Money Guides
The explanations behind the calculators — organised into finance and tax, investment, and retirement.
Where to start
Finance & Tax
Income tax, pay stubs, payroll deductions, sales tax and mortgages — how the numbers on your statements are actually arrived at.
9 guides →Investment
Compounding, returns and what growth really looks like once time and inflation are accounted for.
2 guides →Retirement
RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs and government pensions — what you must withdraw, what it costs, and when.
2 guides →Guides that explain the calculators
Every calculator on this site gives you a number. These guides explain where that number comes from, which is usually the part people actually need. They are organised into the same three departments as the tools themselves, so a question about your pay stub and the calculator that answers it sit next to each other.
Finance & tax
The largest section, because it covers the things most people deal with monthly: what comes off a paycheque and why, how marginal and effective tax rates differ, what a raise actually does to your take-home, and how an amortization schedule is built. If you have a specific figure on a statement you cannot account for, start here.
Investment
Compounding is simple arithmetic that behaves in ways people find counter-intuitive — most of a long-run balance is growth rather than contributions, and the crossover happens later than expected. This section works through what that means in practice.
Retirement
Canadian retirement saving is a set of accounts with rules attached: contribution room that does or does not come back, withdrawals that are compulsory after a certain age, and government benefits that shrink as your income rises. These guides cover the decisions those rules force.
Every guide cites primary sources — the Canada Revenue Agency, Employment and Social Development Canada, and the provincial authorities — and states the year its figures apply to.