Apr 4: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE 

April 4, 2024

Canadians “gotta giddy up on saving for retirement,” warns the Free Press

Despite the many benefits that registered retirement savings plans have – including tax-deductible contributions, and creating a nest egg for your future you – Canadian RRSP balances are declining, reports the Winnipeg Free Press.

According to the Free Press, citing information from BMO and Statistics Canada, “the average RRSP account was about $113,000 in 2023. That’s actually down from about $144,000 in 2022.”

While the newspaper reports that a recent market correction in 2023 may be behind the drop in the average account balance, another reason could be “a likely disconnect between retirement goals and action.”

The Free Press notes there is a “under-saving” problem in the land.

“Canadians 50 and older are coming to grips with under-saving for retirement, too,” the article notes. “The National Institute on Ageing, based in Toronto, released its annual survey in January and found only one-third of working Canadians aged 50 and older say they can retire at their desired time. It further revealed four in 10 Canadians in this age group stated they are not in a position to retire at all,” the Free Press adds.

“All of this is to say that working Canadians gotta giddy-up on saving for retirement,” the newspaper warns.

What’s causing people to save less?

Debt, reports the Free Press, is a definite barrier to saving.

The article quotes Natasha Macmillan of Ottawa’s Ratehub.ca as saying “If you have high-interest debt, the best use of your money is to pay that off first.”

The newspaper adds that while Macmillan is specifically referring to high-interest credit card debt, “even additional mortgage payments in this high interest-rate environment may be a better use of extra cash than contributing to retirement savings.”

The Free Press goes on to note that retirement savings is just one type of savings vehicle. There is the Tax Free Savings Account (where there’s no tax on the money you invest, and no tax consequences when you take money out), registered education savings plans (RESPs) for kids and grandkids, and the new First Home Savings Account for prospective home buyers.

The article suggests you seek financial advice on which savings vehicle is best for your situation.

But, the article concludes, retirement savings is always an important priority.

“But just to keep things simple: if you have extra cash, contribute to your RRSP — tax efficiency considerations aside — because fattening up retirement savings is never a bad thing,” the article notes. “Even if you contribute more to your RRSP than is optimal for your 2023 taxes, you can still carry that deduction forward to use for tax years to come,” Yannick Lemay of H&R Block Canada tells the Free Press.

This is a good, thorough article that provides the perspectives of a number of experts. We can add this, from the perspective of a semi-retired senior – if you don’t have a pension plan at work, it is imperative that you save for retirement, because once you get to the age where you can’t work, you’ll need something to augment the rather modest benefits we get from the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, and even the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

Your future you will be very thankful for any savings you are able to put away now, in your younger years.

If you’re saving on your own for retirement, a great partner is out there waiting to help you. The Saskatchewan Pension Plan is a provincially run, not-or-profit retirement savings program open to any Canadian with RRSP room. SPP will take the money you save and invest it for you in a low-cost, pooled, professionally managed pension fund. When you retire, your options including receiving a lifetime monthly annuity payment, or SPP’s Variable Benefit option, where you decide how much you want to take out of your nest egg, and when.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Winnipeg Free Press

---

---