Cashing in an RRSP ‘without penalty’

Question: A while back an article was written concerning cashing in RRSPs if you’re older than 55. If I am right, you can cash in one time without penalty? I am interested in hearing who to go to about this since my agent at the bank has never heard of this. – B.C.

Gordon’s answer:  He’s never heard of it because there is no such rule. If you withdraw money from an RRSP, at any age, you pay tax on the proceeds. Period!

There have been some scams around that purport to have a way around these tax rules but if anyone approaches you with this scheme, run the other way. A lot of money has been lost by unsuspecting Canadians who thought they could beat the tax man!