Free tools and honest guides for Canadians managing their money. Track your mortgage, investments, ACB, and tax deductions. Check your stress test. Compare car costs. No account required. More tools and posts every week.
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Trackers (persistent, file-based)
Track your Canadian mortgage with correct semi-annual compounding math. Log renewals, rate changes, and prepayments. See your full amortization schedule and how extra payments save you interest over time.
Log purchases, sales, and dividends across your non-registered accounts. The built-in ACB calculator uses the CRA average cost method and tracks capital gains on every sale. Supports Wealthsimple CSV import.
Track deductible investment loan interest year by year, estimate tax savings at your marginal rate, and log where each refund went. Useful for anyone with a margin account, HELOC, or investment loan.
Calculators (open and use instantly)
Before you shop for a home, check whether your mortgage passes the Canadian stress test. Uses the OSFI qualifying rate and CMHC debt service limits, with plain-English explanations of GDS and TDS.
Compare the true cost of two vehicles side by side across cash, finance, or lease. See how depreciation, interest, insurance, and running costs stack up over the years you actually plan to own.
The Mortgage, Investment, and Tax trackers are designed to work together. Load all three with one click and track every cycle: mortgage payments, HELOC draws, investments, dividends, and your annual interest deduction.
Launch all trackers →New posts every Wednesday. No-nonsense Canadian personal finance.
A stock option is a contract that gives you the right to buy or sell 100 shares at a set price before a set date. Calls profit when the stock goes up, puts profit when it goes down. The Greeks tell you how an option's price changes when the stock moves, time passes, or volatility shifts. This guide explains all of it with real dollar examples.
Canada has five major registered accounts: RRSP (deduct now, pay tax later in retirement), TFSA (never pay tax on growth or withdrawals), FHSA (save for a first home with a deduction going in and tax-free withdrawal coming out), RESP (save for a child's education with free government grants), and RDSP (save for a person with a disability with the most generous government matching in the system). Each one solves a different problem. This guide explains what each does, who qualifies in 2026, and which account to open first.
An RRSP lets you deduct contributions from taxable income today and grow investments tax-free until retirement, when withdrawals are taxed (hopefully at a lower rate). Contribution room is 18% of the prior year's earned income, up to $33,810 in 2026. The RRSP must be converted to a RRIF or annuity by December 31 of the year you turn 71. The RRIF then pays you a prescribed minimum each year. This guide covers contribution mechanics, the Home Buyers' Plan, spousal RRSP, and RRIF minimum withdrawals.
ACB (Adjusted Cost Base) is the total cost of your investment for tax purposes. In Canada, the CRA requires you to use the average cost method: each time you buy, your ACB increases; each time you sell, it decreases proportionally. When you sell, your capital gain or loss is the difference between sale proceeds and the ACB of the units sold. Tracking ACB accurately is critical for correct capital gains reporting on your tax return.
Canadian mortgages are compounded semi-annually (twice per year) as required under the federal Interest Act, unlike US mortgages which use monthly compounding. This means an advertised rate of 5.00% semi-annually is not the same as 5.00% monthly in practice. The difference affects both your effective rate and each payment's interest split. The Mortgage Tracker uses the correct Canadian formula throughout.
The stress test is a requirement under OSFI Guideline B-20 that makes federally regulated lenders qualify you at a rate higher than your contract rate: specifically, the higher of your contract rate plus 2%, or 5.25% (the current OSFI floor). Credit unions follow provincial rules and may differ. The purpose is to confirm you can still afford payments if rates rise at renewal. The Mortgage Stress Test calculator on this site shows your GDS and TDS ratios and whether your income qualifies.
Eligible dividends from Canadian corporations are taxed at a lower effective rate thanks to the dividend tax credit. Return of capital (ROC) is not income at all. Instead of triggering immediate tax, ROC reduces your adjusted cost base, which means a larger capital gain when you eventually sell. ROC is common in REITs and some ETFs. Getting the classification right matters for your current-year tax bill and your future capital gains calculation.
No. Your data never leaves your browser. Everything is stored in a JSON file on your computer. On Chrome and Edge, the tracker can auto-save directly to a local file. On other browsers, you download your data file manually. There are no accounts, no cloud storage, and no tracking of any kind.
Yes. All tools handle fractional shares (e.g., 0.0195 units). Purchases, sales, dividends, and ACB calculations all work with any precision. There is no rounding to whole shares. This is important for platforms like Wealthsimple that support fractional trading.
No. This site and its tools are for educational and tracking purposes only. All tools, calculators, and blog posts reflect the author's personal experience and publicly available information. Always consult a qualified financial advisor and tax professional before making financial decisions.
The Smith Maneuver is a Canadian tax strategy that converts your non-deductible mortgage interest into tax-deductible investment loan interest. You pay down your mortgage, borrow the freed-up room from your HELOC, invest the borrowed funds, and deduct the HELOC interest on your tax return. Over time, your entire mortgage is replaced with tax-deductible debt backed by an investment portfolio.
Yes. The CRA allows Canadians to deduct interest on money borrowed for the purpose of earning investment income. The Smith Maneuver simply structures your mortgage and HELOC to take advantage of this rule. It was first described by Fraser Smith and has been used by Canadians for decades. Consult a tax professional for your specific situation.
Interest capitalization means borrowing from your HELOC to pay the HELOC interest itself. This keeps borrowed funds fully invested and the capitalized interest remains tax-deductible, since the borrowed money is paying for the cost of earning investment income. It increases your HELOC balance over time but maximizes your annual tax deductions. This applies to any investment loan arrangement, not only the Smith Maneuver.
No sign-up. No data collection. Open a tool, start tracking, and save your file when done. Pick up where you left off next time.