Questions tagged [canada]
For questions that relate to the financial laws, practices, and products of Canada.
134
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18
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3
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If I were to buy something a day before my due date for my credit card bill, would I be charged interest?
First of all, I am a resident of Canada.
I am new to credit cards, so I hope my question makes sense. I've had my card for a few months ago and I've always paid the balance in full by the time the ...
- 189
94
votes
12
answers
12k
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Where can I park my rainy-day / emergency fund? Savings accounts don't generate much interest
Savings accounts don't seem to generate much interest. What other options do I have for my emergency fund?
- 1,145
10
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6
answers
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Ontario harmonized sales tax (HST) transition benefit rebate cheques / OSTTB: Who, when, how much?
As part of introducing the HST this July 1st, 2010, the government of Ontario promised to issue special HST rebates to people meeting certain criteria, in order to ease the transition to the new tax.
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43
votes
4
answers
48k
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It is legal for a retailer/store or other business to refuse $50 & $100 bills or other legal tender, e.g. pennies?
I'm trying to find out about businesses refusing $50 & $100 bills. Aren't they required by law to accept all legal tender? I had one person say it could be that it's not all legal (i.e. a ...
- 431
48
votes
6
answers
9k
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How do tax brackets work? Do they yield significantly different results than a continuous curve?
In Canada (and many other countries), high-earners pay a greater percentage of their income in taxes than low-earners. Here is our Schedule 1 form:
The marginal utility of money decreases smoothly ...
- 479
18
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Regular contribution threshold for ETF vs Index Mutual Fund?
I've seen enough info out there comparing lump-sum investments into ETFs vs mutual funds with respect to broker commissions in the case of ETFs, and the discrepancy between MERs between the two. In ...
- 2,283
13
votes
4
answers
19k
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Bigger mortgage downpayment vs. paying extra on the first regular payment?
Assuming there is no fees on paying extra $10k at the time of the first scheduled mortgage payment, what would be better - to put this $10k towards a downpayment or make bigger regular payment?
...
- 893
7
votes
1
answer
392
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Ought a 63-year old working hotel employee commence an RRSP?
If I understood Global News, MoneySense, the Wealthy Barber, and Reddit, my dad ought NOT start or contribute to an RRSP! Right? Thanks.
Facts
He's 63 years old, and has no children under 18. He ...
user40269
6
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Sending money from Canada to the US
I want to transfer money to an American bank account, but I am in Canada. What is the cheapest way to do so?
MetaFilter has:
USPS mail order - $700 limit, $4 charge
Vanilla wire transfer (My bank ...
- 161
32
votes
9
answers
13k
views
Can I buy a new house before selling my current house?
I am looking to sell and buy a house. But with the current market being as crazy as it is (houses are selling fast for sometimes 150,000 over asking), I'm afraid if we sell first, we could be stuck ...
- 631
30
votes
1
answer
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I am a Canadian resident who wants to gift my Adult US child CAD$175K. What are the tax implications?
I am a Canadian resident who wants to gift my adult US child $175K Canadian. What are the tax implications for the US resident who resides in California?
- 271
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4
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I guess I'm American (by birth). I'm Canadian... my investment company is asking an impossible question. I don't have an SSN, what to do? Lie?
When I was born (1976) they did not automatically assign SSNs to kids (according to my mother). I guess that's not the case now. I only lived there for a few years and I gather I am a US citizen by ...
- 446
13
votes
3
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First time home hunters. Pay debt or save for down payment
tl;dr
We want to buy a house.
We've done all the pro's and con's of home ownership.
We have 1/2 a down payment and some highish loan payments
Would it be wiser to pay down the loans and go with a ...
- 285
11
votes
2
answers
929
views
TFSA vs. RRSP... Best retirement approach
What's the best retirement strategy? Assuming I have $1000 and room in both my TFSA and RRSP contribution, where should the $1000 go?
- 429
10
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4
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What low-fee & liquid exchange-traded index funds / ETFs should I consider holding in a retirement portfolio?
I'm still (one year later) going through an exercise to restructure my retirement portfolio.
To date, I've been using a mix of exchange-traded index funds. Some trade on the TSX, and others trade in ...
8
votes
3
answers
5k
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What is the best way of transferring money from American to Canadian bank? [closed]
I am a Canadian that will be working in US for some time. I will still have Canadian bills to pay, so I would need to regularly transfer US dollars from some US bank to my Canadian bank account in $...
- 893
7
votes
1
answer
43k
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Do personal cheques expire? [Canada]
In Canada, cheques issued by the Government of Canada do not expire. do personal cheques ever expire? If so, what is the limit before they need to be re-issued?
- 6,230
7
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3
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40k
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When does Ontario's HST come into effect?
When does the HST become effective? Will all businesses start charging HST right away, and will it replace the 5% GST with a straight 13% tax for all services?
- 1,410
6
votes
5
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Assuming you already have the money, how to tell when/which day of the month to pay off credit card balance?
Maybe this is a simple question but I have a really bad sense about these type of things. When I got my first credit card the teller "did me a favour" and said if I always paid it off in ...
- 1,119
3
votes
1
answer
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If I take a loss when I sell my car, can I claim a capital loss deduction on my income tax return?
If I sell my car off at a loss, can I write that loss off against my income to save on tax? Does it matter if the car was used just for personal leisure use, or if I used the car to generate business ...
- 16k
3
votes
2
answers
27k
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Ripped plastic Canadian currency/bills
Can a ripped Canadian Plastic Bill with 60% portion of the bill remaining containing both serial #s still get full value?
- 31
1
vote
1
answer
583
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How do Ontarians calculate optimal RRSP contribution?
Pls see my dad in Ontario's facts. He maxed out his TFSA, and his annual pre-tax income (henceforward "APTI") is $50K. CRA website shows his 2019 RRSP deduction limit is $100K.
If I ...
user40269
1
vote
1
answer
193
views
Are dual US-Canadian citizens in Canada required to pay US taxes on their donations to Canadian charities?
Suppose Gordon is a Canadian citizen resident who is also a US citizen.
Gordon earns $1,000,000 a year in net income from his Canadian executive job. He pays an overall rate of 40% in taxes.
Gordon ...
- 23
1
vote
1
answer
892
views
Do I pay taxes where I live, or where I work?
Why we need to pay taxes? Because society needs money for social service, police, education, roads, medicine and so on. Therefore we need to pay taxes where we live. For example we live in one country,...
- 740
1
vote
1
answer
229
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Where to start with personal finance in Canada?
This will obviously differ by situation, and might be overly broad, and very closely related to Where to start with personal finance?.
But how about some Canada specific answers?
Say you've reached ...
- 129
1
vote
1
answer
560
views
In Canada, how can I most easily/cheaply send money to a friend online?
I'm moving from Europe to Canada, and considering the high fees for wire transfers (the default, instantaneous, cheap, online method I've always used so far), what is the most economical way to send a ...
- 3,223
0
votes
2
answers
555
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Can I withdraw money from my rrsp if I made excess contribution by mistake?
If by mistake, I exceed the contribution limit to my RRSP, can I withdraw it from my RRSP, to avoid paying penalty?
e.g Let us say my RRSP room is 18k, but I contributed 22k, so any contribution in ...
- 16k
-1
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Difference between bank rate and prime rate
What is the difference between the bank rate and the prime rate? The prime rate is the rate at which banks lend each other money, but what is the bank rate?
- 16k
48
votes
12
answers
12k
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How can sister protect herself from impulse purchases with a credit card?
My little sister is 18, and currently has a bank account with a debit card. She and mom believe it might be time to get her a credit card, mostly to build up her credit rating than out of necessity.
...
- 463
40
votes
14
answers
12k
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Why would someone get a credit card with an annual fee?
I currently just have a Visa credit card. A place I shop at doesn't accept them. I'm looking at getting a second credit card such as Mastercard. I am surprised by how many highly recommended cards ...
- 1,119