Buying stocks with savings

[mr_chin]

Me and my co-worker discussed a lot of about stocks and he said that I should use my RRSP to buy stocks. Right now, I don't have much in there.

Is it wise to use money from my savings account to buy stocks? How much of a disadvantage with taxes? Does every buy their stocks with RRSP?

[gdoh]

yes, same idea as tfsa but with rrsp u can deduct from taxes but get taxed when taking it out

[Carl Johnson]

RRSP is for retirement. Individual stocks are way too risky for that in my opinion, because companies can indeed go out of business. Better way is go to your local bank and start investing in a TFSA. TFSA is a great way to start investing for someone new, and best of all, all of your capital gains, interests, dividends are shielded away from government.

[E_Fahlman]

Sorry wrong thread

[suzuka84]

You can shift your RRSP account into a self directed RRSP account. In a normal rrsp account you hold mutual funds or whatever your financial adviser directs. In the self directed RRSP account, you do whatever you want with your money - buy/sell stocks AND buy/sell mutual funds.

A easier way to ensure you don't lose your nest egg is to start small. Liquidate your mutual funds slowly into cash.

I'm going to assume your RRSP is in a work plan or through your bank so another avenue to play it relatively safe is to seek the advice of a independent wealth manager as they can put you into some sexy investments - land holding deals in areas slated for re-zoning, landlord deals in low end apartments in other regions, leverage funds, golf course development etc.