Weekend Reading – March 21, 2008

Written by FrugalTrader on Mar 21, 2008 filed under Interesting Links

Before we get into some weekend reading, there was a winner chosen for a free copy of Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ. Out of the 65 comments received, AppleTree was randomly chosen as the winner! Congrats! Thanks to all who participated.

What are your thoughts of contests that require a bit more work than usual? Typically, I get the reader to leave a simple comment, but this one past required some reading and a bit of thinking. Judging by the low turnout, I'm assuming that most couldn't be bothered. However, the ones who do participate have a higher chance of winning.

Onto some great reading around the blog world:

The Financial Blogger does his own RRSP vs TFSA battle analysis. His conclusion is that the TFSA wins. Ed Rempel had a similar conclusion in his article "TFSA vs RRSP: Clawbacks and Income Tax on Seniors"

Thicken My Wallet, who did a guest post on The Lipson Case and The Smith Manoeuvre earlier this week, writes about how to increase your chances of obtaining a loan.

Silicon Valley Blogger tells us to rent instead of buy, with anything!

Canadian Capitalist tells us to invest in the employer matching RRSP program as it is free money. I agree that it's free money and probably the best way to get RRSP exposure for most, however, there is an inconvenience factor if you were to change jobs.

Lazy Man and Money writes about how Bear Stearns was sold or $2.

Super frugal Tim from Canadian Dream: Free at 45 writes about his day to day food intake. Reading about his frugality is truly inspiring and motivating.

Generation X Finance has a very descriptive article about how a couple had to live in a camper after foreclosure.

Money Smart Life says that managing your money is easier said than done.

Mr. Cheap from Quest for Four Pillars writes about his "Crazy Experience" at an airport with one of the richest men in the world. No, not that kind of experience. ;)

Brip Blap asks "why be rich?" I share in his point of view.

Sun writes about $1000 gold!

My Dollar Plan writes about an interesting concept called Investment Snow Flaking. It's basically where you contribute ANY bonus money into a savings or investment account (in addition to your regular savings). For example, if you saved $100 on an appliance purchase, instead of leaving that saved money in your spending account, transfer it to a savings/investment account.

9 Comments, Comment or Ping

1. The Financial Blogger

thx for the mention FT!
I’m glad my blog is back to life!

Mar 21st, 2008 @ 8:39 am
2. Canadian Capitalist

Thanks for the link FT. Happy Easter!

Mar 21st, 2008 @ 10:07 am
3. DAvid

FT said: “however, there is an inconvenience factor if you were to change jobs.”

This would be a very poor reason to not consider participating in a matching RSP program. There are lots of ‘inconveniences’ when switching jobs. This one should be no more difficult than switching your payroll deposit information.

DAvid

Mar 21st, 2008 @ 11:27 am
4. FrugalTrader

David,

I should have explained that a bit more. Free money is free money, but if your existing work based RRSP plan is poor (like mine, all MERS > 2%), then switching jobs would mean ceasing deposits into that account. From there, the account would either sit there, or converted into a LIRA when you get older.

Mar 21st, 2008 @ 12:37 pm
5. Mr. Cheap

Thanks for the link. :-)

Mar 21st, 2008 @ 1:00 pm
6. DAvid

FT,
I can’t speak to your plan, but most Group RSPs fall under your control as soon as you leave the Company. There may be a requirement that some or all of the RSP remain in a ‘locked-in’ product, but you have the choice of the investment vehicles within. Even a LIRA is controlled by you as far as the investment vehicles is concerned.

Also, don’t just look at MERs, assess the return of the product. Some actually do outperform the index on a consistent basis.

DAvid

References:

Concordia University:
* transfer your Group RSP to the Canada Life Universal RSP, where you’ll continue to enjoy the same investment options and Canada Life service; or
* transfer your Group RSP balance to another RRSP at a financial institution; or
* withdraw your Group RSP account balance in cash (this amount will be included in your taxable income for that year and tax will be withheld from the payment).

Fidelity Investments:
Contributions your employer makes on your behalf to the Group RSP become vested immediately. That’s right! You own your employer’s contributions right away. So when you leave the company, you will be taking your contributions, any matching employer contributions and any investment earnings with you.

Ken MacCoy:
When you make a contribution to a group RRSP there is no question about who owns the contibution and what you can or can’t do with it. You can do what ever you want with it – transfer it, redeem it, add to it. Note: There may be some locking-in provisions or restrictions on the transfer of amounts contributed by your employer.

Mar 21st, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
7. My Dollar Plan

Thanks for the mention! If I have time, I would do the reading for a contest, but it all depends on what is going on at that moment!

Mar 21st, 2008 @ 3:35 pm
8. Four Pillars

I agree with David – it’s only defined benefit pensions that typically have to stay in locked in accounts such as a LIRA.

I like the fun contests but quite frankly can do without a Kiyosaki book. )

Have a great long weekend.

Mike

Mar 21st, 2008 @ 4:08 pm
9. Hannah

Good reads for sure!

I’m with David on this one: I’ve never seen an RSP plan set up so that it’s more difficult to withdraw funds when leaving than it’s worth!

Mar 22nd, 2008 @ 11:23 am