SOS 2008 RRSP

Yesterday, I finish (again!) early at my morning job, so I call RBC to transfer the mutual funds I transfer too quickly into the free of tax savings account into RRSP. And it was quitted of a challenge. At first, I call and ask if they could transfer the mutual funds I had in the free of tax account outside of it, so after, I could just visit a financial advisor who could had just transferred everything into RRSP and printed out the taxes paper I desperately need. I got the entire plan in my head on how it should have been done, but it didn’t exactly turn out the way I wanted!! lol!! The person I first talk to over the phone explain to me that they would be able to do all the transactions needed onsite. So I ask if someone was available for that afternoon. I had an appointment an hour later with a financial advisor. Until there, everything was working find. Until I actually meet the financial advisor lol!!!

It didn’t turn out the way I wanted. The financial advisor didn’t agree with the move, from moving the mutual funds out of the free of tax account into RRSP. She wanted me to take a RRSP loan at 4.75% with no payment for the first 2 months or something like that.

But hey, where in the world was I going to take the money for a loan? I already have 15 000$ or so in debts right now. Anyway, as I saw she just didn’t want to follow my plan, I apologize to her, saying I had to think about it. But the worst part was when she actually tell me that investing in mutual funds was for long term investment (like am I looking that dumb) and explain I should definitely take a loan and invest in… no mutual funds (that was the worst part was to come) but in MONEY MARKET FUNDS. And I the end, forget about making money through my investments!!! What a shame!

BUT WHY DID SHE WANT ME TO INVEST IN MONEY MARKET FUNDS?

I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to destroy her self-esteem forever.

She gave me a card that I throw away in a garbage can. Before that, she told me she would give me a call to see if I was interested. But I told her not too bother, that I was going to call her (lol) and that anyway, the number I had was just paging number.

Immediately after, I call RBC. And over the phone I explain what I wanted without talking about the meting I just had and without talking about the RRSP loan. But the agent I talk too also suggest me a RRSP loan him too! I was liked what the hell is going on?

RBC is too sell oriented and a bank should be there to help out small investor and it’s a real shame that having to deal with the stupidest financial advisors of all time and ever of my life I will invest through a financial institution. With a brokerage account – no investor profile, no « update » needed (because if I do not update, everything get freeze and out of control).

Anyway, at the end, I explain to the agent that I didn’t have any money left for new investment this year and that I already had a student loan. It was like a desperate situation. It was like no one was willing to help me! I am the one who’s working 80 hours per week for the money and things are going to be one the way I want them! And it did!

But he finally agrees to help me out. But before that, he put me on hold, and I wait and wait and than, I learn the happy news, it was going to be ok; he will transfer everything into RRSP.

But there again (lol!!), I run out of luck.

He calls me in the evening around 8PM because one of the funds I have is now close and it couldn’t be move into RRSP. Financial system is so suck, the only thing it make me wanna do is to run away and never look back. For the rest, it was ok, but the other funds had been put into RRSP. Finally.

Financial advisors really suck and they are just like sale persons and I really dislike financial advisors. I try many times to deal with them, but each time, it didn’t work out too well, as they wanted to keep too much control on my assets. Like I don’t have too much money here and all the decisions regarding my money will be mines. All mines, for the better or the worst.

Dealing with bank, financial advisor and mutual funds, but especially mutual funds is complicated. Its seem like I couldn’t just get the thing transfer like that. They had to sell, and purchase back to transform it into RRSP. Or something like that. But I do not really want to learn more about it. What a nightmare. Or what a nightmare am I.

Next step, is CIBC and Desjardins. I am basically taking everything I have out of RRSP (as mutual funds) and turning them into RRSP. It’s taking a lot of my time and I find taxes, RRSP and financial advisors very annoying and frustrating.

I now have a tax-free savings account

I was quite busy this week as I try to figure out a plan to make things better for me. I realize – but too lately, that I have invested too much in mutual funds. But I believe it was something I had to figure out by myself. It took be time and several reading if DF books. However, I do not regret any attends I made.

I finally read Money for Nothing of DF. At first, the reading was difficult, but I bring the book at work with me to read over again and some guy notice I was reading and come to me, asking what I was reading. At work, it’s aloud to read a book when do not received calls, but we are not allowed to magazines. And recently, we are not receiving as much calls as usual. I just hope I won’t loose my job.

Anyway, I show him the book and he asked me if I had money invested in stocks. I told him that no, that I was only reading the book for fun, telling him that the author was pretty good and that he had self-published 2 other one before this one and so on. I never told anyone about my investments I do not plan to do so. No one knows about my 50 000$. Let say I do not talk to others about my money. I prefer not too and its part of the reason why I prefer to blog anonymously and just to have fun with it by my own. And I have to say, I would look pretty stupid if I would go out about it, as my 3 jobs pay, 10.68$, 12$ and 10$ per hour.

Earlier this week, I open a tax-free savings account at RBC and I transfer some of my mutual funds in there. I was quite happy to learn that it’s possible to reinvest the amount of money I could withdraw from the savings account. It’s a huge benefit. But knowing how much I am paying in taxes, I really needed something like this at this time as my overall earnings before taxes make it around 43 000$. It’s not that much, but for me, it’s a lot. And it might be a lot for the government too as I expect to be paying extra taxes on this salary, unless I invest in my 2008 RRSP.

As usual, I did not invest in a month-to-month basis in my RRSP. With my terrible job situation, I prefer, as always, to wait at the beginning of the New Year. And with all the investments I made this year, I do not have extra money to invest in my RRSP. At this point, I realized I might have done my move too quick in the savings account. The issue being that if I do not invest the max of my limit for the 2008 RRSP, I will probably have to pay extra in taxes. And I currently do not have a penny left to pay on taxes.

I consider moving some of my non RRSP mutual funds into my 2008 RRSP.

Doing it by my own

I get another 1 000$ paycheck for 2 weeks are work. And for the next pay, I am only missing 6 extra hours to reach 1 000$ for the next pay. So things are not going so bad after all. I also notice an ad in a newspaper for a part-time job that could match my present work schedule. I just need to apply to it. Since January, I have been looking around for a part-time job, but I wasn’t able to find one. So I really hope this one is the good one. I am getting use to the job I currently have, so it will make it easier for me to get another part-time job. Nothing really work out like I wanted in 2007, I just hope 2008 will be just a bit better for me, for jobs, investments, debts.

I was quite surprised to see my Visa bill of the past month: I only spend 170$ on my Visa. Which mean I only spend 170$ in groceries and other. I actually pay all my expenses with my credit card; I pay it all when I receive the bill. Or it’s what I am trying to do and I have been doing so. I scrapped my credit when I was about 24-25 by opening too much credits at the same time. Now I am 27, I don’t know what my credit is, but I keep paying each month my credit card bill, which was quite low for this February.

I am really getting good at the « non expense » thing; I am quite impressed with myself. I didn’t need to cut many things. I buy less coffee at cafe; it’s doing help a lot. I try to save as much as possible and I not having too much trouble to stop spending money around. I never had been a huge shopper, which help. I really cut on everything I could cut, that’s why my current budget for March is less than 1 000$:

Rent: 520$
Metro Pass: 67$
Other (food…): 170$
Student loans: 165$

That’s all…… It’s an inexpensive little living at 922$. I can make it with 922$ or less. Even if for this month, I would like a hair cut… ;)

Conclusion: it’s possible to make it and life with about 1 000$ if not less, even with a hair cut.

There are a bunch of things that I don’t have and I sometimes think of buying, like a microwave, a TV, a sofa, DVD, MP3, a new digital camera... But each times, I just keep looking, and I never buy. I keep thinking on how much I had to work hard for that money: that is what stops me of buying what I don’t really need. But I have to say, it could be nice to sit on a nice couch, instead of that chair that I am currently sitting on right now.

Anyway, I believe life won’t remain like this forever. The biggest challenge for now is to pay off that terrible credit card debt and to remain debt free. Even if I wrote earlier that I wanted to invest in more mutual funds, I prefer for now to just pay off that credit card debt first and after, I’ll see. I just need a part-time job and it’s too bad I cannot get quickly what I want.

A 4% savings account with RBC

It's seemed like RBC have it all! Good mutual funds, 10 000$ credit card and... high interest savings account!

If I will not use the 10 000 credit card I had with them, I will, instead, open a savings account. The interest is of 4%. On 9 459.13$, it's make a return of at least 378.37$. I can definitely add 378.37$ to my actual 28 704.03$ (in date of September 24, 2007). It' quite amazing that I have so much money. Having 28 000$ is like having a little fortune for myself.

But surprise, with that 378.37$, I can happily say that I have 29 082.40$... I don't have it yet, but hey, I have to motivate myself in a way in another, so I hope no one will mind if I change the actual 28 704.03$, for 29 082.40$... I am changing it right away... And I am forgiving the tax once again...

I learn that with PC, I could have a free bank account, but they don't offer it to Quebec residents, which is really too bad.

Same thing with ING Direct. ING have start offering mutual funds, but they only expose this offer in the English version of their Web site. It's because they do not sell mutual funds to Quebec residents. Being in Quebec is very frustrated for me because I pay more tax in my non RRSP investing and their are some good offers that I am missing.

My Money News

Regular savings:

Bank account: 9 459.13$
ING Direct: 289.44$
TOTAL: 9 748.57$

Value of my non RRSP Mutual Funds:

RBC Global Resources fund: 1 050.61$
RBC U.S. Mid-Cap Equity Fund C$: 2 302.03$
RBC O'Shaughnessy Canadian Equity Fund: 3 418.03$
RBC O'Shaughnessy International Equity Fund: 971.87$
RBC O'Shaughnessy All-Canadian Equity Fund: 1 153.34$
Fonds Desjardins Fidelity Frontière Nord: 1 306.06$

TOTAL : 10 201.94$
Initial value: 9 300$
Total of money made in mutul funds: 901.94$

Money put in RRSP: 9 042.96$

TOTAL: 28 704.03$

PS: The money made in RRSP Placement is missing. I only provide the initial amount of money that has been invest.