Learning About Finances: Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSA)

March 7, 2010 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

I think it’s always important to constantly be challenging your mind to learning. I always find myself reading up on new topics or listening to audio tapes on my iPod while working on other projects. Recently I’ve been focusing my efforts on learning about finances.

You see, I grew up in the ghettos of Winnipeg, and there is a much different mentality surrounding finances in poorer areas. It wasn’t a topic that was discussed a lot, and it certainly wasn’t an area where a lot of focus was placed. After starting my adult life with a series of terrible financial decisions, I have decided to learn more about how to make sound financial decisions.

The first topic I decided to research was Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSA), a new tax shelter introduced by the Canadian government in 2009. It’s been said to be the most significant tax shelter for Canadians since the introduction of Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP) decades ago. Unlike RRSPs (which are defer your taxes until your retirement), TFSAs are completely tax free (not tax deferred).

In other words, get a TFSA right now. There’s really no reason not to get one. Each year you are allowed to contribute up to $5000. If you haven’t contributed at all yet, that means you have $10,000 of space to use in 2010.

You are allowed to withdraw from your TFSA at any time without penalty. Whatever amount you have withdrawn can be recontributed to your TFSA the following year (e.g. if you withdraw $1000 from your TFSA now then you will have an extra $1000 of contribution space in 2011). This feature makes TFSAs perfect for those looking to start an emergency fund or those saving up for a car or a home.

If you are retired then you have extra incentive to open a TFSA as you no longer have access to RRSPs after you retire. Also, money withdrawn is not counted as income.

A really important point about TFSAs are that they don’t have to be used for savings accounts at all. You can have your TFSA as your investing account. Just think about that, tax-free investing for up to $5000 a year. That’s really quite amazing for first-time investors looking to get their feet wet.

Please note that I am no financial expert, I’m just sharing the information that I am learning along the way as someone who used to be terrible at finances and hopes to be amazing before all is said and done. Always check with your financial advisor if you have one.

Also important to note is that you have to be 18 years old and Canadian to open an account. Growth (or loss) earned through investments in the TFSA account have a permanent effect on the contribution amount.

Recommended Outbound Links
Financial Post’s TFSA Centre
Canadian government’s TFSA information page
Canadian Money Forum

Filed under: Learning
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The Improvisation Program, Level B with instructor Cary West at Second City Training Centre, Toronto, Improv Class

May 3, 2009 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

I’m currently taking Level B improv classes at The Second City Toronto Training Centre with instructor Cary West. I’ll be blogging about my experiences below. This post will be updated after each class (as opposed to me writing a new post each class), so bookmark this page if you want to follow along with my experiences.

DAY SIX – Sunday, May 3, 2009: The Improvisation Program, Level B with instructor Cary West at Second City Training Centre, Toronto, Improv Class

My last day at Level B intensive was a great culmination of everything we learned so far. I skipped out on Saturday’s class due to a personal engagement, but I’m happy I made it back for the finale. Our final day was a lot more relaxed and more a review than anything else. We were able to play some games that I saw at Wheel of Improv, so now I hope to be more comfortable when playing along on Mondays.

In all, I’m super happy that I took the Level B intensive and am now caught up with my Level A class so that I can take Level C with them starting next week. The intensive format is definitely different from the weekly class format, and I think that I enjoy both forms.

As for Level B itself, I feel a lot more comfortable with environment, though it’s still not my strong suit. I’ll have to work at it some more for sure in the later levels, but I’m looking forward to it.

DAY FOUR – Friday, May 1, 2009: The Improvisation Program, Level B with instructor Cary West at Second City Training Centre, Toronto, Improv Class

Today’s class was all about environment. I was really tired and a bit beat down from the week, so I had to really pull from all my energy banks to be able to tackle some of our exercises. I still have a long way to go as far as environment, but at least now I know what exercises I can do on my own to improve.

My favourite exercise involved performing the same action in four, eight and 20 steps. I was given the action of getting ready in the morning. Performing this action in four steps was funny and showed how disconnected we can be as performers when we don’t add in the little touches. Expanding to eight steps felt a bit better and is probably closer to where I’m at right now as a performer. Trying to add up to 20 steps was really difficult for me, as I ran out of things to do. Now, getting ready for the morning in real life obviously takes a lot more than 20 steps, so I’ve just got to concentrate more on the little details.

The ultimate goal is to be able to perform any action in 50 steps. I’m a ways away from doing this, but now I know how to move forward. I will definitely practice on my own.

DAY THREE – Sunday, April 26, 2009: The Improvisation Program, Level B with instructor Cary West at Second City Training Centre, Toronto, Improv Class

I had yet another great day at my Second City improv class. I’m really starting to feel more comfortable working with environment, which has been my biggest weakness by far.

Today’s class was really well structured. We worked on several smaller exercises leading up to a final exercise that used the skills we learned throughout the day. This is the first time I’ve felt this type of progression in an improv class. The fact that we got to use everything we had learned gave me a great sense of accomplish when we were done.

We started out with free association, kind of similar to when stand-up comedians perform stream of consciousness. I had a great time with this exercise, as I do with most thinking and talking exercises. We built on the free association by introducing an environment. Once we were in our environment, we had to continue talking about an unrelated topic while still continuing our activity. I found this incredibly difficult to do, but I’m sure it will get easier with time. My thoughts were much more muted, and I had difficulty remembering what I was saying.

The new techniques we learned for environment were really helpful. Cary West showed us how to sustain an activity that isn’t overly repetitive. After learning this technique, I was able to try using them during our final exercise. Putting free association, environment and adding an extra improvisor, the final exercise really stretched our improv skills. I was given the environment of a clothing store and had to carry out a conversation while shopping. I think I botched the conversation since I was thinking we were still doing free association and thus spoke way too much.

At the end of the day, though, I felt the most comfortable I’ve ever been while doing environment work. Our instructor Cary is really great with giving us helpful tips and suggestions.

DAY TWO – Saturday, April 25, 2009: The Improvisation Program, Level B with instructor Cary West at Second City Training Centre, Toronto, Improv Class

Today I felt a lot more comfortable than yesterday. A lot of the rust came off, and I was definitely more in the moment.

I was really excited because today we worked a lot on environment, which is my weakest skill for sure tied with character (which will be covered more in Level C). We had an exercise where we had to establish an environment, and the audience had to figure out where we were. I decided to establish a wrestling ring. The good part is that I conveyed the environment well enough that the audience guessed correctly. The bad part is that I have a long way to go as far as committing to a scene.

Now, I fully understand that I have skills that need to be worked on, but I shouldn’t have to work on committing, as that’s something I can do right now whether I have the other skills or not. That’s my takeaway from this week is to always commit fully as much as I can. Cary had some great recommendations after the scene about how I can improve by being more in the moment and adding all the extra little details.

The second part of today concentrated on free association and being generous with our fellow performers. Now this is the part of improv where I feel I shine through much more. Any exercises where it’s about using words and nothing more are where I feel at home. I definitely know I can develop more in this area too, but it’s nice to come back to something I’m good at after spending hours working on my weaknesses. It’s a nice confidence builder for sure.

DAY ONE – Friday, April 24, 2009: The Improvisation Program, Level B with instructor Cary West at Second City Training Centre, Toronto, Improv Class

Ooh, today was definitely a little bit rough. Improv is like a skill that you need to keep sharp, and I definitely was not sharp today as it’s been about three months since my Level A class. This isn’t to say that the class didn’t go well; in fact, it was fantastic and I had a lot of fun.

My instructor for this level is Cary West, an experienced improvisor and actor. Well, instead of describing him, I’ll just paste his bio from the Second City website:

“Cary West has been teaching improvisation since 1996 including the Second City Education Department starting in 2001. A long-time graduate of the Second City Conservatory Program, he has also been involved with the Bad Dog Theatre and the Toronto Film College instructing comedy performance and writing. In 2000, Cary was nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award for Best New Sketch Troupe with the Closet Primadonnas and has appeared in numerous award winning short films.”

What’s interesting about Cary is that he started out in stand-up comedy for a year, which of course intrigues me since stand-up comedy is my first love as far as performing goes. Cary is very different from my last instructor, Natasha Boomer, though they both are incredible improvisors in their own right. Cary loves telling stories, which I love because it gives insight into the improv world outisde of just learning how to perform.

My new classmates are really cool too. It was a little strange, though, because 80 per cent of the class knew each other from Level A, and I was one of only two people who was new to their group. I wasn’t phased for too long, though, because the group was very welcoming.

The biggest thing I noticed in my first class back was that I was holding back way too much. I tend to be a little too caught up in my thoughts when performing instead of projecting outward. Hopefully I can start to learn a bit more and get better as the course goes on.

Second City Toronto Training Centre Available Improv Courses

http://secondcity.com/?id=training-education/training/toronto/course_descriptions

The Second City

The Second City Toronto Training Centre

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