How to make a spousal RRSP work for you + MORE Oct 30th

THE PROBLEM
James and Claudia Williams are in an envious position. The’ve paid off their home, they’re debt free and they have healthy savings in RRSPs, TFSAs, and other accounts. They’ve also just welcomed their first child and are already talking about having another sometime in the next few years. But as well as they’ve managed their money they know having kids will put pressure on their savings and they want to be prepared.
Claudia, a 29-year old office worker, and James, a 34-year-old environmental field worker in the energy sector, both have group RRSPs through their employers that gives them access to low cost mutual funds. “We’ve have been happy with our annual returns of 5% net over the past few years,” says James.
Now James wonders if this is a good time to do a little tax planning. “I’m in the top tax bracket and Claudia earns much less,” he says. That higher income has allowed him to amass more than $60,000 in his savings account…

SKIP AHEAD
Safer Canadian Dogs

But I’m pleased to say that last year’s crop of top stocks fared well. The average All-Star stock (those that earned at least one A and one B for their value and growth appeal) gained 13.5%. By way of comparison, the market (as represented by the XIC exchange traded fund) gained 7.1% over the same period. The All-Stars beat the market by 6.4 percentage points.
Over the long term, the All-Stars advanced by an average of 14.6% per year since we started way back in 2004. The market moved up by an average of 4.8% per year over the same period. The All-Stars beat the index by a whopping 9.8 percentage points on average annually.
Mind you, those figures do not include dividends. The actual returns were even better.
I always like to step back and look at the market as a whole before focusing in on the best names…