Weekend Reading: RSP Ready Edition

RRSP season is in full swing and this Tuesday February 10th from 12pm – 1pm EST I’ll be participating in Tangerine’s RSP Twitter chat to talk about all things retirement.

What’s the best retirement advice you’ve ever received? What’s at the top of your wish list once you retire? Is your retirement reality different than your parents or grandparents? When did you begin saving on your road to retirement?

We’ll be answering all of these questions and more this Tuesday, so if you have a retirement question then join the conversation Tuesday on Twitter using the hashtag #RSPReady.

And don’t forget, March 2nd 2015 is the deadline for contributing to an RRSP for the 2014 tax year.

This week’s recap:

On Monday I looked at a saving and spending formula you can live with.

On Wednesday Marie explained how you can make life easier for the executor of your will.

On Friday we posted another Boomer & Echo Financial Makeover – retiring after self-employment.

Over on Rewards Cards Canada I explained how to cut through the noise and choose the best credit card.

Weekend reading:

Rob Carrick teamed up with Justin Bender and Dan Bortolotti of PWL Capital to put together this primer to help you be a tax-smart ETF investor.

Carrick also put together a financial boot camp of sorts that addressed concerns from readers who were stressed about debt, worried about their ability to save, and nervous about retirement.

John Heinzl reached out to RESP expert Mike Holman to explain the right way to withdraw RESP funds.

More than one million Canadians choose free TV with an antenna instead of paying a cable or satellite company every month. If you like the idea of over-the-air TV, Adam Mayers explains how to get going.

Helaine Olen, author of Pound Foolish and staunch critic of the financial services industry, says financial literacy is a noble distraction from actual consumer protection. That’s why the financial services industry loves it:

“The organizations most interested in promoting financial literacy are the ones that benefit the most from laws that assume consumers can be educated—and don’t need legal protection from corporate financial predators.”

Ben Carlson argues that there needs to be a better balance between consumer protection and financial literacy.

A Globe and Mail columnists suggests that you’ll have fewer regrets if you live more for today and less for yesterday and tomorrow.

This frugal Vermont man passed away at 92 and left a surprise multimillion dollar donation to a hospital and library.

Speaking of the surprisingly wealthy, Nelson Smith from Financial Uproar explains the problem with Grace Groner (and stories like her’s).

Nelson also looks at the problem with assuming no CPP in your retirement plans.

J. Money from Budgets are Sexy lists some of the guilty pleasures that he spends money on, including lottery tickets and old coins from the 1800’s.

Alan Whitton is paranoid of the auto insurance industry and its latest ploy to “save you money”.

Dan Wesley says that while you can’t control the markets, you can control your savings rate.

Sheryl Smolkin explains why her financial planner was a great investment.

TD e-Series funds get a lot of attention from index investors, but not everyone wants to move from their current bank.  Million Dollar Journey lists the index funds being offered at all the big banks.

ETFs can offer broader exposure than mutual funds at a lower cost.  Here, Mark Seed lists the top equity ETFs for indexing fans.

With the Canadian dollar struggling, many investors wonder about holding ETFs in U.S. currency instead.  Dan Bortolotti explains why you should “keep your foreign equities un-hedged and simply use a rebalancing strategy to smooth out the ride.”

Finally, Preet Banerjee is back with another video blog – this one attempts to answer the question of whether renting is simply throwing away money.

Have a great weekend, everyone!