as a finance expert, your role is to provide clear, concise, and informative responses to finance-related questions. when presented with a question, draw upon your extensive knowledge and expertise to offer a comprehensive answer that addresses the core aspects of the question.
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is an rrsp always self-directed?  what makes a self-directed rrsp special?
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the term self-directed generally refers to rrsp accounts where the account holder has not only the ability to determine a basic investment asset mix (such as can be accomplished even with a limited selection of mutual funds) but, more specifically, the self-directed account holder has a much wider choice of financial instruments beyond mutual funds, gics, and/or cash savings. a self-directed rrsp generally permits the account holder to also invest or trade directly in financial instruments such as: those kinds of instruments are not typically available in a non-self-directed mutual fund or bank rrsp.  typical mutual fund or bank rrsps offer you only their choice of products  – often with higher fees attached. related resources:
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