Practical Financial Solutions: Last minute tax-saving, income-building RRSP tips
By Contributor
The deadline for making your 2015 contribution to investments held in your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is Monday, February 29th – but you can still enhance your retirement nest egg and save on taxes when you take advantage of these last-minute RRSP tips.
RRSP deadline basics
- February 29, 2016, at 11:59 p.m. is the deadline for contributing to investments in your RRSP for the 2015 tax year.
- The maximum contribution room that can be created for 2015 is $24,930, depending on your earned income in 2014 (and minus your pension adjustment if applicable).
- You’ll find your personal maximum allowable contribution on your most recent notice of assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency (on line (A) of the RRSP Deduction Limit Statement).
- You can carry forward unused contribution room from prior years.
- You can fill your unused contribution room in a single year or over a number of years until the end of the year in which you reach age 71(or the end of the year your spouse/common-law partner turns 71 if he or she is younger).
RRSP tips that defer taxes, save on taxes and build income
- Maximizing your RRSP contribution this year (and every year) is often the best strategy for tax savings and maximizing potential long-term growth.
- Catch up on your unused contribution room from previous years as quickly as possible for additional savings and enhanced long-term growth.
- An RRSP loan can help you maximize this year’s contribution and catch up on past contribution room. The money you borrow will generate a tax break and add to your tax-deferred RRSP growth potential. But ONLY when you can get an RRSP loan at a low interest rate and pay it back quickly. Use your extra tax savings to pay off the loan.
- If your spouse’s income will be lower than yours over the next few years or in retirement, splitting income by way of a spousal RRSP can generate retirement income that is subject to less tax. The plan is in your spouse’s name but you contribute to it and receive the tax deduction. Your total contributions can’t exceed your personal yearly contribution room but your spouse’s limit is unaffected by your contribution.
These RRSP tips and a few other RRSP strategies will save taxes and help you retire with more. But to adequately fund the retirement of your dreams, you should also build a well-balanced non-registered investment portfolio.
For the financial planning strategies that work best for you, talk to your professional advisor.
This column is sponsored by Roger Higgins, a BA, CFP Division Director for Investors Group in the Kootenays. For all your financial planning needs, contact Roger at 250-352-7777 of email at roger.higgins@investorsgroup.com
