RRSP contributions lowest in 11 years

[carverman]

Eating today is more important than eating 30 years from now.

Agree..but if you don't have 30 years of growth in some kind of investment
vehicle for the future..how are you going to eat 30 years from now?.
Already, the feds are contemplating raising the CPP pension age to 67 and
who knows if CPP and OAS will still be there 30 years from now.
I guess, everyone adopts the logic..
"we'll cross that bridge when we come to it".

I can see that the principle residence and the reverse mortage schemes may
become more attractive in the future for those that can't save for the future.

[Karen]

Since I'm retired and no longer am eligible to contribute to my RRSP, I can only contribute the maximum allowable to my TFSA. However, if I had to guess, I would say the biggest reason for the drop in RRSP contributions is that many people have chosen to put their money in a TFSA and can't afford to do both. If I were still working, I would have made a TFSA my priority.

[m3s]

TFSA is a huge factor

I can only wish I had $50k TFSA room, or $100k like future 20 something couples. Who needs RRSPs or Smith maneuvers anymore, not many. TFSA is the only true tax free

[steve41]

TFSA is a huge factor

I can only wish I had $50k TFSA room, or $100k like future 20 something couples. Who needs RRSPs or Smith maneuvers anymore, not many. TFSA is the only true tax free

Not so..... when you run an RRSP vs a TFSA strategy side by side, they are very close. (as a saving for retirement strategy, mind you)
Plus, for the undisciplined, the nature of the RRSP (withdrawals are taxed) is an incentive to leave them untouched.

[m3s]

RRSP is only good if your income taxes go down, assuming taxes are not raised in the future and clawbacks are not changed etc etc. I'm sure it's always best to have some RRSP, but I can't see why you wouldn't lean towards TFSA given the space (beyond the shiny object tax rebate lure and undisciplined saving factor) If you pulled a Warren Buffet would you rather use TFSA or RRSP?