RRSP's

[Sportsdude]

whats that? I just want to design low income housing areas and more translink lines. lol  

[purelife]

You'll need to get into architecture to do up plans for housing and such.  Project Mgrs usually work in construction companies or for Real Estate Developers.  They help with projects and coordinate the projects.

  Anyways, back to RRSP's please.

[Sportsdude]

sure no problem on the RSRPS


(urban planners plan out the lines they don't do the designing for example where you live, your residence is there because it was designed as a residential area by planners)
 

[Moolah!]

purelife wrote:
 Anyways, back to RRSP's please.

  I read this thread from start to end, I'm still not sure what you're asking PL.



There's no mystery to RRSPs, go to your bank they can tell you the basics. Most bank have pamphlets for them already. Or you can buy/borrow a book and read it.



If you're wondering about investing, and what types of investments to hold in RRSPs, there're some basic guidelines but you'd be better off either seeing a financial advisor, or becoming your own advisor...



The latter is the best (yet the hardest) route as it requires lengthy hours of diligent reading.



However you cut down on exorbitant commissions, and learn not to get shafted.



You reach a level where you can make your own decisions, and are not dependent on your advisor and the annual/bi-annual portfolio reviews.



That has a LOT of advantages because sometimes by the time you get around to meeting and evaluating what happened, it might already be too late.

 

[purelife]

thanks for taking the time to post, Raging Poodle.  

is there a book for beginners that you could recommend?  i'm very keen about being my own financial advisor.  

[49er]

we don't have RRSPs in the States, we have something similar ..........

  IRA - Individual Retirement Account.........you invest a limited amount after taxes each year and the gains are tax deferred.  Taxes are paid on the gains when you withdrew at retirement.  You control and select how the money is invested

  401K and Deferred Compensation Accounts ........ are employer sponsored accounts.  Money is deducted from your salary before taxes and deposited into these accounts.  Investment choices are limited to what the contracted holding financial institution offers.  Taxes are paid when you withdrew from the account.  Some employers, as an incentive, will match 100% or a fraction of the employee's savings.

  I've have both an IRA and a Deferred Comp.  

  I opened a brokerage account with my IRA and trade stocks and options with it.  

  The institution that handles my Deferred Comp offers a diverse assortment of mutual funds for us to select from.  I have found that my investment in the overseas mutual funds I selected have provided me with returns of over 20% per year in the last 4-5 years.  Money in the the US funds have yielded a lot less.  

  You can find more on retirement planning at sites like this  [A href="vny!s://www.fidelity.com/frameless_pr_A.shtml"]Fidelity[/A] even though its tailored for the US its good background info.  

[kingy]

i have my rrsp with canaccord. the reason i go with them is because they dont charge a management fee. there are other firms out there like an odlum brown that do charge a yearly fee.

  the main difference is that canaccord will charge a commission for everything they do, so if you only make one contribution a year, and depending on how much, the commission is usually less than a yearly management fee.

  [A href="vny!://www.canaccord.com/default.htm"]vny!://www.canaccord.com/default.htm[/A]

[A href="vny!s://www.odlumbrown.com/home.html"]vny!s://www.odlumbrown.com/home.html[/A]  

[purelife]

bless you 49er and kingy. i've got the latter one.  i have a LIF with my company and that portion can only be withdrawed at retirement or rollover to a GIC.  yup, they match my contributions which is great.  

  thanks for your tip about overseas mutual funds.  i was thinking about investing in a china stock.  i can't remember the name off hand.  i think it's agf china focus something.  thanks for the link too.  i'll check it out tomorrow.

[Moolah!]

purelife wrote:
 thanks for taking the time to post, Raging Poodle.  

is there a book for beginners that you could recommend?  i'm very keen about being my own financial advisor.  [/DIV]
 There isn't just one single book that I know of that can teach you all there's to know about investing and being one's own advisor.



It's a very diverse field, at times requiring highly specialized info.



If you're REALLY serious then I'd say start with the CSC, not to become a broker but for your own education.



CSC will give you the foundation and the theoretical framework, however it'll be short on practicality.



You need both theory and practical knowledge. You can't skip one or the other without regretting it in the future.



So you'll have to build on top of CSC.



Start slow. And go slow. Pace yourself.



You're looking at a minimum of 2 years' of dedicated and focused studying on a daily basis before you can start making head or tails out of business news, and start seeing what's behind those news, why certain things are happening the way they're happening and what your next move should be.



You'll have to learn how to read annual reports and and go through accounting records to figure out if you want to invest in that company.



This is the investor's way.



You don't invest in what you don't understand.

And you don't commit without due diligence.



However, there's also an easier way: You become a "gambler" and start throwing your money around based on tips you pick up from people with dubious credentials.



The majority choose the latter path, but I can't help you much with that as I'm not a gambler myself.



 

[purelife]

CSC I take it is Canadian Securities Course?  I do plan to take that as well as my Level I insurance.  I won't take the Level OFA? exam but just study to learn about life insurance and such.  

[Sportsdude]

 investing in the stock market: legalized gambling, same premise as gambling except one is legal and one is not. lol    

[purelife]

part of investing in mutual funds, SD is a sort of "gamble" you take because if that stock plunges, you lose all or most of you money.  everyone who is investing in RRSP's so to speak are "gamblers."

[Sportsdude]

I know, I've got stocks in canadian oil companies.  Maybe I can take them over with a hostile takeover and kick all the alberta bums out and clean up alberta lol.    

[Moolah!]

purelife wrote:
 CSC I take it is Canadian Securities Course?

  Indeed it is.


  > investing in the stock market: legalized gambling, same premise as gambling except one is legal and one is not. lol    

  ^ That's how a true gambler would justify their actions.



Gambling is not illegal in Canada BTW. There're casinos all over BC.



   

[Sportsdude]

there is? A casino here has to be on 'water' now defining water is difficult because some places where no water is available just builds a mote and says oh water lets build a casino.  Can't go in them anyway not legal.