Oakwise

Guides

Straight answers to Canadian money questions

Plain-English, cited, and reviewed. One canonical guide per concept, with a worked Canadian example and the sources to back it. Publishing soon; 80 planned.

Budgeting0/23
  • Automate Your Budget: the Set-and-Review System
  • Avalanche vs Snowball: How to Pay Off Debt Faster
  • EI Sickness Benefits and Disability Insurance (LTD) in Canada
  • Emergency Fund: HISA vs TFSA vs Chequing (Canada)
  • Good Debt vs Bad Debt and Your Debt-to-Income Ratio
  • Government Benefits and Credits You Might Be Missing (Canada)
  • How Big Should Your Emergency Fund Be? (Canada)
  • How Credit Scores Work in Canada (and How to Check Yours)
  • How to Calculate and Track Your Net Worth in Canada
  • How to Track Where Your Money Actually Goes
  • Insolvency vs Bankruptcy in Canada: Your Options
  • Insurance Basics: Protecting Your Budget
  • Lifestyle Creep: Keeping a Raise From Disappearing
  • Pay Yourself First: How to Automate Your Saving
  • Provincial Disability Income Support (AISH, ODSP, and More)
  • Renewing a Mortgage in Canada: What to Know
  • Saving for Goals by Date: the Simple Math
  • Sinking Funds: How to Budget for Irregular Expenses
  • The Canada Disability Benefit: What It Is and Who Qualifies
  • The Child Disability Benefit (CDB): A Top-Up to the CCB
  • What Credit Actually Costs: APR, Interest, and Fees
  • What Happens If You Miss Payments (Canada)
  • Zero-Based Budgeting in Canada: Give Every Dollar a Job
Investing0/21
  • Asset Allocation ETFs: One-Fund Investing Explained
  • Asset Location: Which Investments to Hold in Which Account
  • Bonds and Fixed Income Explained (Canada)
  • Compound Growth and the Time Value of Money (Canada)
  • Dividend Investing in Canada: How It Works
  • Dollar-Cost Averaging: Automatic Investing Made Simple
  • How and When to Rebalance Your Portfolio (Canada)
  • How to Open an Investment Account in Canada
  • Index and ETF Investing in Canada: A Beginner's Guide
  • Investment Fees and the MER: What You're Really Paying
  • Mutual Funds vs ETFs vs Stocks: What's the Difference?
  • RDSP Age Rules and the 10-Year Holdback You Need to Know
  • RDSP Grant and Bond: How the CDSG and CDSB Work
  • RESP and the CESG Grant: Saving for a Child's Education
  • Risk Tolerance: How Much Risk Should Your Investments Take?
  • Robo-Advisor vs DIY Investing in Canada
  • Rolling an RRSP, RRIF, or RESP Into an RDSP in Canada
  • TFSA vs RRSP: Which Should You Use First? (Canada)
  • The FHSA Explained: Saving for a First Home in Canada
  • The RDSP Explained: Canada's Registered Disability Savings Plan
  • Time in the Market vs Timing the Market
Retirement0/16
  • Annuities in Canada: Turning Savings Into Guaranteed Income
  • CPP Disability (CPP-D): Eligibility and How It Converts at 65
  • CPP Survivor and Death Benefits Explained
  • Converting Your RRSP to a RRIF: What to Know
  • Decumulation: How to Draw Down Your Savings in Retirement
  • Healthcare and Long-Term Care Costs in Retirement (Canada)
  • LIRA and LIF: Locked-In Retirement Accounts Explained
  • Old Age Security (OAS): Eligibility, Timing, and Clawback
  • Pension Income Splitting in Retirement (Canada)
  • Sequence-of-Returns Risk: Why the First Years Matter
  • The 4% Rule and Safe Withdrawal Rates (Canada)
  • The Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS): Who Qualifies
  • When Can I Retire? How to Know If You Have Enough (Canada)
  • When to Start CPP: Taking It Early vs Late
  • Which Accounts to Tap First in Retirement (Canada)
  • Workplace Pensions in Canada: DB vs DC Explained
Taxes0/20
  • Canadian Tax Brackets by Province: How They Work
  • Capital Gains Tax in Canada: How It's Calculated
  • Common Tax Credits and Deductions Canadians Miss
  • Deductible Business Expenses in Canada (Home Office and Vehicle)
  • Disability Supports Deduction and Related Tax Credits
  • Filing Your Taxes in Canada: A Beginner's Guide
  • GST/HST for Small Business: Register, Charge, and File
  • Henson Trusts and Qualified Disability Trusts in Canada
  • How Dividend and Interest Income Is Taxed in Canada
  • How the RRSP Deduction Lowers Your Taxes
  • Income Splitting and the TOSI Rules (Canada)
  • Marginal vs Average Tax Rate in Canada Explained
  • Salary vs Dividends: How to Pay Yourself From Your Corporation
  • Self-Employment Taxes in Canada: Income Tax and GST/HST
  • Should You Incorporate Your Business in Canada?
  • Tax Instalments in Canada: When You Have to Pay Quarterly
  • The Disability Tax Credit (DTC) and Form T2201 in Canada
  • The Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption: Selling Your Business
  • The Medical Expense Tax Credit (METC) in Canada
  • The Small Business Deduction and Corporate Tax Rates (Canada)

Collection

Living with Disability — the dense bits, explained

The Disability Tax Credit, the RDSP, CPP-D, AISH, and benefit-preserving trusts — 13 guides that go with the story collection.

See the collection