I built this because I needed it first.
A bank advisor once told me to open a TFSA, and then parked it in a high-interest savings account paying roughly 1.5%. I did what he said. I felt responsible. It took me two years to realise I’d been sold a product, not given a plan.
That one meeting cost me years. Not because the advisor was malicious — he wasn’t — but because the whole system was built around selling products, not answering questions. Fee-only planners were better, but still expensive and still pitched services I didn’t need. Reddit was often excellent and just as often wrong. Colleagues didn’t talk about money. Friends forwarded WhatsApp screenshots that had to be fact-checked before I could use a word.
What I wanted was simple. One place that could tell me: here’s what you have, here’s what it’ll be worth when you need it, and here are the small moves that get you there. A number I could trust. A plan I could follow.
Who it’s for.
My family. My friends. Fellow Canadians doing everything right and still not sure. You have RRSPs. A TFSA. Maybe a rental. You’ve read the articles. And you still can’t answer the question: am I on track?
There are people who are great at this — who build their own models, who read tax bulletins. Some share generously. Many don’t. Rooftop is for everybody else.
The belief.
Most Canadians don’t need an advisor. They need a clear number and a nudge. It’s easy to freeze when you have no clue. A clear path holds your hand — shows you where you are, where you’re going, and the next three things to do this quarter.
What we won’t do.
No funds, no insurance, no mortgages, no commissions. Subscription only.
No selling, no partner offers, no advertising enrichment. Your financial life is not a growth channel.
If your situation is genuinely complex, we’ll tell you so and point you somewhere real.
Every number ties back to a CRA rule you can look up. No exceptions.
What this is, and what it isn’t.
I should say this plainly: I am not a licensed financial advisor, and neither is anyone on the Rooftop team. We are not qualified to give you financial advice, and nothing inside Rooftop should be read as advice. The numbers, projections, and scenarios are modelling tools. They’re meant to inform your thinking — not to be relied on as the final word on a decision that affects your money, your family, or your retirement.
We take the accuracy of the underlying rules — CRA limits, CPP formulas, OAS thresholds — seriously. But a projection is still a projection. Markets don’t follow averages. Your life won’t match the model. For anything meaningful, please talk to a licensed professional who can look at your whole situation.
Part of the roadmap is bridging that gap honestly. Some really cool things are planned in the pipeline to help you connect the dots between your plan and the real decisions it leads to. Rooftop’s job is to make you a better-prepared client on the day you walk in that door — not to replace the door.
If this resonates — if you’ve had your own version of the TFSA-in-an-HISA moment — try it. The calculator is free. If it doesn’t work for you, tell me why. I read everything.