has 0.8% interest with no fees. That's laughably low. My aunt dropped by on Monday to ask me for some advice about what to do about some money she's invested in her son's name. All she had was $7,000 in a GIC at TD paying 1% and $23,000 in a very conservative TD mutual fund. No amount of basic financial advisor questions would get her to overcome the "I want no risk" that she believes she needs, especially since her (I assume majority bond-based) mutual fund is not going to perform better than that GIC. Hell, I told her she'd be better off setting up a savings account at PC Financial like I did. It'll be 0.2% points less than the GIC, but at least it won't be locked away, AND they sometimes give offers of higher rates on new deposits. Sorry, I just had to vent that frustration of explaining risk:return to someone who's deathly afraid of "losing money".
|
|
#
¿
Feb 22, 2017 19:11
|
|
|
grack posted:Having a low risk tolerance is fine but she's refusing to consider any other alternatives out of fear, not for any reason related to her personal (or son's) situation. That is, in fact, irrational. Yeah, that's basically it. She set up an account for him in trust (he's now 18), but has no idea when she's going to tell him, no idea what else to do with the money... it was just frustrating to explain that you're not going to get better than a GIC if you're incredibly risk-averse, and yet was still afraid that her very conservative mutual fund had lost 1% in the last quarter. Meanwhile mine just broke 10% over the past year (if you assume I put all my money in at the beginning of March instead of sporadically investing it a few grand at a time over the year). Still, I've had better luck explaining things to her other son (he's just a few months younger than I am, working overtime like crazy, and spends very little money).
|
|
#
¿
Feb 24, 2017 02:57
|
|
|
Yeah, the HBP is only really beneficial in certain edge cases. I mean, it ideally is supposed to let you save some mortgage interest by withdrawing from a savings plan without it being deemed income (and sacrificing any gains in that plan), but any market-based plan should have a higher return than any mortgage interest saved. Not to mention that most people won't use it to lower their principal and will instead just increase their asking price. Not to mention the added pressure of having to repay it over 15 years. BrainBot posted:Employer matching would be the main reason I can think of. Everywhere I've heard of only does matching on RRSPs and not TFSAs. Employee matching is supposed to be a benefit in lieu of a pension, so I'm not surprised it doesn't include TFSA's. It also saves the employer from having to figure out a taxable benefit on your T4.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 6, 2017 20:03
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
Femtosecond posted:Now at least depreciation reports are sort of required in that you have to have a AGM vote to NOT have a depreciation report done. Obviously if you're looking into buying into a building and you spot that on their AGM minutes then that's a huge red flag. Yeesh, there's so much bullshit to deal with in owning a condo, I think I'd rather just buy a chateau in France and save the money.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 17, 2017 18:57
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:Tax-related-sort-of question: if you directly hold shares in a foreign company (versus holding them in a fund or something), do you have to enumerate each one with highest cost over the year and so forth, on the T1135? That seems so onerous that I want to believe that I'm interpreting it incorrectly. Do you really own more than $100,000 worth of foreign shares? Either way, if it's like S3, then probably no. They just need country codes and totals. If they ask for it you'll have to provide it, probably. Caveat: I don't deal with the T1135 generally, but I assume that if you own more than $100,000 in foreign property, you can afford an accountant to tell you.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2017 19:10
|
|
|
Kal Torak posted:With how the market has taken off, I could see a lot of people who had portfolios with AMZN, GOOG, AAPL, etc. now having to file the T1135. And I don't think you should need to hire an Accountant just to file that one form. If I'm reading it correctly, it's asking to report cost, not fair market value (which would be terrible to determine if it's not publicly-traded securities every year).
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2017 19:21
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:Yes, I do. I have an accountant, but I still have to chase down the maximums and finals and income for each different stock. My accountant isn't going to do that for me, I'm pretty sure. Again, if I understand it correctly, the "maximum" is the max cost throughout the year, taking into account any acquisitions or dispositions. So even if you got under the $100,000 threshold at the end of the year, you still have to report it.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2017 19:29
|
|
|
Kal Torak posted:I'm pretty sure you need to report max FMV: After reading that, yes, If you're recording it in category 7, then you need FMV, but under the brokerage total itself. If so, then you just need the FMV at year-end, which is just the year-end FMV total off of any statements you have. If not, then just max cost, but you'll probably have to record them individually. I just looked at a client of ours that has shares in US limited partnerships, and we've recorded theirs individually, but we also had forms with cost and income.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2017 19:39
|
|
|
By the way, I'm glad people here will call me on something that I've said is wrong. I'm far from an expert, so it's a nice learning experience.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2017 19:43
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:Oh thank god, my financial advisor can run a T1135 report for me. You have no idea how many times we have to call someone's advisor (or have the clients do it themselves) for capital gains. We can download T5008's for capital dispositions, but they almost never have the cost base. It's a pain in the rear end.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2017 19:45
|
|
|
Kal Torak posted:Yeah, but I'd also say that because of these requirements now, the Advisors have gotten a lot better at tracking and reporting at least some of this information. We have a few corporations that we actually track for them, but I still wonder how a T5008 can be spit out with the POD but not the actual ACB.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2017 20:05
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:Oh, I got all that stuff. 23 pieces of paper this year for taxes, and there are a few left to come. Thankfully, if we at least get a summary of dispositions, we just write that total and save the hassle. E-file doesn't transmit specifics.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2017 20:16
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:mojo1701a and others: what you recommend asking an accountant one is considering working with? Afraid I can't recommend much, as I only have experience just doing the returns my boss hands to me. Having said that, if you're looking for an accountant, it might be a good idea to figure out what kind of work you need done, and then seeing how familiar they are with that area of expertise. My bosses are usually pretty clear on where their strengths lie, since taking something that they're not familiar with becomes a colossal pain in the rear end. Usually they'll go to the partner that's more experienced with whatever a client needs (though we default to the younger partner since the older one's close to retirement). Most of our clients these days come from referrals, and I can tell you that the clients that we've gotten that were not happy with previous accountants figured it out pretty quickly (relatively, at least. They usually realize something after a 2nd or 3rd year at most). Honest to God, I once had to clean up a corporation whose previous accountants issued financial statements where the balance sheet wasn't even balanced. And not, like, a rounding error of a buck. I'm talking thousands of dollars.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 29, 2017 22:45
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 17:31 |
|
|
cowofwar posted:Pay off your debts. Yeah, the only real benefit to not paying off a LOC is if you're going to take that money and invest it instead in something at a higher rate of return than the credit (like me with investing surplus instead of paying off my student loan). I mean, nothing wrong with, say, taking a small portion for some immediate fun, but if you ever want to borrow that money again, it'll be there instead of still owing.
|
|
#
¿
May 2, 2017 16:45
|
|