A practical Canadian starter kit: which accounts to open first, simple investing, and the small habits that actually matter.

The years seem to go by faster every year, and once again, it is hard to believe that we are starting a brand-new year, with 2025 now in the rear-view mirror. While 2025 started a bit bumpy with tariff drama in the first quarter of the year, most Canadians are hopefully content with how the year progressed, at least from an investment perspective. To take stock of what 2026 might hold, we need to take a bit of inventory of where things stand and how the prior year progressed.