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| And I miss you, like the desert miss the rain...
I miss the GirL. | | |
| Paul's Quick and Dirty Guide to RRSP's
It's RRSP season, and as a service to all y'all out there, here is Paul's Quick and Dirty guide to RRSP's.
What are RRSP's and how do they work?
The Canadian government want to encourage people to save their
money. So, they decided to make up this thing called the
Registered Retirement Savings Plan. A lot of things can count as
contributions to your RRSP...as long as it's registered. You can
open up a REGISTERED savings account, and any money you put in for a
year goes into your RRSP amount. Open up a REGISTERED trading
account? Any stocks you buy for that REGISTERED account counts
towards your RRSP. REGISTERED essentially means that you're
telling the government, "HEY, this shit is for my SAVINGS. So,
treat this special!"
So, what's so great about RRSP's?
Well, RRSP's provide a tax shelter on your previous year's
income. What does that mean? Let me explain with an example:
Everyone who makes a legal income has to pay taxes. The amount of
tax you pay depends on how much you make. For instance, someone
who makes $50,000, gets taxed for about 30% of their income. So,
that means that if I make that amount, then I owe the government
$15,000 for the year. My employer is nice enough to take out
taxes from my pay every couple of weeks, so that by the end of the
year, that $15,000 is in the government's pocket.
When you buy RRSP's, the
amount that you buy for gets deducted from your taxable income.
So, for instance, if I contribute $5,000 to my RRSP's for the year,
that means that instead of the government taxing me on $50,000 (because
they don't know until the end of the year if and how much RRSP you
bought). They are only allowed to tax me on $45,000. So
what? Well, let's break it down...
Paul does not buy RRSP's:
Income: $50,000
Tax owed @ 30%: $15,000
Tax paid (through employer taking money out every paycheque based on an assumed income of $50K): $15,000
Result: 0
Paul BUYS RRSP's:
Income: $50,000
RRSP's: $5,000
Taxable Income: $45,000
Tax owed @ 30%: $13,500
Tax paid (through employer taking money out every paycheque based on an assumed income of $50K): $15,000
Result: THEY TOOK TOO MUCH FUCKIN' MONEY! Guess what? That's what you call a TAX RETURN. The government owes you $1,500.
(NOTE: If your workplace didn't take enough money out for taxes from your paycheque, then you would owe the government.)
So, essentially, you get the benefit of saving $5,000 for your future
AND getting $1,500 back from the government, because they were taxing
you based on your pre-RRSP income.
So, money you put into your RRSP's are essentially thought of by the
government as not really existing...ie. since you set it aside,
it never really reached your pocket, so you never HAD it to spend, so
you don't get taxed on it.
So, when the money's in my RRSP's when can I pull that money out?
Money you put into your RRSP's can be taken out at ANY TIME. A
lot of people are under the false impression that there are penalties
for pulling out RRSP contributions. The only result of pulling
your RRSP out is that whatever amount you pull out gets applied to your
taxable income. Why? Because the government won't let you
get nothing for free. Since you got to deduct it from your income
when you bought your RRSP's, now you gotta add that amount back to your
income. Make sense? Good.
Special RRSP rule: There
is one instance the government allows you to pull out your RRSP without
it going on your taxable income. For ONE TIME ONLY, the
government will let you pull out up to $20,000 from your RRSP, if you
use it towards buying a residence. That's a way the government
tries to encourage people to not only save, but to buy condos and houses.
See how the economy runs? The catch is that you have to pay that
amount back to your RRSP's, but you have 7 years to do it.
Wow, is there a limit to how much I can contribute to my RRSP per year?
Good question, YES THERE IS. If there wasn't, then someone who
makes $50,000 can buy $50,000 in RRSP's and they end up not paying
taxes and the government owes them $15,000. The government limits
how much you can purchase. I think it's about 18% of your income
to a limit of
$16,500 this year. WARNING: If you go over your allowable
RRSP contribution, the government WILL FUCK YOU UP THE ASS BIG TIME
with penalties, etc. Make sure you know how much you can buy, and
don't go over it!
What's the last day for me to contribute to my RRSP?
I think it's the last day of February!
So, I hope this helps everyone who is confused about all
this RRSP stuff. If you're working and making money, this can
help you save for the future, get some tax back and be a little more
responsible with your finances. Good luck!
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| Goodbye Jalen Rose.
The Raptors just traded away my favourite player. I'm too distraught to work. The only consolation is that the deal makes sense in terms of getting the Raps a veteran big man, and major cap relief next year (like, $16M).
The stupid thing is that Antonio was a malcontent who pushed a trade just a couple or three years ago.
I guess we all knew there was a good chance a trade was gonna happen..and Jalen was talking in the press like he knew it was coming. I don't know how he's going to play in New York though, with the history between him and Coach Brown, and the fact that he's going into a team where they have a glut of guys who play the SG/SF position: Marbury, Crawford, Robinson, Richardson, Lee.
Sigh...goodbye Jalen. I'll still rock your jersey hard. | | |
| The (Shitty) Ghetto Parade rolls on...
So,
I often lament about the ghettoness of my workplace. The building is
the centre of the CIBC Visa universe...this includes, not just the
typical Marketing, Finance, Risk, HR depts...but also the call
centres. Now, given this mix of functions and people, you really do
get a cross-section of society in the 2 buildings and one common area
that is 750 Lawrence.
On any given day, you have millionaire EVP's walking around, the sons
and daughters of old money, young hot-shots, old and put to pasture
analysts, nerdy tech guys, students working the call centre shifts,
immigrants doing data entry, and so on...of course in this mix, as in
society, you also have your whackos. Ah yes...the lovable and funny,
entertaining yet scary whackos...
The most well-known whacko would probably be the Call Centre
manager/head of the social committee/father/overall "nice guy" who
ended up not coming into work one day because the cops carted him away
for stalking and sexually assaulting a 14 and 15 year old in the city's
west end. I believe one of the charges was "forcible
confinement"...which is akin to kidnapping I guess. Yes, whackos roam
these halls.
The most recent whacko episode is much less scary, more funny, but just
as strange. So, today as you walked in from the parking to the main
lobby elevators, you could not help but detect the stench of shit in
the air. Literally...SHIT. The air was fecally foul...and over it
smelled of what seemed like pot-pourri air freshener. One of the guys
at work did some inquiring with one of the building maintenance guys,
and found out that the hallway smelled like shit because...(drum roll
please)...last night, someone had taken a shit in the stairwell. Now
understand, you need a pass to get into my building. This means, an
employee HAD to be the one who TOOK A SHIT IN THE STAIRWELL. What
would possess someone to sneak into the stairwell, watch for anyone who
might walk in, pull down their pants and leave a mound on the ground at
work? Me and the folks at work were speculating possible
reasons...maybe someone got fired and thought they'd leave their mark
before vacating the premises? Maybe it was a prank that someone
figured would be funny? Maybe someone lost a bet? Maybe someone got
reprimanded and was angry? Or maybe, some people are just crazy?
Cross section of society.
And so...the ghetto parade continues to roll on.
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| Raptors Three-Pointer
1. It was Vince's night - As much as everyone wants to disect Mo Pete's ejection, Jose's missed free throw, allowing Vince to catch and shoot, and anything or everything else that led to that Carter heart-break three, I contend that none of that stuff would have stopped Vince from hitting his shots and winning that game. Sometimes, when you're on, you're on and there's nothing the other team can do to stop you. That's why the Birds, Jordans, Tmacs, Kobes, Duncans, AIs, and yes, Vince Carters are so head shakingly amazing and frustrating (when you're rooting against them). It's the same unstoppable things that VC used to do FOR us, that last night he did TO us. By the way, latency effect from that last second shot is detracting too much from the rest of his performance: 42 points in the game, 24 in the 4th, including the three pointer he shot from a couple of steps in from half-court that he had no business taking and/or making.
2. Mike James? No, no...he should be called Rick James because he's COLD BLOODED! - Despite his missed 3 when the game was 101 - 97, he hit big bucket after big bucket in the last 3 minutes, single-handedly keeping the Raps in it. He's frustrating to watch when he over-dribbles, uses up too much clock and throws up the impossibly high arching shot over WHOEVER is defending him, but when the ball gets nothing but net it just makes you throw up your hands in joy. Mike James is GANGSTA.
3. Hoffa needs the Bonner effect - If Hoffa wants a quick and easy way of turning those boos into cheers, he should have taken yesterday's game as a chance to hard foul/clothesline/body check Vince. Bonner turned into a hero and a fan favourite after he body slammed KG...and we don't even mind Garnett. Imagine if Araujo threw Carter down as Vince tried to dunk the ball. It would be bloodlust cheers for our big Brazilian.
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