Registered Retirement Savings Plan

A Registered Retirement Savings Plan or RRSP is a type of Canadian account for holding savings and investment assets. Introduced in 1957, the RRSP's purpose is to promote savings for retirement by employees. It must comply with a variety of restrictions stipulated in the Canadian Income Tax Act. Rules determine the maximum contributions, the timing of contributions, the claiming of the contribution tax credit, the assets allowed, and the eventual conversion to an RRIF (Registered Retirement Income Fund) in retirement. Approved assets include: savings accounts, guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), bonds, mortgage loans, mutual funds, income trusts, corporate shares (stocks), foreign currency and labour-sponsored funds.

RRSPs have five effects:

1. Taxes on earned (employment) income (to the extent contributed to the plan) are deferred until the eventual withdrawals from the plan. There is no benefit from the deferral because it is an accrued liability that grows at the same rate as the investments themselves. The tax deferred is commonly called the contribution tax credit.
2. Income earned inside the plan on the after-tax savings (excluding the contribution tax credit) is not taxed either while within the plan or on withdrawal. Asset classes that attract the highest taxes (%income * %tax rate) are best kept within the plan to maximize the deferral benefit.
3. One's marginal tax rate when withdrawing cash may be higher (or lower) than the rate at which one claimed the original contribution credit. This creates a penalty (or benefit) equal to: ( Change in tax rate % ) divided by ( 1 minus tax rate on contribution ).
4. Canada has a variety of programs available to retired people whose benefits decrease as one's income increases. By deferring the income until retirement, the additional income created at that time may reduce those benefits.
5. Claiming the contribution tax credit may be deferred until a later year (when the expected marginal tax rate is higher), but there is an opportunity cost penalty for the delay - namely, the potential income the tax credit could have earned during the delay. ^[1]

Taxation

For the most part, contributions to RRSPs are deductible from taxable income, reducing income tax payable. Since Canada has a progressive tax system, taxes are reduced at the highest marginal rate. Increases in the value of the plan assets (whether capital gains, interest income or other) are not subject to income or other taxes in Canada until funds are removed from the RRSP. Disbursements from an RRSP are taxable as income at the time of withdrawal - regardless of the type of profit earned while inside the RRSPs.

Types of RRSPs

RRSP accounts can be set up with either one or two associated individuals:

Individual RRSP

An Individual RRSP is associated with only a single individual, termed an account holder. With Individual RRSPs, the account holder is also called a contributor, as only they contribute money to their RRSP.

Spousal RRSP

A Spousal RRSP allows a higher earner, termed a spousal contributor, to contribute to an RRSP in the spouse's name. In this case, it is the spouse who is the account holder. The spouse can withdraw the funds, subject to tax, after a holding period. A spousal RRSP is a means of splitting income in retirement: By dividing investment properties between both spouses each spouse will receive half the income, and thus the marginal tax rate will be lower than if one spouse earned all of the income.

Group RRSP

In a group RRSP, an employer arranges for employees to make contributions, as they wish, through a schedule of regular payroll deductions. The employee can decide the size of contribution per year and the employer will deduct an amount accordingly and submit it to the investment manager selected to administer the group account. The contribution is then deposited into the employee’s individual account and invested as specified. The primary difference with a group plan is that the contributor realizes the tax savings immediately, instead of having to wait until the end of the tax year.

Pooled RRSP

Pooled Retirement Pension Plan (PRPP) is legislation introduced during the 41st Canadian Parliament aimed at employees and employers in small businesses, as well as the self-employed.^[2]

Contributing

A RRSP deduction limit is the maximum amount of RRSP contributions that can be claimed on a tax return for a given tax year.

A deduction limit is calculated as the unused deduction limit from the prior year (which includes all unused deductions going back 10 years^[3]), plus 18% of a person's earned income from the previous calendar year up to a specified maximum, minus any pension adjustment (PA) and past service pension adjustment (PSPA), plus pension adjustment reversals (PAR). The CRA calculates the RRSP deduction limit for the next year and prints it on every Notice of Assessment or Reassessment, provided the taxpayer is 71 year or younger. It is also recalculated and a copy mailed in certain cases such as when a PSPA or PAR is issued.

The specified maximum has been rising as shown in the table below.

After 2010 the RRSP contribution limit is indexed to the annual increase in the average wage.

After filing a tax return (or any adjustments to the tax return), each tax payer receives a Notice of (Re)Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency, indicating their new RRSP deduction limit.

While it is possible to contribute more than the contributor's deduction limit, it is generally not advised as the excess amount (presently $2,000 over the deduction limit) is subject to a significant penalty tax removing all benefits (1% per month on the overage amount).^[4]

RRSP contributions within the first 60 days of the tax year (which may or may not be the calendar year) must be reported on the previous year's return, according to the Income Tax Act. Such contributions may also be used as deduction for the previous tax year. Note that reporting and using are two different things. All other contributions may be used in the same tax year or held for future use.

Withdrawals

For a complete article on Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIF), see Registered Retirement Income Fund.

An account holder is able to cash out an amount from an RRSP at any age. However, any amount withdrawn qualifies as taxable income and is therefore subject to withholding tax.

Before the end of the year the account holder turns 71, the RRSP must either be cashed out or transferred to a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) or an annuity. Previous to 2007, account holders were required to make this decision at age 69 rather than 71.

Investments held in an RRIF can continue to grow tax-free indefinitely, though an obligatory minimum RRIF withdrawal amount is cashed out and sent to the account holder each year. At that time, an individual's income is expected to be lower and therefore subjected to less tax.

Special withdrawal programs

Home Buyer's Plan (HBP)

While the original purpose of RRSPs was to help Canadians save for retirement, it is possible to use RRSP funds to help purchase one's first home under what is known as the Home Buyer's Plan. Canadians can borrow, tax-free, up to $20,000 from their RRSP (and another $20,000 from a spousal RRSP) towards buying their residence. This loan has to be repaid within 15 years after two years of grace. Contrary to popular belief, this plan can be used more than once per lifetime, as long as the borrower did not own a residence in the previous five years, and has fully repaid any previous loans under this plan. In the January 27, 2009, Federal Budget, the Minister of Finance announced that the $20,000 limit will be increased to $25,000.

Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP)

Similarly to the Home Buyer's Plan, the Life-Long Learning Plan allows for temporary diversions of tax-free funds from an RRSP. This program allows individuals to borrow from an RRSP to go or return to post-secondary school. The user may withdraw up to $10,000 per year to a maximum of $20,000. The first repayment under the LLP will be due at the earliest of the following two dates.

1. 60 days after the fifth year following the first withdrawal
2. the second year after the last year the student was enrolled in full-time studies

Account structure

Both Individual and Spousal RRSPs can be held in one of three account structures. It should be noted that one or more of the account types below may not be an option depending on what type of investment instrument (example stocks, mutual funds, bonds) is being held inside the RRSP.

Client-held accounts

Client-held, or client-name accounts, exist when an account holder uses their RRSP contributions to purchase an investment with a particular investment company. Each time an individual uses RRSP contribution money to purchase an investment at a different fund company, it results in a separate client-held account being opened. For example, if an individual buys investment # 1 with Fidelity Investments and investment # 2 with Mackenzie Financial, this would result in the individual having two separate RRSP accounts held with two different companies.

The main benefit of client-held accounts is that they do not generally incur annual fees. The main detriment is that investors must keep track of each RRSP investment made with each separate company.

Nominee accounts

Nominee accounts are so named because individuals with this type of account nominate a nominee, usually one of Canada's five major banks or a major investment dealer, to hold a number of different investments in a single account. For example, if an individual buys investment # 1 with Fidelity Investments and investment #2 with Mackenzie Financial, both investments are held in a single RRSP account with the nominee, Royal Bank.

The main benefit of a nominee account is the ability to keep track of all RRSP investments within a single account. The main detriment is that nominee accounts often incur annual fees.

A "self-directed" RRSP (SDRSP) is a special kind of nominee account. It is essentially a trading account at a brokerage that has tax-sheltered status. The holder of a self-directed RRSP instructs the brokerage to buy and sell securities on their behalf as with any brokerage account. The reason that it's described as "self-directed" is that the holder of this kind of RRSP directs all the investment decisions themselves, and does not normally have the service of an investment advisor.

Intermediary accounts

Intermediary accounts are essentially identical in function to Nominee accounts. The reason an investor would have an Intermediary account instead of a Nominee account has to do with the investment advisor they deal with. If the advisor is not aligned with a major bank or investment dealer, they may not have the logistical ability to offer nominee accounts to their clients.

As a result, the advisor will approach an intermediary company which is able to offer the investor identical benefits as those offered by a nominee account. The three main Canadian companies who offer intermediary services are B2B Trust, M.R.S. Trust, and Canadian Western Trust (CWT).

The main benefits and detriments of Intermediary accounts are identical as those offered by Nominee accounts.

References

Similar schemes in other countries

• Individual Retirement Account and 401(k) (United States)
• Superannuation in Australia
• Individual Savings Account (ISA) (United Kingdom)

See also

• Retirement Compensation Arrangements (RCA)
• Retirement plan
• Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF)
• Saskatchewan Pension Plan
• Locked-In Retirement Account (LIRA)
• Locked-in Retirement Savings Plan (LRSP)
• Life Income Funds (LIF)
• Locked-In Retirement Income Funds (LRIF)
• Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP)
• Prescribed Retirement Income Fund (PRIF)
• Taxation in Canada
• Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA)

External links

• Canadian Income Tax Act, Section 146 - RRSP via CanLII
• Canada Revenue Agency
• fin.gc.ca: RRSP information
• spreadsheet to deconstruct source of RRSP benefits and compare to TFSA