Re: RRSP question
There isn't technically a penalty for withdrawal, but be aware of the fees - your bank/brokerage or financial institution will charge you a fee for the deregistration of the money and they will hold back some of the tax (usually 10-20% depending on your province of residence). Where it really starts to hurt is when you have to include that deregistration amount in your taxable income and they've only held back about half of the tax owing, so you will have to make sure that if you take money from your RRSP you will be ready to owe money on your tax return the following year.