Entering RRSP Transaction in GnuCash

[Mike or Penny Novack]

I'm wondering if someone can help me with a question about the proper way to
register a transaction where my employer makes a direct contribution to my
RRSP account.

RRSP is more or less the Canadian equivalent of the USA 401(k) and as such
is a Retirement Fund.

=

These (RRSP's, 401k's, etc.) can be tricky as they can involve all sorts 
of complications. There may be need to keep track of before tax vs after 
tax contributions, employees vs employer contributions, and perhaps 
"vesting" applied to the latter (they may be conditional amounts). Yet 
such funds may represent significant portions of net worth. As an aside, 
I will point out that cash value life insurance may present similar 
problems, especially any "split dollar" policies.

Were I trying to keep "books" for my 401K funds of life insurance values 
(so I could see how they were doing as "investments") I would probably 
do that outside the main books. Not necessarily outside of gnucash! I 
would open a set of books for the 401k, a set of books for insurance 
policies, etc. That way I could track the  "income" of these so could be 
compared to other investments even though not income in the ordinary sense.

Then when desiring "total net worth" could simply add up the parts. 
Expecting our ordinary "books" to be able to do that is an illusion 
anyway (*).

Michael D Novack

* For many of us, the potential capital gain on our residential real 
estate might be a big chunk of the total. But that too is a conditional 
amount.