The old adage applies: "There are no free rides in life". The good thing about RRSP's is that it encourages (forces) people to save for a long term goal, but the investment industry sees them as a cash cow for management fees. Hence the reason I go self directed. The same applies to mutual funds as I found myself paying management fees for a fund to underperform the average. A monkey could do better than that. Overall, the plan is to be in a lower tax bracket when I retire. The article you mention seems to only be for subscribers of that publication, so if you could provide the gist of it, I'd appreciate it. And have you seen what the stock market indexes are doing today.........

If you'd like to see the overhead transpaencies that Dale Ennis, editor of "Canadian MoneySaver" magazine used at that meeting, go to www.canadianmoneysaver.ca and look for "Tips and Tools". There's a lot of other interesting stuff on their website, as well - some of it of interest only to Canadians. Plain paper, no slick stuff - mostly writing; no ads. Pictures of the guys who write the two - three page articles, and contact info at the end of their articles. They are good about answering questions related to those articles, which are often rather condensed to fully cover a substantial issue, if rather sketchily, on occasion. The mag is totally subscriber driven, as they carry no ads. Subscribers asked for seminars with the guys who write the articles - they've been happening for several years. Seminars in winter in warm climes, on cruise, etc. Subscribers meet in about 40 locations in Canada. Ours in London has been meeting for over 10 years, I've been attending for six or so. Usually about 20 attend the monthly two-hour meeting and one learns a good deal about various approaches to money management there - we have to defend our viewpoints, as well. Plus about half of us adjourn to a coffee shop for another hour: manager brought us over a plate of goodies, a few months ago. Cost: gas to get there (and some from nearby communities ride together). (But the coffee at the after-meeting is costly, though they have "loyalty" cards (they're not the biggest chain in the country, by far - Starbucks ain't, either). We usually have the first guy to arrive get a card, then get it stamped for other members' purchases, so often we accumulate nearly the ten needed to get a free coffee during one evening's business. I think the corporation would say that one can only accumulate the increments on one's own accont - but management doesn't appear to care (haven't shut us down, yet, anyway). Sorry - I forgot that this isn't the "frugal" forum! Hope you're all enjoying a great week. One of the great things about retirement - every day's holiday. As I used to say when I was a personal financial advisor - "If you give me 10% of your money - I'll have you retire early". Actually, that message gives a false impression: my main philosophy was that I wanted my clients to learn how to manage their own money more effectively. ole joyful

Sounds like you are keeping busy--and out of trouble! Years ago we went thru London but I imagine things have changed. Seemed to remember it was a nice little town. Hope your winter is warmer than ours, but since Canada shared, guess we have to take what we get. Do enjoy your comments and have a great day. Marie

time for this to drop down