Show Notes
Am I okay? Where do I draw from? What could break it? What are my moves? And what happens if one of us dies? I took one Canadian couple through my retirement planner, start to finish. Anne's 60 and the breadwinner, Rob's 58, Ontario, both stopping at 63. $1.26 million saved, no work pensions, $85,000 a year to spend. Every figure is in today's dollars. What's in it: The floor and the bridge. CPP and OAS cover about half their spending once both are on. The heavy years are 63 to 66, about $224,000 out of savings. Where to draw from. 14 withdrawal orders, the same spending in 13 of them, and about $500,000 apart in what's left at the end. What could break it. They make it through 1966, the worst year on record to retire into. A private care home at 90 runs the money out at 94. Their moves. Hold the bridge safe, know your 10 percent trim, and the "no best plan" table. If one of them dies. OAS stops, CPP gets capped, and guaranteed income falls about 40 percent. 6 things I'd keep: Find your floor, then your bridge. Hold the bridge safe, and know your trim. Draw in the cheap years. Pick the plan for what you want. Look at a death both ways. Re-run it every year. Sources named in the video: Jonathan Guyton and William Klinger, "Decision Rules and Maximum Initial Withdrawal Rates," Journal of Financial Planning, March 2006. The funded ratio as adapted to households by Don Ezra. CPP survivor benefit, section 58 of the Canada Pension Plan. Rob and Anne are an anonymized example household. Education, not advice. The planner, Rob and Anne's plan file and the full guide are in my community. Free guides are on my email list. calmmoneycoach.com
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Is Canada heading into stagflation? Prices were up 3.1% in September, unemployment is 6.5%, and groceries cost 33% more than in September 2020. Stagflation is prices jumping while the economy stalls. It followed the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979, and in 1981 the Bank of Canada's rate went past 21%. Economists say we're nowhere near that today. Leave gas out and prices are up 2.2%, and the Bank's rate is 2.25%. It stings more than it should because growth was already slow. In 1984 a Canadian worker produced about 88% of what an American did per hour. By 2022 it was about 71%. Part of that is how the country was built: 13 securities regulators, different trucking rules at every provincial border, and a Supreme Court case over 14 cases of beer. The IMF says clearing the barriers between provinces could add close to 7% to the economy over time. There's real building too. Less of what we sell goes to the US, Trans Mountain runs nearly full, Darlington has a small nuclear reactor underway, and LNG Canada approved doubling its size. And 76% of small business owners plan to exit within 10 years, with only 9% holding a succession plan. 4 things I'd do 1. Build or protect your emergency fund. 2. Keep the savings habit alive, even $50 a month. 3. Invest in yourself and point it at work that's hiring: a trade, nursing, a credential, a side business. 4. When prices ease or a raise comes in, send part of it to savings first, into a simple low-cost global ETF. And keep living. A potluck still counts. My free retirement calculators come with my monthly email at calmmoneycoach.com. I'm Brian Orlando, CPA, in Halifax. Advice-only planning through Calm Money Coach. No products, no commissions. Statistics Canada, Bank of Canada, IMF and CFIB, read October 2026. Photos: Robert T Bell (Darlington), Colin Rose (Supreme Court), Brett Jordan (Tamagotchi), CC BY 2.0. Education only. #stagflation #inflation #canadaeconomy #personalfinancecanada
Canada doesn't have an estate tax like the US. We tax death a different way, and it reaches a lot more regular families. Take 2 cousins. Doug in Regina and Chad in Dallas each put $2 million into index funds, and today each pile is worth $10 million. Chad's playbook is buy, borrow, die. He never sells, borrows against his shares to live, and when he dies the US resets the cost of those shares to their value that day. The $8 million of growth is never taxed, and the US federal estate tax only starts above US$15 million a person. The US Treasury puts that reset at about US$40 billion this year. Canada dropped its estate tax in 1972 and started taxing gains at death. Doug is treated as if he sold everything the day before he died. Half the gain counts, and at Saskatchewan's top rate that's about $1.87 million. In St. John's it's about $2.14 million. Probate adds about $70,000 in Saskatchewan, $149,000 in Ontario and $169,000 in Nova Scotia. Manitoba dropped its fee in 2020. A spouse defers it all, and the family home is exempt. Far past US$15 million, the US takes 40% of every dollar over the line. Big US estates paid about 19% of their value, about the same as Doug. 4 things I'd keep 1. Use your TFSA and name your spouse as successor holder, or a beneficiary. In Quebec, do it in your will. 2. Draw your RRSP or RRIF down in lower income years. A $1 million RRIF left to your kids adds about $475,000 of tax. 3. Keep your will, beneficiaries and power of attorney up to date. 4. Enjoy your retirement first, then give cash while you're alive. Canada has no gift tax on cash. Pitched life insurance or a family trust to cut the bill? Ask what it costs and who it's built for. My estate guides are in my community at calmmoneycoach.com, and my email list is free. I'm Brian Orlando, CPA, in Halifax. Advice-only planning through Calm Money Coach. No products, no commissions. US: IRS and US Treasury, read October 2026. Canada: 2026 top rates and each province's probate schedule. OECD 2018. Parliament Hill photo: Saffron Blaze, CC BY-SA 3.0. Education only. #estateplanning #estatetax #tax #personalfinancecanada
Which province is cheapest? It depends on who's asking. In part 1, I take the typical full-time wage in each province and work out what's left after tax and the bills. In part 2, I run a young family through all 10 provinces and 3 territories. Part 1. Montreal came out on top with about $24,000 left a year. Calgary was next at about $23,000. Halifax came last at about $14,000, and yes, I checked that twice. Pay and rent move the most money. Tax matters more as your income goes up. Sales tax, groceries, power and car insurance mostly cancel out. Part 2. The Canada Child Benefit is the same everywhere, about $13,400 a year for a family on $60,000 with 2 kids under 6. What changes is what your province adds, from about $6,100 in Quebec to nothing in 6 provinces and territories. Daycare moves the most money: about $10 a day in 5 provinces and Nunavut, more than double in Ontario, and about $13,700 a year reported in BC for 2 kids. For 2 parents on $60,000 each, Vancouver costs about $15,000 a year more than the cheapest 5 cities. 5 things I'd keep 1. Compare what's left after tax and bills, on the pay you'd earn there. 2. Pay and rent move the most money, and tax matters more as your income goes up. 3. With young kids, a raise is worth less and an RRSP or FHSA contribution can pay you back more. 4. File a tax return every year, both parents, even with no income. 5. Open an RESP. Ottawa adds 20 percent. Money is only part of where you live. Your family, your friends and the view aren't on my spreadsheet. My province calculator is in my community at calmmoneycoach.com, and my email list is free. I'm Brian Orlando, CPA, in Halifax. Advice-only planning through Calm Money Coach. No products, no commissions. Pay: Statistics Canada. Rent: CMHC Rental Market Survey, October 2025. Tax: 2026 federal and provincial rates. Benefits: CRA, July 2026 to June 2027, and each province's own page. Daycare: each government's fee page and Statistics Canada, 2025. Bills: my Cheaper Province model, October 2026. Yellowknife photo: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0. Education only.
Probate on a $1 million estate costs $0 in Manitoba and about $14,000 in New Brunswick. It's usually the smaller of the 2 bills your family pays. Probate is the court confirming your will and your executor. Each province and territory sets its own fee. Alberta and the territories charge $525 at most, Manitoba charges nothing, and in Quebec a notarial will skips it. Ontario, BC, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick charge around 1.5 percent of what goes through the will. Take Elaine, 80, in Moncton, leaving $1 million to her 2 kids. Her house goes through the will, and the principal residence exemption usually means $0 tax on it. Naming her kids on her RRIF and TFSA keeps both out of probate, which takes her probate from about $14,000 to about $8,000. The RRIF is still fully taxed on her last return, about $140,000. Her total income tax is about $150,000 either way. The popular ways to skip probate usually cost more than the fee. A segregated fund at close to 3 percent a year to dodge a 1.5 percent fee once is valet parking every day to avoid 1 parking ticket. A trust costs $3,000 to $15,000 to set up plus a return every year. Adding a kid to the house title can put the principal residence exemption at risk. 3 things I'd keep 1. Probate is a court fee your province sets, on what goes through your will. 2. Check who's named on every RRSP, RRIF, TFSA, pension and insurance policy. 3. Income tax is usually the bigger bill, and a retirement plan that lines up with your estate plan is where you can shrink it. My estate guides are in my community at calmmoneycoach.com, and my email list is free. I'm Brian Orlando, CPA, in Halifax. Advice-only planning through Calm Money Coach. No products, no commissions. Probate fees from each province's and territory's schedule, read October 2026. Tax at 2026 federal and New Brunswick rates. Quebec RRSP, RRIF and TFSA designations follow Quebec rules. Education only.
The average inheritance in Canada is close to $200,000, and it usually arrives while you're grieving. It was Mom's money, and you don't want to be the one who lost it. If you've frozen, that's normal. A Danish study of about 17,000 people after a sudden inheritance found only about 1 in 3 non-investors started investing, even after the biggest ones. So take the pressure off. Park it in a high-interest savings account in your own name, under the $100,000 deposit insurance limit at each bank. A cash inheritance isn't taxed in your hands. Somebody online will tell you to buy a rental property by Friday. It can wait. Keep it in your own name while you think. In many provinces an inheritance kept separate stays yours if a marriage ends, and putting it into the family home can change that. The rules vary by province, so talk it through first. A few months in savings costs very little, and leaving it there for 20 years gets expensive. Since 1900, after inflation, cash earned about 0.5 percent a year and stocks around the world about 5 percent. Then the easy yeses: a 20 percent credit card, the RESP grant, and 3 to 6 months of spending in cash. Money you'll need in 3 years stays safe. Money you won't touch for 7 years or more gets invested simply. And spend some of it on something they'd have loved to see you do. 3 things I'd keep 1. Park it in your own name for a few months, and give the pause an end date. 2. Take the easy yeses first: high-interest debt, the RESP grant and your cash cushion. 3. Invest the long-term money simply, enjoy some of it, and look at the plan every year. My inheritance guide is in my community at calmmoneycoach.com, and my email list is free. I'm Brian Orlando, CPA, in Halifax. Advice-only planning through Calm Money Coach. No products, no commissions. Sources include the Danish inheritance study by Andersen and Nielsen, the Global Investment Returns Yearbook by Dimson, Marsh and Staunton, Cederburg and co-authors on lifetime stock allocations, and Meir Statman. Education only.