Million Dollar JourneyMillion Dollar JourneyThe Making of a Millionaire - A Canadian Personal Finance Story. Come follow the story of a 20 something year old Canadian on this journey to 1 million in net worth by the age of 35. Daily topics include personal finance, investing, taxes, and frug Articles
TFSA vs RRSP - Clawbacks & Income Tax on Seniors
2008-03-12 12:30:00 Ed Rempel (CFP/CMA) is back! This article will pit the new Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) against the old school RRSP with the main focus being the potential GIS/OAS clawback during retirement. “The future ain't what it used to be.” – Yogi Berra Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSA’s) were just announced in the recent federal ... More About: Income , Seniors , Income Tax
Book Review and Giveaway: Fast Profits in Hard Times
2008-03-11 12:30:00 FSB Associates contacted and provided me with a free copy of the new book "Fast Profits in Hard Times - 10 Secret Strategies to Make You Rich in an Up or Down Economy" by Jordan E. Goodman for review. This hardcover book, as the title suggests, goes into various investment strategies for the more aggressive investor. ... More About: Book Review , Review , Book
The Smith Manoeuvre Money Flow
2008-03-10 12:30:00 I get a lot of emails about leveraged investing and the Smith Manoeuvre. In particular, how to go about "capitalizing the interest". As you may have read, it is possible to fund the investment loan with the loan itself. This is called capitalizing the interest. Basically, it's where you withdraw an amount (equal to the monthly interest payment) from the HELOC, and redeposit it as the monthly interest payment. CRA accepts that a loan can pay off the interest charges of another loan while keeping the interest on both loans tax deductible. As a side note, many people have written comments about using the investment loan to buy mutual funds with HIGH distributions. Typically, high distributions include Return OF Capital which is fine providing that you NEVER withdraw them. If ROC distributions are withdrawn from the investment account, the tax deductible portion of the loan will be reduced. Only dividends/interest can ... More About: Money , Flow
Weekend Reading - March 7, 2008
2008-03-07 11:30:00 Time again to show some recognition for great articles written around the blogosphere this week. Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, a very popular pf blog, has taken the time to interview yours truly. Thanks Jim for the opportunity! Big news for variable rate mortgage/loan holders! The Bank of Canada has decided to drop interest rates by 0.50%! What ... More About: Reading , Weekend , March , 2008
Setting up The Smith Manoeuvre - The Blueprint
2008-03-06 11:30:00 I've written about The Smith Manoeuvre since the inception of this blog but I haven't been practicing what I preach. That is, until now. As you probably know, this strategy is composed of 3 main parts: The mortgage The automatic readvancable HELOC The underlying investments Lets get started with my blueprint for setting up a slightly modified Smith Manoeuvre. The ... More About: Blueprint
The Smith Manoeuvre Resource
2008-03-05 11:30:00 Over the past year so, MDJ has posted many articles on the topic of using a HELOC to invest in equities aka: The Smith Manoeuvre. This article will compile all the posts into a single Smith Manoeuvre Resource . Hopefully, you'll find it useful. The Basics The Smith Manoeuvre Basics Common Smith Manoeuvre Questions The Contrarian Downsides of the Smith Manoeuvre Readvancable ...
30 Personal Finance Rules of Thumb
2008-03-04 11:30:00 Nobleea has come up with the idea of compiling personal finance rules of thumb into a blog post. He has done the research and has shared with us his findings. Who is Nobleea? He is a regular reader, commenter, engineer, and personal finance enthusiast. It is often believed that the term ‘Rule of Thumb ’ was ... More About: Personal , Personal Finance , Finance , Rules
Determining our Life Insurance Needs II - Scenario
2008-03-03 11:30:00 Yesterday, I wrote about the criteria that needs to be considered when calculating life insurance needs. Today, I'm going to calculate our personal requirement for life insurance in case the worst happens. Note that the insurance requirements for each spouse would be different if one spouse made significantly more money than the other spouse. However, ... More About: Life , Insurance , Life Insurance , Scenario
Weekend Reading - Feb 29, 2008
2008-03-01 11:30:00 During my weekend reading posts, I typically link to the same blogs. However, this time around, I'm going to "diversify" and point out some great articles from other popular voices in the blogosphere. No Credit Needed has hosted this weeks Festival of Frugality. MDJ submitted the article "Eating in Before Eating Out". Lazy Man and Money sometimes ... More About: Reading , Weekend , 2008
Best of Million Dollar Journey: Feb 2008
2008-02-29 11:30:00 Time for another monthly summary on MDJ. In this issue, we will go over the top 5 articles of Feb, the top commentator and winner of a copy of RRSP's. Along with this, MDJ will be having it's first advertising special. More details at the bottom of the post. Top 5 most viewed (or commented) MDJ ... More About: Journey , Dollar , Million , 2008
Feb 2008 Net Worth Update (+2.69%)
2008-02-28 11:30:00 Time for another net worth update: The Feb 2008 Edition! This was a very non eventful month where we are gearing up for the big move next month. Most of the non-registered portfolios are cash right now which means very little growth on that side of things. On the RRSP side of things, I recovered a bit ... More About: Update , Net worth , Worth
Federal Budget 2008: Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)
2008-02-27 09:30:00 The Tories have promised something for investors since they were elected. The biggest election promise that I was hoping for this year was the capital gains exemption that they spoke of a couple years back. The plan was that investors could carry forward their capital gains taxation provided that the money was reinvested within ... More About: Free , Budget , Savings , Account , 2008
Determining our Life Insurance Needs I - Criteria
2008-02-26 11:30:00 People generally don't like talking about death, especially planning for it. I'm no exception, but with the new home and child coming, I'm looking into insurance more seriously. Before, with both of us working and make comparable income, life insurance wasn't really a consideration because there weren't any financial dependents in the picture. The ... More About: Life , Insurance , Life Insurance , Criteria
8 Things to do Before Closing on a House
2008-02-25 11:30:00 We are just about to close on our new house and we've come across many things that should be completed before closing. Here are 8 things to do before closing on a house: Get your New Mortgage Ready. After you've shopped around for the best rate, meet with your mortgage rep to sign off on the papers ... More About: House , Things , A House
Weekend Reading - Feb 22, 2008
2008-02-22 11:30:00 Time to share some great articles that I found over the week. The Financial Blogger has hosted the 140th Carnival of Personal Finance. This issue was a bit more creative than usual as he used the "Prison Break" theme. MDJ submitted a "best prisoners" (and controversial) article "Ask the Readers: Talking about Money". John Chow reports how ... More About: Reading , Weekend , 2008
Best and Worst Used Vehicles of 2007
2008-02-21 11:30:00 With our cars being around 7 years old now, it will soon be time to look into the car market again. This time around though, we won't be purchasing NEW vehicles as they depreciate 15% as soon as you drive it off the lot. Why not buy a car that is 2-3 years old and ... More About: Vehicles
40 Year Mortgage - A Good Idea?
2008-02-20 11:30:00 With the introduction of the 40 year mortgage in Canada, people who couldn't afford a home before can now own a home due to lower monthly payments. For example, a $200,000 mortgage @ 6% over 25 years would cost approximately $1280 / month. Over 40 years, the payments would be $1090, or a difference of $200/month. The ... More About: Real Estate , Mortgage , Idea , Good , Year
Leaving Canada? What about RRSPs?
2008-02-19 11:30:00 I read a great article on Tim Cestnick's site today regarding what Canadians should do with their RRSPs when permanently leaving Canada for retirement. That is, how to efficiently minimize the tax of withdrawing from RRSP's when one becomes a non resident of Canada. The actually learned a lot from this article, and I thought I would share with you the highlights. 1. Leave the RRSP Intact. A lump sum collapse of an RRSP account can result in the highest taxation possible in Canada. Of course, this depends on your income for the year and the balance of your RRSP. Instead, if you need to withdraw from your RRSP, it's best to wait until permanent residency is established in the new country. Once residency is setup, CRA will only charge you a 25% withholding tax (as low as 15% in some countries). 2. Step up the Cost Base. If you move to the states and withdraw from your RRSP, the US government will tax you, but will allow your cost base to be withdrawn... More About: Leaving
Saving Strategy: Eat Before You Go Out
2008-02-18 11:30:00 I haven't posted about a money saving strategy since I posted about 25 ways to save money, but I came up a tip to write about while shopping over the weekend. On a typical Saturday morning, my wife and I will get up, have breakfast, relax for a bit, then head out on our adventure for ... More About: Strategy , Saving
Book Giveaway Winners of the Book RRSP?s
2008-02-15 11:30:00 It's time to announce the 4 book giveaway winners of the new book: RRSP's written by Preet Banerjee. Out of the 105 entries, the 4 winners are summarized below. Best Comment Entry As promised, there is 1 book made available to what I thought was the best comment entry. After reviewing the comments, it was really tough ... More About: Contests , Book , Winners
Ask the Readers: Talking about Money?
2008-02-14 11:30:00 Throughout my life, my parents always talked about money. How much this cost, why that was so expensive, how to save money here and there. So I guess I've grown accustomed to hearing money in conversations. Now that I'm all grown up and living away from my family, I'm finding that I can't have the same ... More About: Money , Readers , Talking
Frugal Tips for Valentines Day
2008-02-13 11:30:00 Ever notice how expensive Valentines can be? Lets face it, Valentines is a impress the significant other holiday and it can be hard on the pocket book. If you're a little more money conscious this year, here are some tips: If you must get flowers, might as well get the best price. Flower stores make a ... More About: Valentines Day , Tips , Frugal
Think or Swim Discount Brokerage Review
2008-02-12 11:30:00 When I receive emails promoting a product, I typically hit the delete button assuming that it's SPAM. This time though, the product was for a new discount brokerage offered in Canada, so I had to take a peak. Note that this is NOT a sponsored post and MDJ is not affiliated with Think or Swim ... More About: Review , Brokerage , Discount
RRSP Loan Strategy
2008-02-11 11:30:00 What is an RRSP Loan ? It's a loan, typically offered at prime, that allows the borrower to contribute to their RRSP using the banks money. The upside is that the borrower gets the tax refund in a few months, the downside is that the borrower is stuck with a loan that is paid out of ... More About: Strategy
Weekend Reading - Feb 8, 2008
2008-02-08 11:30:00 Great Canadian Rebates $25 GC Giveaway Last week I had a post recommending the site Great Canadian Rebates who gives you cash back (and coupons) when shopping at popular online stores like Chapters (4%), Canadian Tire (3.33%) and Westjet (1.33%). Within the post, I mentioned that Great Canadian Rebates would give away a $25 Chapters/Amazon GC to ... More About: Reading , Weekend , 2008
Just Starting out with RRSP?s
2008-02-07 11:30:00 With RRSP season underway, I've been getting a bunch of e-mail from readers asking "what is the best way to start an RRSP". I figure instead of emailing the exact same answer to everyone, I'll take the most efficient route and post it for everyone to see. Providing that an RRSP is for you, there are ... More About: Starting Out
Gadgets that I ?Need?
2008-02-06 11:30:00 I often talk about separating "needs" and "wants" when making purchases as I believe that frugality plays a big role in wealth building. However, everyone has their own perception of what their needs/wants are. As a lot of guys will agree with me, some gadgets are borderline between needs and wants. That's what this post is ... More About: Technology , Gadgets
Book Giveaway: RRSP?s
2008-02-05 11:30:00 Preet Banerjee has been very generous to bloggers in giving away free copies of his new book to readers. For MDJ readers, Preet has offered to give away 5 copies of his new book RRSP's. Here's a snippet of the book review that I wrote: ..This book starts off with explaining the basics of RRSP's and how ... More About: Contests , Book
Book Review: RRSP?s
2008-02-04 11:30:00 If you follow any of the other Canadian personal finance blogs around, you would have read about the new and upcoming book written by Preet Banerjee called "RRSP's". For non-Canadian readers, RRSP stands for "Registered Retirement Savings Plan" which is basically an investment account for Canadians that allow investments within it to grow tax free (along ... More About: Book Review , Review , Book
Best of Million Dollar Journey: Jan 2008
More articles from this author:2008-02-01 11:30:00 Before I get into the top articles of MDJ for January, I would like to announce the winner of the "Retire Rich from Real Estate" book giveaway. All entries were entered into a spreadsheet and a random number was generated. The winner is… Aaron! Congrats Aaron and thanks to all who participated. Looking for a second shot at ... More About: Journey , Dollar , Million , 2008 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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