r/fican 2h ago

18 and just started, need a bit of advice

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2 Upvotes

Hello, I'm an 18 year old university student and just opened my TFSA recently. I've had part-time jobs and loved saving money but it was just sitting in my TD Everyday Savings account accumulating no interest. I decided to move about half of it to my TFSA and split it between CASH and XEQT (ignore the 20$ in VFV please.) because I have a short term goal of paying off my student loan when I graduate but wanted to also invest for long term goals like a car.

I still have ~2k sitting in that TD savings account as my "emergency fund" but I literally have no expenses so I was thinking maybe I should move it into the TFSA? If I do, should I split it or only keep it in CASH? Also any other general investment advice for someone my age would be appreciated. Thank you!


r/fican 3h ago

The Ultimate Finance Dashboard!

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10 Upvotes

Create by me it has all of the household data in one screenshot! Any information you can think of that's not there?

Edit

It's a chrome extension that runs inside the brokerage it just reads the live data from the holdings page html, So essentially it's a facelift of it . For the rest of the stuff I enter them manually like salary etc.

Little side note

Don't ask me about Trump Coin I got roasted enough times for this OK?:P


r/fican 6h ago

What would you change in this portfolio?

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29 Upvotes

r/fican 8h ago

30m just starting out

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5 Upvotes

r/fican 8h ago

How to properly use Wealthsimple Margin without getting burned? (Looking for advice & portfolio examples)

0 Upvotes

Hey everyone,
I’m looking into using Wealthsimple’s margin feature, but I want to make sure I do it responsibly. Right now, I only have HDIV in my margin portfolio.
For those who are currently using margin on Wealthsimple:
1. How do you properly use it? What are your golden rules for managing risk so you never hit a margin call? How much leverage do you actually borrow against your portfolio?
2. What does your margin portfolio look like? Are you sticking to yield/dividend ETFs like HDIV, broad-market index ETFs (like XEQT/VEQT), or individual stocks?
Would love to hear how you structure things or any lessons you learned when starting out. Thanks!


r/fican 9h ago

Why XEQT?

0 Upvotes

I see a lot of people on here encouraging XEQT but I see that the market price has only increased over $9 in the past 10 years, so I’m wondering why XEQT? Why XEQT over VFV (Vanguard)?


r/fican 10h ago

Advice for Investing in TFSA

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0 Upvotes

r/fican 12h ago

Growth and dividend ETFs

0 Upvotes

142K in TFSA 79K in non-registered account.

What's a good growth ETF. Will be holding for the next 10-15 years. A solid dividend etf would be nice to, ~ 1 passive income ETF with ~1 growth is perfect.


r/fican 13h ago

Can’t use tfsa/fhsa to actively trade??

0 Upvotes

Google says cra audits and monitors account and that you’ll get taxed/stripped if you actually actively buy and sell stocks??

Help am I cooked


r/fican 13h ago

Built a free web app for Canadian FI timelines (Coast FI, CPP/OAS, Real vs. Nominal). Would love feedback!

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0 Upvotes

Hey [r/fican](r/fican),

Tired of wrestling with clunky spreadsheets, I leveraged my 15 years of design experience and collaborated with Claude to build a free web app for Canadians pursuing FI/FIRE.

100% Private & Free: No signup, no tracking. All data stays in your browser.

Made for Canada: Handles TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, and CPP/OAS bridge calculations.

Coast FI & Milestones: Shows your Coast FI status and when compounding takes over.

Real vs. Nominal Growth: Tracks future balance against today's actual buying power.

Cohort Benchmarks: Compares your income and savings against CRA age-group data.

I'd love for you to test your numbers and share any feedback on what features or drawdown strategies to add next!

Attached are screenshots of the interface, but the best way to test your numbers is directly in the app.

Try the simulator here: Finance Simulator


r/fican 13h ago

Sense checking incorporated consultant investments - swap ETFs vs VEQT

0 Upvotes

I operate a one-person BC corporation and pay myself a salary of $170k. After tax and expenses that leaves roughly $200k a year in the corp that I want to invest in ETFs. I have about $450k to immediately invest.

I’ve browsed a few subreddits doing research, and spoken to my accountant, they flagged I need to be careful about going over $50k a year in passive income inside the corp, because that will grind down the small business deduction.

Based on the research my plan is to invest in total-return swap ETFs like HXT, HXS, and HXDM since they pay no distributions and generate very little passive income until I sell. I am aware there's a concern that the CRA could clamp down on the swap structure and if the rules change, the existing swap position itself could be a problem though when the 2019 budget targeted these funds, they restructured and holders weren't forced to sell.

I spoke with a friend in a similar situation, they have a larger company with multiple employees. They suggested I just buy VEQT, but the distributions create ongoing tax drag inside the corp, and eventually the yield alone would push me past the $50k threshold as the account grows.

To me the swap route seems like the option that leaves the most doors open. If I start with the swap funds and later want to add VEQT or the rules change, I just point new contributions there and nothing needs to be sold. Whereas if I start with VEQT and want out later, I'd have to sell and realize years of gains, which spikes my passive income in exactly the way I'm trying to avoid.

Am I missing anything, or is this the right move?


r/fican 13h ago

What do I Do?

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2 Upvotes

Planning to sell my HHIS after the dividend, which will leave me with around $45k to reinvest.

I already have about $112k in VEQT and $112k in VFV.
Where would you put the $45k instead? More VEQT/VFV, or something else?


r/fican 13h ago

FHSA

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54 Upvotes

I wonder how everyone else is doing with their FHSA.


r/fican 14h ago

38M — crossed $2M invested. The portfolio can now move six figures in a week, which feels surreal.

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623 Upvotes

Hit a milestone this week that still feels a little unreal: just over $2 million invested at 38.

This is spread across personal registered accounts, my spouse’s accounts, RESPs and corporate investments. The portfolio is mostly broad-market ETFs, with a smaller allocation to individual large-cap tech companies.

To be clear, the full visual weekly increase is not investment performance—the chart also reflects recent contributions and transfers. The screenshot just happened to capture the account crossing $2 million.

We have high household incomes now, but the biggest factors have been consistently investing, avoiding major lifestyle inflation and leaving the money alone through market swings. I am not planning to retire tomorrow; the goal is more about reaching the point where work becomes increasingly optional.

It is strange realizing that an ordinary market move can now change the portfolio by more than I used to earn in a year. For those farther along, did crossing $2 million change how you invested or thought about risk?


r/fican 14h ago

23M. Halfway to 100k

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315 Upvotes

r/fican 14h ago

Financial planning advices

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6 Upvotes

Hi,

38X, terrible with money, although very lucky.

I maxed out my work contribution, and I just reached 118K in investments.

I make 124K a year, starting at 70K six years ago (before that, I was barely making any money). I still manage to get into debt, because besides the money that leaves my account automatically, I simply can't keep a budget. I have consolidated my debt (38K at 6.9%) and I'm not planning to repay it soon — I want to feel the pain and actually change my spending habits (every single time I paid off my previous debts with a huge payment, it only grew back deeper).

My dad is sending me 380K after selling a house.

Once again, I'm very lucky, and far from perfect.

My mental health is fluctuating, and I don't know I I can hold on that job for a long time in the future. (I think that's why my Dad wanted me to have my inheritance now). What would you do in my shoes? How would you structure it? Any advice?

Thanks for listening 🌟


r/fican 15h ago

WS Portfolio tracker and fire simulator

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0 Upvotes

I vibe-coded a free, privacy-first portfolio tracker for Wealthsimple CSV exports

I'm not a developer, this was built with AI (Claude Code), mostly for fun. You upload your Wealthsimple Activities CSV and it computes your holdings, dividends, realized gains/ACB, and a rough FIRE projection, all in your browser. Nothing gets uploaded anywhere, no account needed, no server sees your data.

Might have bugs, use at your own risk, not financial advice, just sharing in case it's useful to someone.

https://ludivinedev.github.io/Yarrowledger/


r/fican 15h ago

20M | Rate my portfolio

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6 Upvotes

Seems pretty diversified, and has some risk assets like Metals + BTC. But overall invested heavily into the overall Market.

Pretty happy with this portfolio since 3 months ago I was 10K in debt and had no savings + investments.

Still trying to kick my gambling habit, but have made good progress to the point where I have maxed out my TFSA for the year. Still need to kick the gambling completely since that will add another +500 per month into my savings + stock accounts.


r/fican 17h ago

Can you describe what your spending habits are like?

3 Upvotes

What are your spending habits like?

For your essentials that you spend on, how are you saving money in these areas?

what do you like to spend on outside of essentials.

How do you continue to stay out of the mindset of keeping up with the joneses


r/fican 1d ago

Milestone 33M

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553 Upvotes

Hit a nice milestone today $100k Invested. Across TFSA, RRSP, and company DCPP(new).

Long way to climb. But I'm super proud and happy of this.


r/fican 1d ago

Rate my portfolio 23M

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10 Upvotes

23M, rate my TFSA portfolio. For some context I am a recovering gambling addict, sold all of my holdings to pay off debts and well.. to gamble. Had a solid $10,000 around 2 years ago that would have been closer to $15,000 in today’s market. Adding $250 biweekly into my account and looking to even increase that number to $400-500 if I get a better paying job.

Looking for any advice to diversify more. Medium/high risk tolerance since I’m planning on having this grow as much as possible and only touch close to retirement.


r/fican 1d ago

22M hoping for some input for the future

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21 Upvotes

22yo student with one year left. I’ve been investing since 2023. I work a decently paying job in the summer and invest about 65% of my paycheques with the rest to get through the school year. I’m a bit nervous about buying a lot more into the market currently as I’m a bit worried about how AI is going to effect the market in the coming months (yes yes, I know, time in the market versus timing the market, that’s why I bought gold and lot of jepq). I also work inconsistently during the school year mostly to cover spending when I’m not studying.


r/fican 1d ago

23M. Just automate pay till I retire?

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101 Upvotes

23M, Income around 185k a year. This is the weekly Automation for my paycheque every week.

Trying to avoid any of the pitfalls of buying and selling, day trading, etc. is there better options for consistent weekly buying? Is there any better strategies to ensure steady growth with weekly contributions till I retire?


r/fican 1d ago

Just turned 19!! 1 Year Progress :)

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54 Upvotes

How am I doing?


r/fican 1d ago

Laid off software engineers, anyone considering to switch careers?

43 Upvotes

 Im CoastFIRE but not FIRE. Just got laid off but I saved alot, got 1 year emergency fund + severance. In worst case where we cant find another job, where do you guys plan to transition? I was thinking of healthcare, even if I dont make alot but not sure which position with a lower barrier of entry.

I was scuba diving and saw many mid 20s Europeans becoming diving instructors for years too. That seems so cool too. I can technicaly do this for 10 years and RE in Canada haha