Weighing your investment options

Here in Canada, the deadline for making contributions to our tax-sheltered personal pension plans, known as RRSPs (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) is looming, so if you're Canadian, you may be thinking about your pension. “Pension” comes from a Latin word, pensus (weighed). The Romans made payments by weighing the gold or silver, so pensus came to mean a payment. When “pension” came into English in the 1400s, it was any kind of payment or wage, but it soon came to apply to a retirement payment. The first instance we have of this sense is from Cardinal Wolsey asking Henry VIII for one; shortly afterwards, he was arrested for treason. Beware of what you ask of your employer!