Guides for figuring out money, one topic at a time.
Each guide gathers the posts, backtests, and calculators on a single topic in one place — so you can explore how it works without hopping around. Educational only; nothing here is advice.
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Guide
Leveraged ETFs
Leveraged ETFs promise daily multiples of an index — but daily rebalancing means the long-run result drifts from a simple 3x. The gap is the volatility decay, and it gets wider the choppier the market is. These pages explore how these funds actually work, where that decay comes from, what happens in a crash, and how rules-based rotation strategies have backtested against simply buying and holding. Educational only.
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Guide
The TFSA
The Tax-Free Savings Account is one of the most flexible tools a Canadian saver has. These pages walk through contribution room, the tax treatment of US dividends inside a TFSA, and tools to plan around it. Educational only — not advice.
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Guide
The FHSA
The First Home Savings Account is the most generous account Canada offers a first-time buyer — deductible going in like an RRSP, tax-free coming out like a TFSA. These pages walk through how it works, the $8,000-a-year and $40,000-lifetime limits, the December 31 deadline, and how to weigh the FHSA against your RRSP and TFSA for a down payment. Educational only — nothing here is advice.
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Guide
Lazy portfolios
A 'lazy' or couch-potato portfolio is a small set of broad ETFs you rebalance once in a while. These pages backtest the classic mixes — three-fund, Golden Butterfly, All Weather, Permanent Portfolio — in both US and Canadian-listed versions. Educational only.
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Guide
Retirement & RRSPs
Retirement saving in Canada runs on a few tax-sheltered accounts and a couple of rules of thumb. These pages explore how the RRSP and FHSA work, how much people actually have saved at each age versus the common benchmarks, and how to turn a nest egg into income that lasts. Educational only — nothing here is advice.
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