1. Selling and buying of stocks: As I recall

- selling and buying back in the same account would required a "cooling off" period of 30 days (business days?). Or the tax people would consider the owner of the account as a trader (gains will be treated as income).

- I am not sure about selling from one (regular) account before year end, then re-buying from a TFSA in early January. In general term, each account is considered as a separate entity, especially if it is under a different name (e.g. under a spouse's name). So tradings in the open market from different entities should be considered as independent events.

However, as suggested by others, it would be best to check with tax experts on these things. There are recent controversies regarding the TFSA with respect to frequent trading, especially if one is lucky to make lots of money in the TFSA (nobody would care if you lose money)...The tax people may intepret that the account owner is a trader hence the gains would be considered as income (i.e. not tax-free).

Presumably, the re-purchase of the same stock using the TFSA could wait for 30-day cooling period, just to be sure?

---------travel suggestions for TequilaR, and other interested readers-------------------

2. Retirement and trips: Congrats! 6wks for 3 countries sound wonderful. Some suggestions:

- For Cambodia Angkor Wat is a must, you will need 3-days to explore. One day each for the killing fields and Phnom Penh is good enough. The country is quite poor.

- Laos: More time should be spent in the northern portion of the country. Luang Prapang has interesting stuff to enjoy. Peaceful country.

- Vietnam: Ha Long Bay, Hue, Saigon and the Mekong Delta would take more than 2 weeks. reasonably-priced guided tours could be booked on-line or locally. Quite friendly to all tourists.

Guided tours (small group) are usually better than travelling alone by yourself, since this would save a lot of time . Also, don't venture too far from the well-travelled paths (land mine is still a problem, specially in Cambodia).

Take along a stack of new 1-dollar bills (some 50-100, USD) for small purchases or taxi rides (cheap). Only change enough local currency, if needed. Local people don't expect tips, but small change for street (fruit, bottled water) vendors would be welcome.

Don't take along too much money and valuables specially in crowded places. Leave them in the safes at the hotels. Keep cameras and smart phones close to you (wear the straps).

Stay with bottled stuff (beer is plenty and cheap), and don't buy Cipro (and other meds) from street vendors, even from "regular" pharmacies. Ask the locals/tour guides for pharmacies where they have the "real" stuff. It will be more expensive but you will have the real McCoy. Sometimes, the regular pharmacies would have the good stuff as well (kept in the back, and you would need to ask for them).

BTW, the children in the rural areas would love to receive little gifts like pens, pencils, paper pads, tooth brushes, soaps...anything you could get for free from the hotels. So, collect them and bring them along to give away while touring... And urge you fellow travellers to do the same.

Happy globe trotting!

goldhunter (waiting for the turkey to get brown)