Brian | Calm Money Coach

NFA.

[Brian | Calm Money Coach @CalmMoneyCoach]

You can have a solid balance sheet and still feel broke. A lot of it is social comparison, and shame plus avoidance make worse decisions than any fee. Statman and Shefrin have said it for years. The feeling is data, just not the balance sheet. The fix is looking at the real numbers on a schedule, not more willpower.

[Brian | Calm Money Coach @CalmMoneyCoach]

Canada taxes each spouse separately. So a couple with one big earner pays more than a couple with the same total split evenly. Same money, different bill.

Spousal RRSP before 65. Pension splitting after 65. Just mind the 3-year attribution rule on the spousal side.

[Brian | Calm Money Coach @CalmMoneyCoach]

Should you break your all in one fund like VEQT or XEQT into cheaper component ETFs? Felix's team ran it, in an episode called "Is VEQT Costing You?" The fee gap has shrunk to almost nothing, and the rebalancing you now have to remember usually costs more than you saved annoyingly. One fund rebalances itself. That is the value.
It’s annoying but everything points back to keeping it simple. I always think taking risks or bets on yourself is a better move than taking bets on the market.

[Brian | Calm Money Coach @CalmMoneyCoach]

Do not trust the CPP estimate on the website blindly. It assumes you contribute at today's rate right up to 65, so it overstates if you retire early. Only ~6% of people ever get the max, the average is ~56% of it. The shape is fixed: 2025 max at 65 is $1,433/mo, 36% less at 60, 42% more at 70. Quebec's QPP runs the same math. A guaranteed indexed raise for waiting, if you can bridge the gap and live long enough.

[Brian | Calm Money Coach @CalmMoneyCoach]

Should a high earner keep filling the RRSP? Usually yes. Deduct at the top bracket and it's hard for your retirement rate to be higher, since nothing's higher than the top.
I've run it against a taxable account too, the RRSP still usually wins in most cases unless you're using the money within the next year or so as it's not worth losing that contribution room if you're just going to take it out right away.
The real question isn't the deduction, it's the drawdown plan. Real education gap on both sides but especially on the drawdown piece.

[Brian | Calm Money Coach @CalmMoneyCoach]

The Toronto Star asked me about parents co-signing their kids' mortgages. A broker pitched a mom going on title at 1% as "low risk." At 1% she owns almost none of the house and is still on the hook for the whole mortgage. Ownership and liability are two different dials, and most people treat them as one.

https://t.co/CUr1U2gjAR

[Brian | Calm Money Coach @CalmMoneyCoach]

The 1% advisor fee isn't good or bad on its own. If you're getting real planning every year, tax, drawdown, estate, coaching, and low cost global funds, it can be worth it.
If you're just getting sold expensive product with no plan, you're paying a fortune for nothing. Same fee, wildly different value. What are you actually getting for yours?

[Brian | Calm Money Coach @CalmMoneyCoach]

The weak loonie cuts both ways.
At the till it stings. In a broad unhedged global index fund it quietly helps, because the loonie tends to fall when markets are scared, cushioning the drop.
Currency is a wash on return long run. The edge is diversification, not magic. Thoughts?