Weekly Reading Blog Update

Each week, I share articles and stories I’ve come across that I find interesting, useful, or funny.

The most popular articles and commenter’s are also be mentioned. I encourage you to take a look at these articles and visit their sites.

If you have an idea for an article on CTR or would like me to cover a specific topic, please let me know by sending me your thoughts through my contact page.

Interesting Reading

• Rob Carrick shares links about financial planning for natural disasters.
• Money Sense Magazine talks about a recent Morningstar report that shows how expensive mutual fund fees in Canada are compared to the rest of the world. Michael James and Jon Chevreau both weighted on the topic as well.
• Gail Vaz-Oxlade shares some green savings tips for the frugal and eco friendly. It’s a short list and most of the items are pretty straight forward but Gail also points out an ethical deals site out of B.C.
• Young & Thrifty offers a guess what I bought in my TFSA? The only problem I see is that the withholding tax on some of the foreign securities may be a problem because they cannot be recovered under the foreign tax credit regime.
• The Dividend Guy had a conversation with a stock broker who swore he could predict the future and that timing the market is an effective trading strategy. If you are a buy and hold investor with a long-term perspective, then market timing is meanness. In fact, asset allocation is the single most important determining factor of a portfolio’s performance.
• Kerry Taylor discusses the pros and cons of working for free. She also links to a visual guide to use if you are considering working for free.
• Jim Yih considers whether a child’s allowance should be tied to chores. I can say from experience, that we have been on both sides of the equation and have had some success and some failures. I recall my 8 year old son saying that he didn’t care if I wasn’t going to pay him … he didn’t want to do the dishes.
• Mike Holman of Money Smarts writes about the different types of financial advisors you will find and how to choose the best one for you.
• BigCajunMan is provides a rather funny account of what Charlie Sheen taught him about money.
• Canadian Capitalist warns you to keep your Aeroplan account active. Areoplan and many other rewards programs expire over time and you may have to use them or lose them.
• Toronto Estate Law Blog tells us not to ignore your funeral arrangements.

Top 5 Articles From The Last Week

• Moving An IRA or 401(k) to Canada
• TFSA & Non-Resident Withholding Taxes
• What is income splitting?
• Cash Out Your RRSP And Pay Down Debt?
• What Happens To My RRSP When I Turn 71?

Top Commenter’s

Special thanks to those of you who contributed to the discussions at CTR.

• Jimmy on Working In Another Province
• Nora on The Income Splitting Rules
• Richard on How Much Can I Contribute To My RRSP?
• Kaeota on Understanding TFSA Contribution Room
• Joel on RRSP Over Contribution & Decline In Market Value

Have a great weekend.