Weekend Reading – Disability insurance, Canadian Money Forum and great blogs

Recently, I read a Globe and Mail article that mentioned as Canadians age they are withdrawing more of their money from RRSPs to cover costs associated with a serious injury or illness.  This doesn’t sound like a good move but I can sympathize why folks might need to do this under dire circumstances.

On Canadian Money Forum this week, there were a host of interesting questions from investors.   A few posts that got my attention and the odd comment from yours truly included:

• Is this the wrong time to be investing in bond funds?   I say yes, because borrowing rates are at incredibly low levels and they are not anticipated to rise anytime soon.  I wrote a post about that – in case you missed it.
• If your TFSA is maxed at $25,500, how are you doing?   In reading this thread, it’s very impressive what some folks have saved and earned in the last few years.  Kudos to them.

Here’s some other great articles from the blogosphere for you to check out this weekend.  Enjoy!

Preet Banerjee interviewed Ellen Roseman, a popular columnist with The Toronto Star, who talked about her new book, “Fight Back: 81 ways to help you save money and protect yourself from corporate trickery”.  Ellen Roseman is definitely on our side.

Invest It Wisely offered some parenting advice, how to raise happy, healthy children.

Fans of this site, BrighterLife.ca, had a cool infographic about your financial future.

Passive Income Earner reviewed Tim Hortons.

Balance Junkie wrote about setting priorities in a busy world.

Million Dollar Journey provided a nice summary of popular Canadian dividend ETFs.

Tom Drake wondered if your portfolio is truly diverse.

The Financial Post reminded us the real advantage RRSPs provide comes down to your tax bracket.  The Post article wrote:

“While many people cite the tax deduction as the main advantage of contributing to an RRSP, it’s only worth something if you find yourself in a lower tax bracket at the time of withdrawal than you were in the year you made the contribution.”

Canadian Couch Potato provided an overview of Larry Swedroe’s new book:  What Would Buffett Do?

Michael James on Money took issue with a recent bank statement; wasting paper.

Retire Happy wrote about the proper use of RRSPs.

101 Centavos wrote a great post about stupid labelling tricks.

Mr. CBB had a guest post from Vix Money about financial advisors.

The Financial Blogger wrote about getting things done.

Finance Fox asked if you’re carrying the wrong credit card.

Big Cajun Man was annoyed with TD and their RDSP.

Canadian Capitalist shared his 2012 report card for the Sleepy Portfolio.  About the portfolio:

“The portfolio has a target allocation of 5% cash, 15% short bonds, 5% real return bonds, 20% Canadian stocks, 22.5% US stocks, 22.5% Europe and Pacific, 5% Emerging markets and 5% REITs.”  Sounds like a well-structured portfolio.

Find out what company raised their dividend by almost 20% recently on DGI.

The Dividend Guy had some dividend growth stocks to consider.

My friend The Dividend Ninja wrote about some TFSA strategies you can take to the bank.

Mr. Money Mustache said forget the pension retire on your own terms!

Last but not least, learn how to calculate your annualized rate of return courtesy of Justin Bender.