There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing a new credit card, with the annual fee being one of the most important. There’s no point in paying for a rewards credit card if you’re not coming out ahead, which is why it’s so important to determine a card’s break-even point—the amount of money you’d have to spend in order to justify paying the card’s fee.

Let’s walk through how to calculate your break-even point and find the credit card that best aligns with your spending style.

TL;DR When is a credit card annual fee worth it?

A credit card’s annual fee is only worth paying if the rewards and perks you actually use outweigh the cost. A higher fee doesn’t necessarily mean better value.

For light or occasional credit card users, the rewards earned may not be enough to offset the fee. A no-fee card would probably be the smarter choice.

But if you regularly spend a lot in bonus categories like groceries, gas, travel, or dining, a great rewards card can easily deliver more value than its annual fee through points, cash back, insurance coverage, and other perks…

To steal your identity, criminals have to get their hands on a lot of your private information: name, birthdate, address, Social Insurance Number (SIN), and more. That’s not easy to do, even when the target takes few precautions or has a habit of oversharing.

But an increasingly common form of digital fraud can be perpetrated with just a few snippets of personal information. And even if cyber criminals are not impersonating you specifically, there’s a danger in having even a small component of your online identity form part of what’s known as synthetic identity fraud.

What is synthetic identity fraud?

Synthetic identity theft is a form of financial fraud in which a real person’s key information, such as their SIN or date of birth, is stolen and combined with other falsified personal information to create a new identity. Criminals use these new identities to take out loans or set up bank and credit card accounts. Eventually, they stage a “bust out” fraud, charging or borrowing a large sum, then disappearing without a trace…

September marks Life Insurance Awareness Month, so it’s fitting to dive into PolicyMe’s second annual life insurance report. The 2026 Life Insurance Gap Report, produced in partnership with Angus Reid, looked at the responses of over 1,500 adults asked about life insurance coverage and barriers to access.

The report shows some positives compared to the previous year’s analysis, but there are some concerning details, mainly regarding affordability and consumer confidence.

More Canadians have life insurance, but coverage isn’t even

Let’s start with some positive data from the report. More Canadians now have at least one type of life insurance policy. The PolicyMe study revealed that 68% of Canadians have some kind of life insurance coverage, which is up from 58% in 2025. Half of those insured Canadians get their life insurance coverage through a workplace plan. 

The biggest gains in coverage from all survey respondents were for Gen Z, whose coverage rose 28% over the previous year…

You’ve driven through a flurry of embers to safety. You’ve found high ground as floodwaters rushed in. You’ve dodged the immediate danger to life and limb, and then the financial reality hits. For those forced from their homes due to fire or flood—in many cases with little more than the clothes on their backs—there are few things more daunting than having to then navigate unexpected costs, insurance claims, and bills that still need to be paid. 

The financial fallout can last for years

“The impacts of these natural disasters are much broader than just that physical damage. It can disrupt virtually every aspect of someone’s financial life,” said Ali Harris-Saunders, with the non-profit Credit Counselling Society. 

She divides the financial impacts into near- and long-term. Near-term includes the cost of accommodations, food, and other essentials during an evacuation, along with lost income and repairs to damaged property…

Canada has become one of the top destinations for American physicians looking for a different kind of practice. A more supportive clinical environment. A better quality of life. A healthcare system built around patient care, not prior authorizations.

The clinical transition is often the easy part; the financial one is not. For a US physician, moving to Canada isn’t just a change of address—it’s a major cross-border tax event. And the mistakes made in year one can follow you for a career.

Why American doctors are heading north

This isn’t a trickle. Physician recruiting firms and Canadian provincial health authorities alike are reporting a sustained rise in American doctors inquiring about and pursuing Canadian licensing. Provinces are actively courting the talent with some running dedicated recruitment campaigns aimed squarely at US-trained physicians. 

So, what is actually driving the move? 

Care driven by medicine, not paperwork. Canada’s single-payer system lets physicians make decisions based on medical necessity, not insurance coverage or a patient’s ability to pay…

Owning a home comes with a long list of expenses that go beyond a monthly mortgage, whether that’s replacing an old roof, paying for home insurance, or keeping up with climbing property taxes. While many costs are fixed, experts say there might be some wiggle room on property taxes to get the amount lowered or a potential refund. But first, you need to know if there is merit for an appeal.

“Taxes are one of the biggest expenses associated with owning property,” said Raymond Williams, vice-chair for the Ontario chapter of the Canadian Property Tax Association. But he said: “It’s important to know that it can change, you can reduce them, and it’s just being aware of all the programs and options available.”

Watch for property assessment errors

Williams said every homeowner should periodically check their property taxes for any factual errors, such as the wrong lot size that their home was assessed on, or surprise tax increases. “If suddenly there’s a large jump in your taxes, chances are something changed on the assessment,” Williams said…

When we moved to Canada and bought our first car, insurance was simply another item on a very long checklist. I knew nothing about the Canadian insurance market, so I did what many newcomers do: lean on someone trustworthy. My father-in-law recommended the brokerage firm he had been using for years, so I called them.

The experience was exceptional. They patiently answered every question I had, explained a system I barely understood, and made me feel like more than just another customer. When we later moved into our first home, my account rep was my first call. Renewals came and went, and I never questioned them. I wasn’t really buying insurance anymore; I was buying certainty.

Then, one evening I saw an advertisement for an online insurer. I almost ignored it. Why would I price shop when I already trusted the person looking after me? But curiosity got the better of me.

I completed the online quote expecting nothing more than confirmation that I was in the right place. Instead, the premium came back roughly 30% lower than what I was paying…

My house, as I told my insurance broker recently, is the Canadian housing equivalent of ancient. Built in the 1910s in Saskatoon, this house has many foibles. To hang pictures, I have to use wood screws lest regular nails bounce off of the layers and layers of paint. My basement is a little more than a horror movie-esque concrete box. Perhaps its most damning feature until last year was its lack of a wheelchair lift. One grant, and more than $20,000 later, that has been rectified. The administrative costs of that effort, however, are something I’m still wrestling with.

The high cost of accessibility

The financial barriers to accessible home renovation are astronomical, and the procedural landscape when it comes to these sorts of projects varies wildly from province to province. Funding can come from insurance companies, governments, tax credits, and non-profits. None of it is easy to secure, and that’s before you go through the lengthy process of actually getting an accessible renovation started…

Condos are a popular choice for many first-time homebuyers owing to their lower price point and access to amenities such as gyms and pools. But as well as a mortgage, condo owners are responsible for monthly maintenance fees that support operating costs for the building, among other aspects, and it’s important to factor that into your purchase and monthly budget.

Condo fees generally cover a lot of what homeowners would spend out of pocket, such as property insurance and general maintenance, said Karolina Armstrong, a real estate broker at Right At Home Realty in Toronto. “It’s what keeps the building running for all the owners,” she said.

Other common items usually included in condo fees are garbage removal, elevator repairs, and security and cleaning staff. The fees also go toward the building’s reserve fund, which is money set aside for future repairs and larger maintenance projects, such as replacing windows and roofs.

How much a condo owner pays depends on the age of the building, how well it’s been maintained, whether utilities are included, and how many units there are in the building or complex…

There is no doubt that life has become expensive. Everywhere you look, prices are rising: gas, groceries, restaurants, insurance. Everyday essentials that once felt manageable now seem to demand a small emotional recovery period every time you tap your debit or credit card.

If it’s not rising prices, it’s shrinkflation—a word that sounds made up until you realize it’s part of everyday life. The other day, I couldn’t figure out why the calories on a packaged food item no longer matched my tracking app. Turns out the recipe hadn’t changed, but the package had gotten smaller. 

These little moments are happening everywhere, and Canadians are feeling it. We are paying more, getting less, and trying to figure out where exactly all our money keeps disappearing to.

But amid all the obvious rising costs, there is another expense quietly draining our wallets. It’s one that feels far more justified in the moment: convenience.

The rising cost of making life easier

I have never been particularly good at paying what many now call the “convenience tax…

Buying a home is one of the biggest financial milestones for young Canadians, and one of the riskiest. For many households, a mortgage becomes the single largest expense they’ll ever take on, often requiring two incomes to keep it manageable.

That reality is driving more homeowners to buy life insurance soon after getting the keys. And increasingly, they’re choosing coverage that extends far beyond the remaining mortgage balance. At first glance, that might seem excessive. But a closer look suggests a shift: young Canadians may not be over-insuring, but rather finally insuring properly.

Of course, not every homeowner necessarily needs life insurance—particularly single buyers with no dependents—but for households that rely on multiple incomes, the financial stakes can be much higher.

Why buying a home changes your insurance needs

A mortgage doesn’t just add a hefty monthly payment; it introduces a new level of financial risk. If something were to happen to one partner, could the other carry the mortgage alone? Would they be forced to sell? Could they maintain the same standard of living?

These are the kinds of questions homeownership tends to surface…

If the only investment account you have is a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), you probably don’t need to concern yourself with cash or cash-equivalent holdings. But let’s say you’re in the market for your first home and you’re saving up a down payment. You can’t afford to lose money and you could need to cash it in at any time, but you still want to earn enough interest to keep pace with inflation.

This and other short-term purposes are where cash alternative ETFs can come in handy. They are considered safe (though not covered by deposit insurance), yet liquid. Unlike a guaranteed investment certificate (GIC), you can sell them at any time—but they’ll still give you GIC-like returns and will hold their value if interest rates rise.

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