What do you want to know about finance and investing?

[lll111]

I am thinking about finances and investing trying to earn money while at home but there are so many different aspects of investing, I just wanted to get an idea of what other people are interested in, want to know more about.

Are you interested in stocks, options, bonds, mutual funds, TFSA, etc.

Please give me your interests, what you want to learn about.

Thanks

[MillieH]

I`d really like to know about retirement income when you are ready to retire.. Here is the scenario..aged 65, there is a fixed pension from work, that one is settled, it will pay a fixed amount til death and then some kind of payout or ongoing pension depending on beneficary. The 2nd work pension has about 80k in it. This one can be changed into a timed payout.. I forget terminology, but he can opt for short term payout, I assume with higher payments or a fixed til death one, assuming this one will have lower monthly payments. He will also qualify for CPP & OAP. Then there is 100k in RRSPs to be taken out over the first 5 years. For that 5 year period, we should qualify for split income when doing taxes.

In 5 years, I would have 100k in RRSPs to be taken out over 5 years.

What are the best options to reduce taxes paid on RRSPs.

We have no debt at all, house and car paid for.. and maxxed TFSA..

[beckie.c]

I'd be really interested in a course on investing/mutual funds/stocks... its like a whole different language and while I understand the basic concepts I'd like to learn more. Right now I rely on our financial adviser to understand our mutual funds in our TFSA.

[blueeyetea]

lll111, what do you mean exactly when you say "I am thinking about finances and investing to earn money while at home, but there are so many aspects of investing"?

Do you want to invest money to earn an income, or do you want to work as a personal finance advisor?

If it's investing to earn an income in the short term, i.e. a couple of years, you don't have much choice if you want to hang on to your capital. You'll want to go with a product that pays either a fixed interest rate, like a GIC, or a blue chip stock that pays a dividend every year. If you have enough money to invest that will give you a decent return, that is.

Anything else, like mutual funds, for example, are too volatile for the short term because you can't predict what the markets will do from one day to the next.

[blueeyetea]

I`d really like to know about retirement income when you are ready to retire.. Here is the scenario..aged 65, .......
Then there is 100k in RRSPs to be taken out over the first 5 years. For that 5 year period, we should qualify for split income when doing taxes.
In 5 years, I would have 100k in RRSPs to be taken out over 5 years.
What are the best options to reduce taxes paid on RRSPs.

Why removing the 100K RRSP taken out over 5 years? Will you have to?

To reduce the taxes you'll pay when you withdraw from your RRSP, you need to know what tax bracket you'll end up before and after you make withdrawals. I'm picking numbers out of the air, but let's say your income from all your pensions is $40,000 a year and your tax rate is 30%, you don't want to take out $20,000, pushing you income to $60,000 and a tax bracket of 50%. You need to calculate the amount you can withdraw while still staying in the 30% tax bracket.

If you want to delay paying taxes longer, when you need to close your RRSP's at the (mandatory) age of seventy one, you can roll them into Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF), which work the same as RRSP's, except that you are forced to withdraw a fixed minimum amount every year (and pay tax on it.) This amount is calculated based on your age or the age of your spouse combined. The younger the spouse, the smaller the mandatory withdrawal.

[blueeyetea]

I'd be really interested in a course on investing/mutual funds/stocks... its like a whole different language and while I understand the basic concepts I'd like to learn more. Right now I rely on our financial adviser to understand our mutual funds in our TFSA.

With investments, know that it's the fees charged by brokers and financial institutions that kill your returns and slow the growth of your invesments.

By relying on a financial advisor, it means the rate of return on your mutual funds is jeopardized because of the fees charged directly to the fund. Those fees are paid to the administrators whether the fund makes money or not. In other words, if the fund charges a MER of 2% a year, with today's average return between 4% and 6%, that means, you're stuck with a return of 2% to 4%, which over the long run adds up a lot. Compared to the stock market as a whole, there's no evidence that these "active managed funds" do any better.

To avoid all those fees and better your returns, the best strategy is to buy ETF funds or mutual funds that mimic the stock market. Which you buy depends on how much you can invest at ome time. A good primer is the Canadian Couch Potato. Or if you want a book, read Count on Yourself: Take Charge of Your Money by Alison Griffith.

As for owning stock, unless you have a good pot of money and the inclination to follow your investments, you're better off sticking with mutual funds for the most part. Having said that, if you want to own stock but don't have much money, you can start investing in companies that offer dividend reinvestment plans and share savings plan. You start by buying one share, have it registered, and then you sign up for the dividend reinvestment plan and share saving plan. Once it's set up, you can buy shares directly from the company just by sending a cheque, no fee involved. As well, as dividends are paid out, they are converted to more shares.

As for picking investments that are sure winners, well that's impossible. All these talking heads talking about quarterly earnings and share prices and making predictions on where the stock is going, it doesn't mean anything in the end.

[MillieH]

No, we won't need to at all :O) I was missing the RRIF step.. thanks so much

Why removing the 100K RRSP taken out over 5 years? Will you have to?

To reduce the taxes you'll pay when you withdraw from your RRSP, you need to know what tax bracket you'll end up before and after you make withdrawals. I'm picking numbers out of the air, but let's say your income from all your pensions is $40,000 a year and your tax rate is 30%, you don't want to take out $20,000, pushing you income to $60,000 and a tax bracket of 50%. You need to calculate the amount you can withdraw while still staying in the 30% tax bracket.

If you want to delay paying taxes longer, when you need to close your RRSP's at the (mandatory) age of seventy one, you can roll them into Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF), which work the same as RRSP's, except that you are forced to withdraw a fixed minimum amount every year (and pay tax on it.) This amount is calculated based on your age or the age of your spouse combined. The younger the spouse, the smaller the mandatory withdrawal.