Financial Guide for Your 30s in Canada | Home Buying, Family Costs and Saving

In your 30s, income usually rises, and so do the claims on it: a first home, a partner’s finances, children, and retirement saving that now has a visible end date. This guide sets out the priorities most Canadians weigh in this decade and links to the pages that cover each in full. It follows the financial guide for your 20s and comes before the financial guide for your 40s, all part of life stages and life events.

Where you stand

Rules of thumb for savings by age (often stated as a multiple of salary) give a rough check on progress; what they are, and their limits, are covered in how much you should have saved by 30. An emergency fund, high-interest debt under control and a credit history that will support a mortgage are the usual foundations.

RRSP vs TFSA in your 30s

As income rises, the RRSP’s tax deduction is worth more, because each dollar contributed is deducted at your marginal rate. A TFSA stays the more flexible account for goals before retirement and for people with irregular income. Which to fund first depends on your current and expected future tax rates; the RRSP vs TFSA calculator compares them, and what to hold inside them is in investing in your 30s. Collecting any employer match comes first, since it adds money you wouldn’t otherwise receive.

The home buying question

The FHSA and the Home Buyers’ Plan can be used for the same purchase. Whether buying beats renting depends on prices and rents where you live, how long you’ll stay, and whether the money not spent on a down payment would be invested; the rent vs buy calculator runs the comparison, and am I ready to buy a house covers readiness.

Family costs

Children are the other big change in many people’s 30s. The money checklist before and after a birth is in the first baby financial guide; what children cost is in the cost of raising a child and daycare costs by province. The Canada Child Benefit offsets part of the cost, and the parental leave calculator shows what you’d receive on leave.

An RESP is the usual way to save for a child’s education: the government adds the Canada Education Savings Grant on contributions, up to a lifetime $7,200 per child. How to collect the grants, including catching up on missed years, is in the RESP guide.

Career and income

Pay growth in your 30s compounds for the rest of your career, through skills, job changes and negotiation. A common way to avoid lifestyle inflation is to save a fixed share of each raise before spending the rest; the raise calculator shows what a raise adds after tax.

Debt

A mortgage at a reasonable rate and low-rate student loans are different from credit card balances and consumer loans, which usually come first in a payoff plan. Strategies for several debts are compared in debt avalanche vs snowball.

Insurance

A first will

A will, powers of attorney for property and personal care, and up-to-date beneficiary designations matter once you own a home or have children (a will is where you name a guardian). The steps are in how to make a will in Canada; marriage brings its own list in the getting married financial checklist.

A checklist for your 30s

Related resources

• RRSP Calculator
• The generational homeownership gap
• Self-Employed vs Incorporated