Let Fred handle
the money.

I’d start by building a separate home fund for September 2029, without draining your emergency savings or stopping retirement saving. Your scheduled take-home pay and current budget leave about $1,810 a month after the $1,200 retirement allowance. If those amounts stay steady, that would build $65,160 over three years, before interest or tax refunds. That’s a planning estimate, not yet a home-price limit: you’ll need enough for closing costs as well as the down payment, and monthly ownership costs you can comfortably carry.

I’d leave your $18,000 Emergency Savings outside that target for now. Your $18,000 Maya TFSA could add to the home fund if that’s what you want it for, but I haven’t assumed it’s available. For new home savings, I’d look first at a First Home Savings Account (FHSA) for each of you, subject to eligibility and available contribution room. Contributions can reduce your income tax. With only three years, I’d keep the home money in savings or guaranteed deposits rather than rely on stock-market growth.

Are you picturing a condo or a house, and would you want to buy in Toronto or somewhere else? A rough price range helps too, if you already have one.

Congratulations to you and Ben, Sarah!

I’d aim for about $26,000 in emergency savings, as a provisional target while you’re on parental leave. Your budget has $4,240 a month for bills and essentials, so that’s roughly six months of cover. I’d lean toward six rather than three with a newborn, within the FCAC’s general guidance. Baby costs aren’t clearly included yet, so we should revisit the target once those settle.

Your Emergency Savings has $18,000 recorded, covering about four months on that basis. That’s a substantial starting cushion, with about $8,000 left to build toward the provisional target. I wouldn’t move all $8,000 from Everyday Chequing to finish it immediately; that money also covers bills between paydays. Keep emergency money accessible in savings, rather than exposed to investment losses.

The other adjustments I’d prioritize are:

• Update the family budget: Add diapers, feeding supplies and other regular baby costs. Set aside money separately for any predictable income drop during leave. Also, your $1,200 “Retirement saving” allocation is currently treated as spending in deezbills; I’d separate it into a savings goal so it doesn’t look like spending money.
• Check the child-benefit application: If you didn’t apply through birth registration, the CRA lets you apply through your account. Don’t count an expected benefit as available cash yet.
• Review family protection: Check life insurance for both of you, disability coverage and adding your baby to workplace health benefits. Review your RRSP and TFSA beneficiaries, and arrange wills and guardianship wishes with an Ontario lawyer if that isn’t already done.

When does your current parental-leave pay end or step down? That’s the key missing piece before choosing how quickly to build the extra cushion.

I’d lean toward gradual RRSP withdrawals during lower-income retirement years, rather than automatically spending your cash and TFSAs first. You and Anne have $520,000 combined in RRSPs, and neither has started CPP or OAS. That may give you a window to spread taxable income over more years, provided your tax rates now are lower than they’ll be later. RRSP withdrawals count as income, so the aim is lower tax across retirement, not simply the smallest bill this year.

I’d coordinate that with any available company-pension income splitting, rather than deciding whose RRSP to draw from in isolation. Your TFSAs can provide tax-free top-ups when extra taxable income would be costly. For your Taxable Investments, we’d need the original purchase costs to compare the tax on selling with an RRSP withdrawal.

The first thing that could change this approach for 2026 is your income before retiring: roughly how much salary, bonus or severance did each of you receive this year, before tax?