Top up RRSP now or later?

Zoomer | January 1st, 2006

Q – I have a government pension plan that will be indexed, with about $18,000 in RRSP space available to contribute. Should I wait for my golden handshake to fill it or should I do it now with monthly contributions, and use the funds I receive on retirement for investing somewhere else, possibly outside of my portfolio? – P.S.


A – You don’t say how long it will be before you begin to draw the pension. The longer the time frame, the better it is to make use of the RRSP contribution room now to maximize the effect of tax-sheltered compounding. So I would suggest starting monthly contributions. When you begin to draw the pension, you can build a non-registered account to supplement the RRSP/pension income. Just be sure that you invest wisely. Don’t take a lot of risk at this stage in your life. – G.P.