Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
RRSP season is slowly coming to a close, if we are to believe the advertising campaigns from the banks and mutual funds. RRSP season is actually all year round, however March 1, 2017 is the deadline for contributing to an RRSP for the 2016 tax year.
Table of contents
It is bad planning (in my opinion) to buy RRSPs at this stage of the game, but if you find money (and don’t have debt to pay off), it is an OK place to put found money. I have over the years written plenty of articles on RRSPs, and here are a few for you to read:
Image used without permission of JK Rowling or Warner Bros.
- The Spousal RRSP the Forgotten Savings Tool, is a useful tool.
- Are you getting tired of listening to all the financial jargon?RRSP Bingo is for those lucky folks who might be visiting their investment folks.
- RRSP Rebalance Season, if you are going to be looking at your retirement investments, maybe it is time to rebalance them too?
- Which do you do? RRSP then TFSA ? Of course I am assuming you have paid off your debt.
- In a more snarky line, TFSA Retirement Welfare Bums, is a discussion about all those rich folks who can put money in their TFSA for their retirement.
If this is RRSP season, remember that it is tax season as well. For folks in Ottawa who work for the Federal Government, there are tax problems. Over 50,000 have had issues with their T4 slips from the new Phoenix pay system. Ironically the CRA (who are also part of the Phoenix Pay system) say that there will be no dispensations for them. The CRA was kind enough to put up an FAQ Page for Tax Questions.
The ultimate concept in the #Fakenews? The status bar and how long it says it will take to install your software (several minutes, my arse!)
My Writings for Week Ending February 24th
Given we are in the RRSP Season, I had my own poke at the topic, which I borrowed from a discussion I had with Preet B. and Michael James about how so many folks seem to forget that an RRSP is a Tax Deferral Savings Plan. How many times have you heard someone tell you how much money they have in their RRSP and never mention the taxes they might have to pay on that sum?
Boom! No Snow!
The snow in Ottawa is disappearing at a very fast rate, but luckily it is only February and I am sure there will be more to be had soon.
- Found an interesting article on a discount razor web site in the states, PERSONAL FINANCE TIPS FROM PEOPLE WHO’VE PAID OFF THEIR DEBTS, guess they enjoy capital letters there too?
- Redflag Deals, had a nifty article about The 2017 Free Tax Software Roundup for Canadians, didn’t know there was that many free tax apps in Canada.
- Given it is RRSP Season, My Own Advisor has a timely article, RRSP facts and guidance for 2017, very worth while reading.
- Not many folks equate Tax Season with identity theft, but they should. Betanews points this out in, Americans at risk of identity theft as they file their tax returns.
- The more complex the technology, the easier it is hacked. CNN Money , Why buying used cars could put your safety at risk, agrees with my hypothesis.
- An exciting piece of news on ETFs? Not really, but the Canadian Couch Potato brings us, A New ETF Structure for Accumulators, which is interesting.
- An AI Hedge Fund Created a New Currency to Make Wall Street Work Like Open Source. Numerai is putting out this new currency, but who will buy into it?
- Robb from Boomer and Echo goes after the Mutual Fund industry (and good on him)! Closet Indexing: Revealing The Dirty Little Secret Of Canada’s Mutual Fund Industry, I like this one a lot.
- Do you want a good reason Why and How to Start an Emergency Fund? The Art of Manliness sums it up nicely, “…Because sh** happens and it can be expensive…”, well stated
- Michael James points out The Limits of Retirement Simulators.  No matter how good an on-line tool is, it can still be wrong (and you should keep that in mind).
Home Safes are Safe?
No, not the home safes you can buy in most stores, as this video shows.
2016 Random Thoughts Year End
- Farewell Vinyl Café, Snow, Monopoly and #MoneyTalk (February 17th)
- RRSP , Tax , TFSA , RESP, and RDSP Time and #MoneyTalk (February 10th)
- Year of the Fire Rooster, Financial Groundhog Day and #MoneyTalk (February 3rd)
- Alternate Financial Facts, 1984 and #Moneytalk (January 27th)
- Bungled Mortgages, Friday the 13th and #Moneytalk (January 13th)
- Merry New Year, CPP, EI and #MoneyTalk (January 6th)
