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38% of Canadians dip into RRSPs early, BMO survey suggests

February 8, 2017

38% of Canadians dip into RRSPs early, BMO survey suggests

Percentage of respondents withdrawing savings rose from 34% last year, poll indicates

Almost four out of every 10 Canadians withdraw money from an RRSP before they hit 71, a new poll from BMO suggests.

Almost four out of every 10 Canadians withdraw money from an RRSP before they hit 71, a new poll from BMO suggests. (Shutterstock)

Almost four out of every 10 Canadians polled in a recent BMO survey admit they’ve withdrawn money from their RRSP early, and almost a fifth of them don’t ever expect to replenish what they’ve taken out.

According to the poll of 1,500 people, conducted by Pollara but commissioned by Bank of Montreal, more and more Canadians are dipping into their retirement savings to keep their heads above water financially.

In a similar poll last year, 34 per cent of respondents said they had tapped their registered retirement savings plans early. This year, it jumped to 38 per cent.

The survey was conducted online between Dec. 14 and 19. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, BMO said.

Of those polled who had dipped into the kitty early, almost a third, 30 per cent, said they had a good reason for doing so: buying a house. Under the Home Buyer’s Plan, Ottawa allows an RRSP-holder to withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSP if they’re going to use the money for a down payment.

But more than a fifth of those who have withdrawn money early said they did so to pay living expenses, and 18 per cent reported they did it to pay down debt — two excuses the tax man will not accept as legitimate enough to waive the penalty for doing so.

“It’s concerning to see that so many Canadians are dipping into their RRSPs to meet short-term needs, which should only be considered as a last resort,” Chris Buttigieg with BMO Wealth Management said in a release announcing the results of the poll.

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Low interest rates prompt savers to borrow to invest

August 4, 2015

Low interest rates prompt savers to borrow to invest

Kevin Stone plans to borrow $20K this year to invest in various stocks

Kevin Stone is 28 years old and already has over half a million dollars of debt, including a mortgage and a loan to purchase farmland. But he’s not concerned, because that apparent burden is actually helping fuel his roughly $400,000 net worth.

He’s one of a number of Canadians taking a gamble and borrowing money at historically low rates not to fuel an excessive lifestyle, but to invest in the stock market. It’s a strategy one financial planner warns isn’t for everyone, and even seasoned investors can see things go wrong.

The Bank of Canada recently lowered its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points for the second time this year. Canada’s major banks partially followed suit and lowered their prime lending rates to 2.7 per cent.

These changes caused the rates for already low variable-rate mortgages, as well as home equity and personal lines of credit, to fall.

The low rates prompted Harry, an Albertan in his 40s who requested his last name not be used for privacy reasons, to look at his $100,000 home equity line of credit, or HELOC, a different way.

He plans to use that money over the next several years to maximize his unused RRSP contribution room. He’s withdrawn funds from his HELOCbefore to pay for a few vacations, but this will be his first time borrowing the money for investments.

Harry plans to use his annual tax returns as large, lump-sum payments against the loan, while paying down the remaining balance at a low 2.2 per cent interest rate.

“I think the bigger risk is not using other people’s money to invest,” says Stone, who blogs about his money maneuvers at Freedom Thirty Five, where he doesn’t shy away from aiming to join Canada’s one per cent. “By taking on these debts today, I can have a longer time to build up my assets.”

 

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Younger workers more likely to see less income in retirement, CIBC says Average person born in ’80s and after may see only 70% of pre-retirement income, economist Benjamin Tal says

June 3, 2015

Younger workers more likely to see less income in retirement, CIBC says

Average person born in ’80s and after may see only 70% of pre-retirement income, economist Benjamin Tal says

Urgent attention needs to be given to what Canadians can expect to get in retirement income — something that’s become a real divide along generational lines, a prominent Canadian economist says.

In a note to clients this week, Benjamin Tal at CIBC waded into the ongoing debate over Canada’s looming pension and retirement crisis.

While falling well short of endorsing any of the myriad proposals out there to fix the problem, including beefing up the Canada Pension Plan, encouraging more individual savings by expanding RRSPs and TFSAs or something else, Tal is unequivocal in his view that declining retirement income is a problem needing a solution — and soon.

After running a simulation of pension income across a wide variety of age ranges, Tal found a clear deliniation between those in retirement now or approaching it, and those who won’t get there for several years or decades.

In today’s economy, few people rely on any one source of retirement income, with most people drawing on a combination of their own investments such as RRSPs, TFSAs and real estate, government programs such as CPP and things like pension plans that they may have accrued from employers over a lifetime of work.

In general, Tal says, “the typical 70-year-old today has enough income to maintain his or her pre-retirement standard of living, taking into account the typical drop in expenses in one’s post-working years.”

Generational gap

But while millions of Canadians 65 and up are on a path to the retirement of their dreams, the data show that millions of others are headed for a steep decline in living standards in the decades ahead, particularly people who are younger and are in middle-income brackets.

 

 

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