Looking back through old photos — because the only way to experience photography right now is to look through old photos — has led me down more than a few rabbit holes.

For one, I want photography kit again (it's been a long time since I experienced G.A.S.).

And for two, I clearly forgot to share a variety of photo galleries from last fall.

We were able to get out to shoot this beautiful couple just before the lockdowns in mid-October. Every leaf had fallen and the evenings had grown really crisp and cool.

But this shoot had some more variety to it. Everything was initially scheduled to be shot during golden hour. Golden hour in Manitoba in October is... short. 45 minutes maybe? And of course, everything ran extra late.

It turned out, though, that the following blue hour suited this shoot particularly well. From the browns and blacks of their attire through to the browns and blacks of the surrounding environment, the hint of fresh blue around them made for a better backdrop than I could have hoped for. I'd like to pretend I knew all along these photos would turn out so well, but I got lucky.

I'm looking forward to getting back outside in the next few months to shoot more families and couples. The season just got going last year before everything suddenly came to a halt.

This week’s Toonie newsletter issue discusses a topic I’ve wanted to talk about for years. The crux of the matter:

You have to take 1/15th of that RRSP withdrawal (if you withdrew $20,000, 1/15th would be $1,333) and add it to your income. Despite making $52,500 in the year, you are now taxed on $53,833 ($52,500 + $1,333), a chunk of which is at the 20.5% level of income tax.

Said another way, you contributed that RRSP and saved 15% income tax only to turn around and pay 20.5% income tax in your repayment.

Another way to avoid the tax hit of the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan (as noted by a colleague) is to simply not deduct the RRSP contributions in the contribution years and deduct the entire Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal amount in the very first year of repayment. So in short, you match the RRSP deduction with the entire repayment, having a nil impact on your net and taxable income.

(One of the RRSP’s lesser known qualities is the fact you can contribute to the RRSP but choose not to deduct the contribution from your net income until you see fit. I’ll talk about this another day, but you could theoretically max out your RRSP on your 71st birthday and deduct the contributions in your final (estate) return. This could save your estate a boatload of tax if handled correctly.)

I am doing my best to keep longer financial discussions on Toonie, so if you’d like more of this kind of chatter, feel free to subscribe. I try to publish every Friday morning.