On Friday, I will be getting paid about $450 extra for all the OT I've put in over the past 2 weeks. That's a nice chunk of change above and beyond my regular wages, so I'm really happy.
The entire amount will, of course, be going into my Condo Down Payment Fund.
So I was given the information of a real estate agent here in Vancouver, and I just spoke with him on the phone for about 15 minutes. He seems really nice, and comes highly recommended from one of our business partners.
Anyway, I told him that I'm not in a rush to buy at all, but I wanted to be sent listings for properties with my search criteria. And if I saw a property that I was interested in, I'd like to be able to go see it. I told him that while I'm realistic in my expectations, I want to be picky. I'm not in a rush to buy, and as this is my first time buying property, I want to take my time in choosing a place I can feel comfortable in. That's the main reason why I wanted to contact a real estate agent so soon ... I'll be done my 3-month probation period in 2 weeks, I have about $21k I can use as a down payment, and I'd like to feel things out. Not saying that I would buy right away ... but it's just nice to be able to go see places with someone who knows the market, and knows what I'm looking for. That's all.
And who knows, maybe going out to see places will make me want to hold off on buying for a few years, or until I'm married. As a single gal making a modest little income, I won't get a lot for my money in Vancouver, but I won't know what I can afford unless I get out there and see these places for myself.
My next big financial goal is to own property. But I live in Vancouver. And according to the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board, the average price of a detached home right now is $921,000 and rising. The average price for a townhouse is more than $500,000, despite falling sales and more homes on the market.
So like I was saying yesterday, what's a single person to do? You most definitely need two incomes to think about buying anywhere. I don't have two incomes, and I don't even really make that much to begin with. I mean, I work for a not-for-profit. Do I have to wait until I get married to become a property owner?
It doesn't seem fair. I don't even have high expectations for my first place. I know I'm priced out of the Vancouver area, so I have to look farther out ... and I know I can't afford anything more than an older condo, and that's okay too ... but it's just so deflating to see all these beautiful new condos and walk-ups being built, and knowing I don't stand a chance in hell of owning one of those.
I guess that's the price you have to pay to live in such a beautiful city. And I know if I just move away from the West Coast, I'll be able to afford to buy a place by myself. But I'm not willing to move. So, instead I'll keep on saving and complaining.
I just keep hoping that ... if I can put together a decent sized down payment, I'll be able to afford something. Maybe a place like the one I'm currently renting - the couple that owns the property, they live upstairs, and the back of the house has 2 self-contained suites. Mine brings in $600/month, and the one beside me brings in at least $800/month. So that's a possibility. But I'd need a massive down payment to even think about doing that.
"The bubble is going to burst." That's what everyone is saying. But is it really? I mean, housing keeps getting more and more expensive ... but people keep on buying. There are people that can afford to pay these ridiculous housing prices ... and the gap continues to widen between people like that, and people like me.
Saving up for a down payment seems so silly. But, I'm still going to do it. Because even if I'm priced out and can't afford anything now, one day I'll be able to. And maybe I do have to wait until I'm married to have that dual income coming in ... but that's okay too. I don't mind waiting. This dream of being a property owner will become a reality for me.
Well, I just received my first full pay cheque from the new job. I anticipated and budgeted receiving $1,100 bi-weekly after taxes, but as it turns out I'll be bringing home $1,225 bi-weekly. That's a $125 difference! Awesome.
At my old job, when I was making just over $50k, I was only bringing in $1,460 bi-weekly. While that's still a big difference from what I'm getting paid now ... for some reason, it's doesn't seem like as much of a decrease in pay as I thought it would be. Plus, once my 3-month probation period is up, I'll be getting a raise which will bring in at least an additional $75 bi-weekly (before I signed my offer letter, my boss told me what my minimum raise would be after 90 days, since the salary I'm starting at is below what I told him my bottom line was), so that'll help out even more.
That extra $250/month, any raises/bonuses I receive, GST cheques (I'm pretty sure with all my 2007 deductions, I should still qualify), and any $$ made from PPP or a PT job ... all that money from here on out will be dumped into the Down Payment fund. There's no need to increase my discretionary spending if I can live comfortably on the budget that I have right now.
Whoops. Two days ago, I initiated a $200 transfer into my Condo Down Payment account. Usually, the transfer happens right away ... but for some reason, it didn't. I think it was because I did it pretty late at night and their systems might have been updating. So, not really thinking clearly, I initiated another $200 transfer. Well, both went through, and now I'm stuck with $20 in my chequing account until Friday. Crap.
It wouldn't really be that big of a deal, but J and I are going to Costco after work today, and it would take 1 business day to transfer the money back to my chequing account.
Oh well. At least I had enough $$ in my account to cover the double transfer, otherwise I'd be sitting in the red right now, and I would not be a happy camper.
Yesterday I redeemed $2,000 from my non-registered mutual fund account (which were a part of my Condo Down Payment Fund). That will go to help pay off the rest of my RRSP loan. I had planned to have that loan paid off a few weeks ago, but what with losing one job, it's taken longer than anticipated. Plus, there's no point in having a Condo Fund at the moment anyway. I'll start saving again for it once I have a job lined up, but I think the smartest thing to do at this point is face unemployment with no debt whatsoever.
I should have the entire loan paid off by this coming Friday. I'm kind of upset with myself for going with such an aggressive savings plan, and pouring everything into getting that down payment ready, but I guess I really had no way of knowing I was going to be out of a job. Oh well.
The sidebar and the Networth IQ will be updated on Friday, as the funds haven't cleared to my bank account yet.
Well, I called up my accountant as well as my financial advisor and asked what they thought about the RRSP loan. They both said, for tax purposes, it's a good way to go because of the $4,000+ tax return I stand to receive.
I would just like to clarify my intentions, since I seem to be all over the place these days: the HBP option was originally what I was thinking of doing strictly for tax purposes, since I'll be making close to $68,000 this year what with working so many jobs. The only reason I feel like contributing the max amount now is because I want to have the option of using that money for a down payment if I find something I love and can't pass up. The plan is still to buy come the spring, but at least I'm keeping all doors open by having all my money in there past the 90 day restriction.
So, I took out a loan for $6,500, and I took out $3,500 from my Down Payment fund for a total of $10k to add to my RRSPs (for a total of $13,500 ... $12,700 of which has been invested this year). That leaves $2,500 left over to max out my 2007 contribution. I'll be able to stuff another $2k into there by next Friday's pay cheque, and then the other $500 will have to come from the final pay cheque of the month. You still following me? :)
Taking into account the loan, I feel like I can confidently destroy the entire amount by mid-October (3 pay cheques/6 weeks) at the latest.
And that would mean the earliest date I could close on a property would be December 1st. Realistically, since no one really likes listing properties during the holidays, I would still be looking at purchasing in the New Year with the rate I'm going ... but at least I won't have to wait an additional 90 days after my last RRSP contribution to do it.
I posted this to the Personal Finance forum at RedFlagDeals.com, but figured I'd see of any of my readers can give me any advice as well. :)
So this morning, my mortgage broker suggested I take out an RRSP loan, of about $10k right now (in order to have my money in my RRSPs for the required 90 days before I take it out). I know I'll have to pay the entire loan off before I'm eligible for the HBP, but I'm confident I can pay that amount off in 2.5 months or less.
If I really wanted to, I could just chuck my entire Condo Down Payment fund of $5500 into the RRSPs now, and take out a smaller loan of $4500-5000.
Taking out this loan would enable me to have all my money in my RRSPs right now, instead of staggering my deposits and having to wait 90 days until the very last deposit in order for it all to be eligible for the HBP. And that means the earliest I could close on a property would be in November. But maybe that's for the best anyway. I can keep on saving my money and will have a bigger down payment by then.
Of course, I would have to pay interest on the loan, but maybe it might be worth it? Any thoughts?
*** EDIT ***
Now that I've had a few hours to think about it, I think I'm going to do it. If I take out $7,000 as a loan, I could destroy it in less than 2 months with the rate I'm saving. And basically as long as I pay it back within the 90 days, I'll be set ... because it's not like I can take the money out for the HBP until the 90 days are up anyway.
Hey I just wanted to thank all of you for posting such thoughtful comments on what I should do with my mutual funds. I ended up switching over to a Money Market fund, as well as a T-Bill fund. The money that is currently still in the moderate risk funds I'm going to leave in there for now, because I don't want to lose the 2% I'll get charged if I move it into a different fund within 90 days of purchase.
Below are just a few of the responses I got:
Mariam
Since you need the money short term, I think you'd be better off in the MM fund. Yeah, I'm tempted to pick up things while they are cheaper, but I think things are still overpriced. I also promised myself that I will try not to do anything without an investment strategy/plan. Investing is something you can't cram into a night and I think it's a lifetime learning process. You're still young but if you need the money, I wouldn't risk it.
Mike (fourpillars)
For a short term investment you need to go as low risk as possible ie MM fund.
The idea is to increase the probability that the $$ will be there when you need it. If you only have a one year time line then you cannot be sure that money invested in equities will all be there when you need it.
Once you buy a property and put a deposit down then you definitely need to make sure the rest of the downpayment is in money market & cash.
gates vpOh, and also a big thanks to Jagular, who wrote an entire post on Money Allocation for me!!!
Yeah Krystal, when you mentioned the HBP, I completely forgot to mention that you should be pulling part of your funds into "guaranteed returns": T-Bills and Money Market funds.
Of course, the big question here is "when are you actually planning on dropping the money on the house"?
If you have <> 2 years, then you have a lot of options. You see, at the rate you're going you'll have way more than 20k in RRSPs in 2 years, but 20k is all that you can use.
If you figure on having 30 or 40k in RRSPs by the time you're ready, then you can divvy up the pieces and grow 20k the "safe way" and grow the rest on the markets.
Personally, my big question would be "What am I going to do for investing in 2 years when I have my new place?"
Once you buy the home, much of the monthly pool of money you have for investing will become tied up in the home. Whatever part of your RRSPs left over after the home purchase now become your future "retirement" funds. So this is probably a nice reminder to ensure that everything is funded in a few years :)
Also, there was one comment asking for a little advice:
AnonymousPersonally, I'm with TD Canada Trust. Through looking at the MM funds, I noticed that they do return significantly less than other funds, but that's what you get for the security of having your money in a very low risk fund. To be honest, I didn't do much research at other financial institutions because all my investments are with TD, and I'd like to keep everything there for convenience. At least for now anyway.
Can someone suggest some good, money-market accounts? I was looking into the ones with ING because I already have a lot of investments through them, but the returns (I was checking since inception) on most of them are even less that those on my saving accounts and GICs.
Since I've decided to max out my RRSPs this year, and take them out for the First Time Home Buyer's Plan, I decided to update my goals on the sidebar. I lowered my Condo Down Payment fund from $40k down to $25k, and increased my Retirement Portfolio goal from $3k to $16k. Combined, that'll still give me the $40k down payment I need. This way, I can see my goals a little clearer. I also updated my NetworthIQ, and am pleased to see that I'm steadily increasing my net worth! :)
Speaking of down payments, I got in touch with a realtor and will be setting up an initial meeting with her in the next month or so. She is the mother of my (ex)boss at the arena, and is a well-respected agent in the city, so I know I'm in good hands. My mom has a friend who is a mortgage broker, so I'll probably go through him when I'm ready to figure out my financial situation.
The BF has been pleading with me to show him this blog. He's been really into personal finance lately, and I just think he's curious as to what I've been writing about. :) He even said he might want to start up his own PF blog too! That would be kinda cool. I'm inclined to give in and just show him, because it's not like he couldn't do a simple Google search and find it for himself. Anyway, it's something to think about.
Sorry for the lack of posts (and comments on other blogs) for the past couple of days - the BF and I decided to go camping at the very last second, and all we really had time to do was pack a few bags before we hit the road. We camped at Henry Lake, which is only accessible by driving through logging roads. For those of you familiar with where I live, it was out by the Port Alberni/Mt. Arrowsmith area. We also went exploring a bit and found Peak Lake, which is where we want to go camping next time.
The bad news is it's only July 15th, and I've already blown my $30 dining out budget. Poor planning by the BF and I resulted in eating lunch in Duncan on the way up to camping, and eating lunch in Nanoose on the way back down. Plus, we hit a few dead ends while going through the logging roads, which cost us about 180 KMs, and hours of our time ... and gas ain't cheap! Especially since the BF has a gas guzzling truck.
Today, I filled out the paperwork to switch my RRSP account over to a TD e-Funds RRSP account. That way, I can start depositing my condo down payment money into my RRSP account, and into the same funds I've been depositing into my non-registered account for the past few months. I wish I had figured out this whole tax refund/RRSP thing from the start, because now I'm going to have to wait 90 days until I can pull my funds out of my non-reigstered account (in order to avoid the 2% fee). At least I figured it out now, when I only have a few thousand in there.
In other money news, today I transferred just over $800 from my PayPal account (a mixture of PPP and eBay sales) into my chequing account ... which should take 5-7 business days to complete. I have one other eBay sale going right now (a band t-shirt that I got at a show), and there's a small bidding war going on! So far, it's received 10 15 bids, and is up to $22 $29.86!! Considering I paid $20 for it in 2005, that's pretty good! :) I also sold my first book on Amazon. In the end, I pocketed about $5 for it. Every little bit counts!
Today I did some rough calculations, and because I'll be working so much this year, I stand to make just shy of $68,000 in taxable income.
According to my 2006 tax return, I am eligible to contribute up to $15,213 to my RRSP in the 2007 tax year.
If I max out my RRSP with the money I'm saving for my condo down payment (and then utilize the First Time Home Buyer's Plan when I decide to purchase), according to Morningstar.ca's RRSP contribution calculator, I stand to get a refund back of over $4,000. That money would go straight back into my RRSP portfolio.
That's a sizable refund!
Like I've said in the past, I don't like the idea of taking money out of my RRSP for any reason. I'm just so worried of having a problem paying it back in the future. That being said, if the money wasn't in there to begin with, and I'm putting it in there just for tax purposes, perhaps the refund I'll be getting would be worth the time it would take to pay back. Because let's face it, it's highly unlikely I would be able to make $4,000+ in interest over the same amount of time it would take me to pay back the RRSPs.
At any rate, maxing my RRSP this year is definitely something to think about.
Of the three auctions I have going on eBay right now (2 are going to end within 3 hours), all three will sell, and I stand to make $15 + shipping if no other bids are recorded. One item still has 5 days left, so I think the price will go up on it. It's a pretty rare item as far as authentic band merch goes, so hopefully a few crazy fans will start up a bidding war or something. :)
As for my condo down payment fund, I put in $200 yesterday from my found money, and put another $50 into my EF. It's slowly getting there!
Also last night, the BF and I went to see Michael Moore's film, Sicko. It was the first time either of us had been to the movies this year, so I didn't feel too bad paying $16.50 for two tickets. I used to be a huge MM fan back in the day, and I do think Sicko was very well done, and it had some great points, but I couldn't help but finding him annoying in this new movie; like he was acting dumb in a lot of scenes. Especially the one where he's at dinner with all those Americans living in France. As if he didn't know any of the info they were telling him about free health care, free education, cheap daycare, etc! Although I did like the clip of the doctor who drove the Audi. That was pretty funny. :)
It's been annoying me at work lately because all my coworkers have been giving me a crap load of stuff they want me to work on ... and they know I'm just about to drop to part-time hours. I already have little to no motivation to do any of my regular work anyway, what makes them think I want to (or have the time to) design more things for them? Oh, the life of a graphic designer.
As soon as I left work, my day became fabulous. So, on my way home, I actually saw a car burst into flames. It was pretty much the coolest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. This blue Honda Accord was driving along about 5 cars in front of me, and then it started smoking from under the hood. A lot. The guys driving it pulled off to the side, and got the heck out. Not a moment too soon, because it just burst into flames! Big flames too! It was frigging sweet. The fire fighters and police were called, and I ended up sitting there for a good half hour, but it was worth it. How many people actually get to see a car burst into flames in real life? Awesome. (Note: if anyone had actually gotten hurt, it wouldn't have been so fabulous. But nobody did, so it's okay).
Then, I got home and had a pile of mail waiting for me, including my quarterly GST cheque of $90.50!!! And then, as a pleasant surprise, I got a cheque for $145 from the company I used to be a Beauty Advisor with last year while I was in college ... apparently I received commissions for my sales during the 5 months I was there (I also received commissions from the individual companies, but I received those right away). Sweet! That's a total of $235.50 I can deposit into my condo down payment fund!
Oh, and also, I didn't get Job #4. Not that I was surprised. My friend didn't get it either.
So I've devised a plan to save up for my down payment before I have to move out of here. I spoke with my mom last night, and asked for a 5-month extension to stay in her basement suite (until April). My sister is supposed to move in (and absolutely does not want me to stay any longer than November), but I think I put in a strong case.
Basically I said that I know my mom isn't able to help me out financially by loaning me money for the down payment, but she would be saving me a ton of money by letting me stay for a bit longer. I broke down the numbers for her, and hopefully I'll be able to convince my sister to hold off on her moving plans for just a bit longer.
The Plan:
If I put my head down and start to get crazy with my savings, I think I can save a ton.
Since I'm basically working 4 jobs from July - November, I think I can save $4,000 a month. I will be netting $3,000/month with my new job ($4,000 gross pay), so if I really work hard at my current job (which is turning part-time), I think I can net $2,000/month with that. So potentially saving $4,000/month is pretty realistic. Plus, I'll be working so much I won't have time to go out and spend any of it. :)
July and November are half months because one July pay cheque has already passed, and my contract is up mid-November. So that leaves essentially 4 full months x $4,000 = $16,000.
After November, I can save $2,000/month at least. So from December - April, that's 5 months x $2,000 = $10,000.
Plus my current and potential RRSPs. Originally I wasn't going to pull from my RRSPs, but I think it'd be a small enough amount that I wouldn't have a problem paying them back quickly. And, since I'm kinda on a time line to buy a place, using the RRSPs if I desperately need to is the better financial decision than potentially renting for a year, in my opinion.
Totals:
July-Nov = $16,000
Dec-Apr = $10,000
Current RRSPs = $1,500
Potential RRSPs = $4,000
Current condo savings = $2,700
POTENTIAL TOTAL SAVINGS = $34,200
The Potential Problems:
So, what do you think? Am I being completely unrealistic with these saving goals? I was able to pay off my debts by using the same kind of aggressive savings, so I don't see why I couldn't do it again to save up for my down payment.
Also, by saving all this money, I'm going to get dinged come tax time because they are in non-registered accounts. I could potentially put $20,000 into a tax-sheltered RRSP account and withdraw it all for the First Time Home Buyer's Plan, but that might get messy and really hard to pay back. But maybe I won't get dinged as much as I think I will. I only get taxed on half of my capital gains, right? I'm really not sure, and it's kinda stressing me out. Any suggestions?
So I just spoke with my boss at my current job, and he agreed to let me go part-time, working flexible hours at the office and from home during the evenings and weekends until my contract ends in November. Not that he really had a choice, given the situation. I told him I couldn't commit to being in the office on certain dates & times because 1) I might have to work late at the new job, and 2) I will continue to work my other part-time job at the arena starting in the fall.
That being said, if I really go all out I think I can clear an extra $2000/month by going part-time. That's an extra $8,000 over the next 4 months above and beyond my regular salary ... and that's not even including what I make at the arena (which is usually between $200-$300/month). Plus, it'd only be for 4 months so at least I know there's an end in sight. All that extra money would go straight into my condo down payment fund.
If the BF and I don't end up buying something together in the next few months, I think I'll be able to reach my down payment goal of $40,000 a lot sooner than I first anticipated.
I just found a website about a 29 year-old guy who closed on a house for $90,000, and only paid $70 out of pocket. He was able to do this with something called a "seller's gift." I had to read his strategy over a few times to really understand what he was doing.
Basically after they had settled on an amount for the house ($86,500 - $3,000 closing costs = $83,500), he asked the seller to "gift" him the money that it would cost for the down payment and closing costs. In exchange, he would up the purchase price by that amount (it happened to be $4,000). So now the purchase price of the home was at $90,500.
$90,500
- $3,000 closing costs
- $4,000 seller's gift
= $83,500
The way the seller (and title company) gifted the money back to him was through a non-profit organization. So a week later, the guy shelled out $900 for his closing costs, and the title company wrote him a cheque for $830. His out of pocket expenses only ended up being $70.
He said in the introduction of his website that he was not financially able to save for a proper down payment. He admitted he had credit card debt and high car payments each month. His credit score was in the mid-600's.
I'm glad he found a creative way to buy his home, but for some reason it feels ... wrong. Almost slimy. And if he couldn't even save up anything for a down payment, and had so much debt, it makes me think he might not be able to afford a mortgage. What he should have done is started saving the amount a mortgage payment would cost him each month, and put it into a savings account. That would help him save up money as well as make sure he's ready to fit a huge mortgage payment into his lifestyle each month. At least, that's what I would do.
I updated my Condo Down Payment graph on the sidebar just now. Instead of trying to save $20k, I have to be realistic here and try and save $40k. I want 20% for my down payment, and I know I won't be able to get a decent condo anywhere in the 4 major cities of Western Canada (Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary) under $200k.
And since I will be purchasing the condo by myself, that means it's all up to me to come up with the money. I can't rely on anyone else, and I like that independence ... but, sometimes it feels like I'm so alone in my goals. None of my friends or family plan on buying property anytime soon, so it's hard to relate to any of them. It's actually been really nice that I've been finding blogs lately that deal specifically with trying to save up for a home.
It's just really really depressing to see that I'm only at 2.6% ... and I'm starting to stress out about everything now - money, the relationship with the BF, the future, my job ... I'm already 24, and I'm afraid I will never achieve all the goals I've set for myself. I think it's a lack of motivation ... the goals seem so far away. It's taken me so long to become debt-free, and now that I am, I just feel so blah about everything. I know I have to tighten my belt now more than ever, and I want to, it's just that ... I don't know. I guess it's hard to see that far into the future when my life in the present is so uncertain. I just hope it's all worth it in the end.
Well, I finally did it and switched my non-registered mutual funds (condo down payment) over to the TD Canadian Index e-Fund. I was originally investing in the TD Balanced Growth Fund with a 2.14% MER. Over the past year since I started investing in it, I've gotten just a 6.5% return ... and while that's not shabby, I know I could do better. With this new fund, they're only taking a 0.31% MER, which is a difference of 1.83%, and that's huge! Since its inception, it has a 9.3% return, and over the past two years, is returning 21.8%. In 2006, it returned 16.9%.
From the fund overview for my new e-Series fund, it states:
Why Invest
One-step exposure to large, well-established Canadian companies; Low MER; Superior tracking versus peer group; Lower turnover of securities results in fewer realized (taxable) capital gains, making this Fund tax efficient.
Right now, my condo down payment fund is housed in two places: 1/3 of it is now in the new TD e-series fund, and the other 2/3 is in a high interest savings account earning 4%. Because I was paying off my debt, I only had $50/month being auto-deducted from my bank account into my mutual fund account. Now, I think I'm going to up my investment to $800/month into the e-fund, and then try and match that amount into my high interest savings account.
Is that a good strategy, or should I be putting a lot more into the mutual fund for the potential for a higher return? Maybe I should just plop all of my money into the mutual fund, because barring a total collapse of the Canadian economy, the fund should give me more than a 4% return, which is what it would be earning in the savings account.
However, I will be taxed on my earnings from the mutual fund since it's non-registered, and (hopefully) I plan on withdrawing in the next 2 years to pay for the down payment ... so I'm not sure. Perhaps I should just stop over analyzing this whole thing. We're not talking a lot of money here for most investors. In a few years when it's all said and done, it should only be worth $40,000. That's a huge amount to have in my opinion, but that's just me.
Any thoughts? Has anyone else been in the same sort of situation?
Lately, I've been pondering what to do with saving up for my condo down payment.
Currently, I plan to save $2,000/month towards my down payment. I'm investing half of that money towards the down payment in a non-registered mutual fund. The other half is going in a high interest savings account of 4%.
I want to increase my RRSP contribution to $300/month in May. But, am I better off increasing my RRSP by a lot in order to put myself in the next lowest tax bracket (and get a huge tax refund next year)? I would sacrifice saving money towards my down payment, but I figure I could borrow the money out of the RRSP for the First Time Home Buyer's Plan, and have a big tax refund that I could put towards the down payment as well (or help fund my RRSP contribution for the following year). It would mean repaying back my RRSPs, as well as continuing my contributions, but I think I have 15 years to do that.
This is the plan the BF wants to do with his finances, but I've always heard horror stories about borrowing from your retirement. And when you do it, are you obligated to get a mortgage with the bank that holds your retirement account? That's what my financial advisor hinted at the last time I went to meet with her, but at the time I was still in a lot of student loan debt, and didn't feel like I was really in a position to ask more questions.
I think the smart thing to do is keep contributing $100/month for now, and then when it comes time to do my 2007 taxes, I'll let my accountant figure out how much I would have to pay into my RRSP in order to get myself into that lower tax bracket. Because I run my own little side business, I do get the tax perks of being self-employed.
But, I want to get the most bang for my buck, and I'm not sure if this is the best way.
