Well, I have officially opened a first home savings account, or an FHSA, as they’re called. It’s a special new tax-free account Canada introduced this year to help people afford the ridiculously priced houses that exist now.
For some reason, it took months for my bank to offer such an account. So as soon as he could, my father booked us (my brother and I) appointments and we sat down with a lady who made me look at line graphs to decide how risky of an investor I am. And after I was deemed conservative with my money, then I had to buy a GIC. I do not know what a GIC is. But eight thousand of my dollars have now gone into one. There was also an issue where we ended up with the wrong GIC to qualify us for a promo the bank was offering, so my father had to sort that out for us too.
This experience really just solidified two things for me:
1. I am very grateful that my father knows a lot about banking, finances, and is willing to go out of his way to ensure my brother and I are set up for as much success as this economy will allow.
2. I’d like to offer the biggest and most sincere screw you to every person who played a part in making our financial system so stupidly complicated.
A FHSA is supposed to be for younger people saving to buy a first home. 18 year olds are allowed to open one, but how on earth is an 18 year old supposed to have the knowledge and confidence to do it without a parent doing most of the work? And what if you don’t have a parent like my father who keeps up with these things?
I don’t think the school system in Canada is bad by any means, but it really did not prepare any of us for these kind of important things. And sure, the internet is around and very helpful, but how am I to even start? I Googled “What is a GIC” and while I now know what the acronym means, my understanding of why I needed that for a savings account is not any clearer.
Saving money should not be this complicated. Banks should not be this complicated. Someone should not need a PhD in finance to understand what’s going on. Somewhere along the line, people created all these things like GICs and bonds and mutual funds and EFTs and made it so the average person simply can’t keep up, even when it involves their own money. And I feel like I’m not alone in this frustration. I’d guess that most people my age don’t know enough about the financial system and would struggle to open a FHSA on their own as well. How are we supposed to teach the next generation if no one taught us?
I watched The Big Short the other weekend too. Didn’t fully understand the ins and outs of it all, and obviously, that’s all American systems, but it’s similar enough. How scary that these powerful rich people purposely rigged the system to take advantage of average joes, and no one faced any consequences either. And they got away with it because the systems in place were so complicated and so layered that even people in the financial industry didn’t think to question it or distrust it.
And it’s not just banks and finance bros. It’s politicians and contractors and everyone else, all working together to ensure dysfunctional systems. A year ago or so, I saw an article titled something like “Taylor Swift’s parents sell house for over a million dollars!” as though that was unfathomable. If my parents listed our average house for sale here in the burbs of Ontario, it’d also go for over a million today. I will likely never be able to afford a house like I grew up in, no matter how many special savings accounts I open.
All this just makes me feel hopeless and dumb. Even though I’m fairly good with money, that may not be enough to survive in a world that is not designed to be on my side. But at least now I’m saving money for a some house so I can hopefully one day be confused and disheartened in new ways when I have to face the complexities of a mortgage!
Are any of you in the same boat? And are you head-in-sand-ing it or are there resources and tools you turn to for info and understanding of financial systems (if the latter, please share!)
That’s all for now!
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Coolbeans4 
While I’m American and therefore not really tuned in to the specifics of Canadian financials, I totally get where you’re coming from. Yes, the American system is ridiculously complicated – and indeed, the question is begged, WHY? I’m in a weird position when it comes to money – since I’m disabled, I’ve never been able to work more than part-time, so I have little credit history, because I could never afford big purchases, but I also had a lot of debt slammed onto me because of student loan interest corruption. The good news is I was able to have my student loans forgiven, so now my credit score looks great – but, I am still on a very limited personal income, so what does that mean for my credit score in, say, 5 years? Also, according to the Social Security administration, I would qualify for partial disability benefits – but since I can work at least a little, the payout for partial benefits is stupidly low (in my opinion, not even worth the hassle of filling out the paperwork).
While I also have parents who were always open to answering questions about things like finances, I totally agree that 20-somethings who don’t have such guidance will be at a disadvantage. And many banks don’t care about anything other than getting your business, unfortunately. There are some investment firms – such as Edward Jones and Fidelity – that do offer actual advice and try to find their customers ways to navigate the systems. My suggestion is to look into a place like that, where you can get a broker who will at least attempt to customize your account, and is aware of regulations, limits, etc., etc.
Otherwise, yes, this system reeks – so best of luck, fortitude, and gathering wisdom to all of us!
As a fellow Canadian I was told by my primary investors that I can open a FHSA by the end of the year. I’m 30 and currently living at home but I’ve been putting money into a TFSA since college. I do not want to rent, I want to either buy a condo, townhouse or small house if I get lucky. So I’ll stay at home and save for as long as I can, frickin ridiculous. Not everyone is an accountant, lawyer, or doctor with millions to spare.