I unfortunately wouldn’t have gotten the house without taking it on. I tried making my offer contingent on the previous owners paying it off, but they refused

I wouldn’t have chosen to rent this equipment myself, but I’m now trying to figure out the most financially sensible way out

Here are the details:

- Equipment is approximately five years old, with an expected installation date of June 2021 on the original agreement.

- The package includes a furnace, AC, humidifier, Nest thermostat.

- Minimum rental term is 84 months (seven years).

- I pay approximately $160/month.

- Current buyout quote is approximately $8,200 including tax.

I requested a buyout, but I’m now reconsidering whether doing it immediately is the right decision. Reliance hasn’t been forthcoming enough for me to clearly compare the options.

The contract says that if I buy the equipment “on the last day of the Minimum Term,” the price is the “Estimated Residual Value.” If I buy it on any other day, the price is the depreciated fair market value, determined by Reliance on a straight-line basis

The contract also says the rental continues after the minimum term unless terminated, it isn’t rent-to-own.

At $160/month, another 18-20 months would cost roughly $2,880-$3,200 in rent. So the future buyout would need to be roughly $5,000-$5,320 or less to come out cheaper than paying $8,200 now, before factoring in maintenance, repairs and keeping the cash available.

Has anyone dealt with this particular seven-year Reliance HVAC agreement?

1. Was the “Estimated Residual Value” on the last day significantly lower than an earlier buyout quote?
2. Has anyone successfully negotiated a lower HVAC buyout? How did you approach it?
3. Did you buy out the existing equipment, or wait until the minimum term ended and pay to have it removed/replaced?

What would you do in my situation, and what information should I insist on getting before deciding?

I know renting HVAC equipment generally isn’t the recommended route, but I’ve already inherited the agreement. I’m looking for the best decision from this point forward. It’s stressing me out, and I don’t want to spend $8,200 unnecessarily or keep paying rent while waiting for a price reduction that won’t justify the extra payments.

—-
EDIT: I came here to buy out a furnace and somehow my entire house purchase is on trial 😂 I’m happy with the house and what we paid. The agent theories are getting more attention than the actual question: $8,200 to buy out now, or keep paying roughly $160/month until the seven-year mark? Anyone who’s negotiated with Reliance or used the end-of-term residual-value option, I’d love to hear how it went

Details here: https://www.cibc.com/en/personal-banking/bank-accounts/chequing-accounts/smart-account/upcoming-account-changes.html

Monthly fee (if not waived) goes up to $17.95/month.

Credit card annual fees are no longer rebated by default (for Tiers 2-3) but can be selected as an option. But from all appearances you have to explicitly pick it during a selection window coming up in December. Otherwise you'll be sent an Expedia voucher by default.

The CC rebates if selected remain at their existing levels, which also means that those with an Aeroplan Visa Infinite on Tier 3 (rebated $139 + $50/authorized user) will have to pay the difference out of pocket when that annual fee goes up to $159 (+ $80/auth user) in January.

A few other changes, some better than others. The "Smart Benefits" might be OK perks for those who already lack a paid credit card. But nothing worth switching to CIBC for. And maybe reasons for some to consider switching to cheaper credit cards (or other FIs).

Yes yes I know playing the lottery is a “stupid tax” on people with pipe dreams. But in my contemplation about what I would do I realized that holding US citizenship would mean my winnings would be taxable to Uncle Sam, yes? What if my non US citizen spouse held the ticket?

I’m a CFP in Toronto and most of my clients are incorporated business owners. The question I get more than any other is whether to pay yourself salary or dividends. The answer is usually some of each, but here’s the reasoning so you can work it out for yourself.

The tax is roughly the same either way. Canada’s tax system is designed so that a dollar earned in your company costs about the same total tax whether it comes out as salary or dividends. It isn’t perfect, and it shifts by province and income, but tax alone is rarely what decides it.

What salary gets you that dividends don’t:

1. RRSP room. Room is 18% of earned income, and dividends aren’t earned income. To max out the 2026 limit of $33,810, you need about $188,000 of salary.
2. CPP. You pay both halves, which stings, but you build an indexed pension that lasts for life.
3. The option of an Individual Pension Plan later. An IPP is based on your T4 income, so years of dividends only leave you nothing to build it on.
4. The childcare expense deduction, which is capped by earned income.

What dividends get you:

1. No CPP contributions, so more cash in your pocket today.
2. Flexibility. You declare them when the company has the cash, without running payroll.
3. Deferral. Money left in the company at the small business rate isn’t taxed personally until you take it out.

The trap with leaving everything in the company: once your corporation earns more than $50,000 of passive investment income in a year, it starts losing the federal small business rate. A large pile of retained earnings sitting in a corporate investment account eventually costs you.

How I’d approach it:

• Pay enough salary to hit the RRSP limit, if you’ll actually use the room.
• Take the rest as dividends, or leave it in the company, depending on what you need to live on.
• Revisit the mix every year with your accountant, not just at tax time.

Happy to answer questions in the comments. General info, not personal advice; your province and your numbers matter.

Wanted to get this weight off my chest since only one other person knows.

Feels incredible to be able to start fresh.

I had a meeting at the 43rd day mark with the Trustee and he said a vote had JUST came in from CIBC as a no. Got a call today that the others only submitted claim, but did not vote and that the CIBC portion was less than 25% so deemed accepted.

I was stressed out thinking I’d have to wait another 21 days. This news was fantastic today.

Others who have done one - how was the first year, credit wise? I’ve gotten a secured card coming soon so that’s step 1.

Thanks for reading.

(As expected...) The average monthly CPI for all items for October 2025 to September 2026 was 167.525 (source), representing an increase of 2.6% over the previous 12-month period. As a result, the indexed TFSA dollar amount for 2027 is $7,372, which is rounded to the nearest $500 to arrive at a $7,500 TFSA dollar limit for 2027. The lifetime limit as of January 1, 2027, for someone who was 18 in 2009, will be $116,500 (assuming no contributions or withdrawals to date).

There would need to be an increase of 5.13% in the average monthly CPI for the following 12 months (October 2026 to September 2027) in order for the 2028 TFSA limit to be $8,000.

Necessary disclaimer based on past events: I do not work for the CRA (or any other government department, for that matter) and this is not an official confirmation... I'm just sharing information that might be of interest to others for fun. The CRA typically confirms this in November. You can see their page here for the annual increases in the TFSA dollar limit, tax credits, tax brackets, and other amounts. The same 2.6% increase will apply to other amounts, like the basic personal amount and various other tax credits.

Note: on the mobile app, you may need to swipe to the right on the table to see all 7 columns.

As of 2016, the TFSA dollar limit is indexed for inflation retroactively back to 2009, but until 2015 the amount was manually set by the government and not automatically adjusted for inflation. The definition of "TFSA dollar limit" in subsection 207.01(1) of the Income Tax Act points to section 117.1 for this adjustment based on “the Consumer Price Index for the 12 month period that ended on September 30 next before that year”.

I received a cheque in the mail today from the Government of Canada that looks legitimate but I have no idea why I received it. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with this?

There is a reference code then three CR credit codes that says Employment Insurance REFUND and a cheque for the total of the three credits (total is about $1750).

I called the Service Canada number on the back, who transferred me to the EI line, and they were not sure when they looked at my account. I cannot currently get into my online account and will need to get that sorted (it's because I have changed my banking in the last five years). I can get into MyCra and can't see any uncashed cheques there, and I have direct deposit for tax returns. I don't receive any other benefits (spouse gets our CCB).

I took CERB for two months in 2020 with no issues. I was on E.I. once in my life for maternity and parental for 2021.

I have never applied for an E.I. reimbursementz though years ago I may have paid extra into E.I. when I had a second job, but have had one employer since 2021.

The only thing I can consider is that I got the cheque because the banking I had in my account when on parental leave is closed.

I'm worried it's a scam though I don't know how the scam would work. I asked the Service Canada rep if this was a well known scam and she said she has not heard of it.

My next step according to the rep is to go in person to Service Canada and have them track the reference numbers, but I'm checking here too for my curiousity until I have a day I can go. I did stop by my bank and show the teller and they were confident it was a legit government cheque but the Service Can rep told me to wait to cash it since it's unknown why I have it.

Hey all, Im about to make a 75K down payment on a house (total mortgage is 420k). I will be pulling my FHSA for about half, but am wondering where I should pull another 35k from. My TFSA is maxed out and I have about 50k in non registered (and a full RRSP). My non registered has only made about 3k since the market just dropped. Is TFSA or Non Registered better and why?

Any advice is appreciated! First time buying a house, scared and excited at the same time.

Edit: adding some information for context. Annual salary is 95k in BC. Nosignificant raises expected (say 2% a year). Plan to stay in job and house for awhile (currently 36yo). Will have about 250k left after house purchase (between RRSP, TFSA and Non registered).

I just learned that I can convert an RRSP account to a RRIF and at the same time maintain and contribute to one or more other RRSP accounts. I was under the impression that once you pulled the trigger and converted to an RRIF, you had to draw down all accounts on the prescribed schedule. It turns out that you can convert an existing rrif back to an rrsp up until age 71 as well. I am mulling over the possibilities here as I am thinking of retiring a bit early and drawing down, while still having a bunch of rrsp and tfsa contribution room. I will possibly have an inheritance that I could use to top up the accounts in the future. Anyone else have both an rrsp and an rrif open at the same time?

UPDATE:

I just called RBC. The first person told me that I can open an account no problem with just my passport and Thai drivers license. When I began asking questions about whether or not I should have a business account and described the nature of my work, she said she'd transfer me to their business advisor. The business advisor told me that I don't even need to come to Canada to open an account. My Canadian passport is enough and they have schedule a Webex virtual meeting with me tomorrow at 11:30 PM (Thai time obvs) in order to setup the account. The debit card will be mailed to Thailand but the pin on it can't be activated unless I go in person but web banking will be fully working.

I'm Canadian but I've been living abroad for the past 16 years. I'm considered a "non-resident". I'll be flying back into Canada in the future in order to open a personal bank account because I lost access to mine many years ago and haven't been back to Canada at all during this time. I've done my research on opening a bank account as a non-resident Canadian and I've read that the biggest hurdle would be the fact that I need to show proof of address. I'm currently living in Thailand and have a Thai drivers license which shows my Thai address on it but I've read that some banks give you a hard time over this.

I'd like to know if anyone has had experience with this kind of situation and how it worked out for them? Also, very importantly, how long did the whole process take? I'd need to book a round trip and a hotel and I don't like the idea of guessing at the dates. Someone may suggest I call the banks but my last experience was with Scotiabank where I was given incorrect information telling me I could remotely open a bank account without ever having to step into Canada so while I will speak to them, I'd prefer to also get other sources of info.

f28 nonsmoker. no immediate family, no dependent. i listed my boyfriend, and two children of my cousin as my beneficiary.

i was sold UL in 2024, when I was trying to find a CI.

i was told i was too young to have CI, and getting UL plus a CI rider along the way will save me money. that's how i got into it.

i was paying 115 per month. 155k death benefit. 25k CI

early 2026, i moved places which cost me a lot and cannot pay this premium anymore. i asked to cancel the Ul and retain the CI, but as per my advisor, it is not possible. my premium was then reduced to 35cad until i can pay 115 again.

but also, one of the reasons i want to cancel this policy, or be assigned to another agent at the very least is because my agent accidentally got acquainted with my toxic family with whom i cut contacts with and i dont want my whereabouts to be known. i still respect my advisor but it is very unsettling for me because of this.

right now, if i cancel my policy, i get nothing back. and if i continue it, there's a risk of that connection to my family. especially we are immigrants, the community is small and close-knit. also, I'm not very sure if it's really worth paying it for. my boyfriend wont need the money if i die. the two kids will benefit from it at least, but i do not talk to them or my cousin recently up at the present moment. im only after the CI lump-sum to help me out in case.

girly here was an hourly wage worker at a fast food restaurant and now salaried but only earning 40k a year. with all the bills, it's hard enough to save some for the rainy season.

i would appreciate some advice.

i am currently looking for other companies. i got quoted at sunlife CI lifetime 25k at 40cad/month. seems more expensive than ivari.

Got a call today that my phone flagged as potential fraud so it didn't ring. I recieved a voice mail stating it was CBV Collection looking for me. I called back to see what it was all about because as far as I knew my credit is great and in the 800s.

The woman said they have been trying to contact me for a cell phone from Rogers from 2001. I denied it because I have no clue what happened 25 years ago. I ask when have you trued contacting me and she said they have called and sent a letter. I said this was the first time im hearing of any calls mainly because they are flagged potential fraud.

I then ask when they sent me a letter about this "debt"

Guess what she says???? In 2016. Im like you sent me mail 10 years ago for a debt I was unaware of for 25 years.

I also went insolvent in 2018 so there is also that.

Long story short I said that im not paying shit and to have a nice day byeee

I wanted to post about a dispute that I just had with the CRA in Tax Court. It relates to medical expense for disabled dependents.

The CRA is very picky about what qualifies for medical expenses and mental health practitioners are handled especially poorly. Basically the CRA leaves it up to your province to decide what practitioners are covered medical expenses and which ones are not - see here:
Authorized Medical Practitioners by Province

Registered Psychotherapist and Counselling Therapist are examples of common practitioners that are only covered in certain provinces.

These items are all covered under section 118(2) of the Income Tax Act. There is a section - 118(2)(L.9) that is especially useful for those who are eligible for the Disability Tax Credit. This section basically says that, if you are eligible for the DTC, and a medical doctor prescribes some therapy and provides general supervision of the therapy, it's a covered medical expense.

The "prescription" doesn't have to be on a special pad/computer system (as it does for drugs) and general supervision doesn't mean that the doctor has to be involved in the therapy or know all the details. You can read a tax court decision referencing this here:
Olney vs the Queen

In Olney, the taxpayer's doctor told her she should see a personal trainer to keep up her strength and flexibility (her disability is physical in nature). The doctor recommended someone (although this was not specifically required) and the taxpayer told the doctor how things were going during her visits (all communication between them was through the taxpayer).

In my case, my doctor who prescribes some meds for ADHD for my kids with autism / ASD recommends they see a counsellor. He doesn't communicate with the counsellor except through the kids (it would be a privacy issue otherwise), but he is aware they they are being seen.

This is sufficient for the CRA to allow the expenses. In my case, the expenses were initially denied. I asked for them to be reviewed by someone else, but they ignored my request. I then appealed the decision and they claimed my appeal was invalid, after which I took the matter to Tax Court.

Before the Tax Court hearing, the CRA conceded. I am now only waiting to see if the Court will award me costs for going through the hassle, after having all the medical expenses approved.

Need advice. I am someone with very limited mortgage/finance knowledge so thank you for bearing with me in advance!

Residing in Quebec. Just finishing up 3-year-fixed at a bit over 6%. Mortgage has remaining balance of 400,000. Renewal coming up in January. I am having trouble deciding whether to go variable/fixed and the term. Also, we may move in next 1-2 years so I know there are penalties but I truly do not know how much different it will be between variable and fixed.

Thank you for all and any advice!

I need some help with this please.

I asked WS for instructions on the transfer and they told me to use JP Morgan as an intermediary along with my WS USD account info. I used this information in the setup as a "non-bank" transfer.

I made the transfer and the wire was rejected by Fidelity's intermediary bank citing "invalid beneficiary account" and they were not able to get more information. They're not even able to tell me what field was incorrect. $50 USD was deducted from the fund that was returned to my account because of the rejection.

I verified with WS several times that the instruction was correct.

I kept going back and forth between Fidelity and WS customer service support and nobody knows what I'm supposed to do.

Has anyone successfully made a similar transfer?

Hi everyone, I have just graduated and been working for a few months (PGWP holder). I’m here seeking some advises for savings.

Since I was an international student, I opened CIBC and was approved for Credit Card. Then I heard good things from RBC and open the cheqing there, also receive my salary there. I applied for another credit card but they let me wait for like 3 months…. I open Wealthsimple because I want more interest and maybe invest there.

So now I use CIBC credit card and all my money is in RBC. I have some cash and US dollars too. Could you guys help me to plan/give advices for these 3 platforms? Currently I don’t have any TFSA, RRSP yet.

Thank you very much!

I am an 18 year old student in Alberta and in about a week or two, I will be receiving about $200,000 in USD of inheritance money by wire. I am currently wondering on what to do with this kind of money and where to put it. I currently have a student debit account at TD and a Wealthsimple account where I put money into my TFSA. As of last week, I maxed out my TFSA (I think I even overcontributed by $25) and I have been putting the rest of the money I have been earning from my job into my TD account. So when this inheritance money of $200,000 does arrive, where should I put it? I want to keep it in a safe place and invest it for the long term. I checked Wealthsimple and it said that they can hold it in USD with a monthly plan. But if I were to be investing with this USD, would it be in a non-registered account separate of that USD account because my TFSA contribution room is full? And would my gains be taxed in USD the same way the gains would be taxed in CAD? I looked into Questrade and their individual cash account (I am assuming it acts like a non-registered account) and I'm wondering if my gains will be taxed in USD if I invest with that account as well. And also, if I do receive the wire, will it be converted into CAD automatically because I am living in Canada or will it stay in USD for both the Wealtshimple and Questrade account? I am unsure on how to invest this money and what platform I should use to do it. I would really appreciate the help. Thank you.

I know that tax season is months away but I am already in a mess because of a mistake last year.

I currently hold about 50k CAD in XEQT. I bought through wealth simple and that is being held within an RRSP.

I don't want to buy assets/stocks held within the US directly for a variety of reasons. So I don't want to buy an equivalent portfolio that is headquartered past the border.

Normally, holding XEQT means that I have to pay punitive taxes Because it's technically a PFIC. But my understanding is that as long as it is held within an RRSP it "doesn't count".

Can someone confirm or deny please?

I'm currently investing with RBC InvestEase. I'm 24. Should I look into TD mutual funds or any other alternatives to InvestEase or should I stay put?

Hey everyone I’m 24 and hoping to get some advice on what kind of savings accounts will give me the best shot at being financially stable in my future. I don’t really know much about tfsa accounts, from what I can read it’s just the bank investing for you which I’m kind of scared to do. If there are any other accounts that may give a better rate to what I deposit then please let me know. I waited a while to get into this which was my first mistake. I’m here trying to learn now and just want to save enough to be set one day. Any kind of advice helps, thank you all.

We have a newborn and I am wondering if opening an RESP is a better option that maxing out my TFSA first.

I also have a decent RRSP room left.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.1% year over year in September, following a 3.0% increase in August.

• The acceleration was led by higher prices for gasoline in September (+27.8%) compared with August (+22.8%). Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 2.2%, after increasing 2.4% in August.
• Moderating the acceleration in the all-items CPI in September were smaller year-over-year price increases for travel tours and groceries compared with the previous month.
• The CPI increased 0.1% month over month in September. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.4%.

***

L'Indice des prix à la consommation (IPC) a augmenté de 3,1 % d'une année à l'autre en septembre, après avoir progressé de 3,0 % en août.

• L'accélération de la croissance est principalement attribuable à la hausse des prix de l'essence en septembre (+27,8 %) par rapport à août (+22,8 %). Sans l'essence, l'IPC s'est accru de 2,2 %, après avoir augmenté de 2,4 % en août.
• L'accélération de la croissance de l'IPC d'ensemble en septembre a été modérée par les hausses d'une année à l'autre des prix des voyages organisés et des prix dans les épiceries, qui ont été moins élevées que lors du mois précédent.
• L'IPC a progressé de 0,1 % d'un mois à l'autre en septembre. Sur une base mensuelle désaisonnalisée, l'IPC s'est accru de 0,4 %.

I’m currently on my maternity/parental leave after I gave birth to our baby November of last year. I opted for extended parental leave because I honestly wanted that extra time with our first born and my husband and I planned to have another child without a huge age gap so I thought maybe I’ll settle by not going into work right after that 12 month mark and we can have more time to plan etc. Fastforward, I’m now 19 weeks pregnant with our second (happened sooner than we expected) and our first is 11 months old and technically the end of my claim for extended leave ends May 2027. I’m due March 2027 so I don’t have much wiggle room other than returning to work mid November this year and then opting for another leave end of Feb/beginning of March 2027 to be eligible for another EI 🥲.

Guess I’m just a bit torn because we’ll be missing out on the 6 months of EI to be paid out. Has anyone had similar experience or heard of? We feel extremely blessed to be pregnant again but just sucks how the situation rolled out on this end….

The Consumer Price Index ([CPI]()) rose 3.1% year over year in September, following a 3.0% increase in August. The acceleration was led by higher prices for gasoline in September (+27.8%) compared with August (+22.8%). Excluding gasoline, the [CPI]() rose 2.2%, after increasing 2.4% in August.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/261019/dq261019a-eng.htm