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Jon Chevreau wrote an article in the weekend Financial Post on one of those Canadian "dummy" books. This one was called "76 Tips for Investing in an Uncertain Economy for Canadians for Dummies".
Has anyone read these "for Canadian for Dummies" books? Are the others in the series as poorly researched / poorly edited as this one?
Unfortunately, there seems to be many errors in this book. Here are some examples:There's much content here, and I agree with perhaps 85% of the tips. This was a massive undertaking that runs 356 pages. But it's not the work of a single author. Two writers share the main authorship credit, Sheryl Garrett and Camilla Cornell. But many of the chapters were written by more than 70 individual certified financial planners and other money professionals.
- Page 39 and Page 136: The book talks about a 10 to 20% “penalty” on RRSP withdrawals. But, there are no penalty on RRSP withdrawals. Instead, there is a withholding tax of 10 to 30%, NOT a penalty of 10 to 20%.
- Page 133 and 296. Sales sales of securities that “take place” on Dec 31 will count for the current tax year. If you followed this tip and sold on Dec 31, you would have crystallized capital gains or losses for the next financial year because transactions need three days to settle.
Has anyone read these "for Canadian for Dummies" books? Are the others in the series as poorly researched / poorly edited as this one?