Oct 7: Best from the blogosphere
October 7, 2019
A look at the best of the Internet, from an SPP point of view
Debt begins to gnaw away at Canadians’ wealth
For the first time since 2008, reports Advisor’s Edge, Canadians’ wealth is in decline.
And unlike 2008, when a global financial crisis routed the markets and shuttered a number of financial institutions, another more insidious factor is to blame this time, at least in part – personal debt.
Advisor’s Edge, citing data from Toronto research firm Investor Economics, reports that “discretionary financial wealth – including deposits, investment funds, and securities holdings – fell by one per cent to $4.4 trillion.”
While the markets had a bad last quarter in 2018 (markets have recovered thus far in 2019), debt is becoming a problem that people have to deal with, the article notes.
“This has translated into a sharper focus by Canadian households in diverting discretionary financial assets toward lowering personal debt with associated adverse impacts for the retail financial services industry,” states Investor Economics president and CEO Goshka Folda in the article.
In plainer terms, financial assets under management are being cashed in to pay down personal debt. Money once earmarked for long-term wealth or savings is going on the credit card or line of credit.
An eye-popping $45 billion of wealth was diverted towards debt repayment in 2018, the article notes.
Worse, Investor Economics predicts slower growth in financial wealth over the next 10 years.
With debt at all-time highs, should we be surprised that people are raiding their savings to cut down on creditor calls? For many of us, our biggest pool of cash is our retirement savings – should we crack into that?
The Hoyes-Michalos website warns that cashing in RRSPs is a very poor strategy, for several reasons. First, the debt-relief site notes, since you are withdrawing tax-sheltered funds to pay debt, the withdrawn funds “will be added to the income you make this year, and you may find that you owe quite a bit more in taxes than you expected. By using the money to solve one problem, you have created a new tax debt once you file your income taxes.”
As well, Hoyes-Michalos notes, when you take out money from an RRSP there is also a withholding tax applied. You won’t get the full amount you want to take out.
Next, the site advises, by “putting your retirement savings toward debt repayment, you will have to start saving for retirement all over again with less time and money to do so.” And if your debt has you in a precarious financial situation, the site notes that “RRSPs are protected in a bankruptcy.”
If your goal is to have your retirement savings in a secure cookie jar that you won’t be able to hack into, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan has a unique feature you should be aware of. Because SPP is a defined contribution pension plan, and not an RRSP, the money you deposit in your SPP account is locked in until you reach age 55, the earliest age you can begin to receive your pension (the latest age is 71). The cookie jar, in a sense, is welded shut until you get that gold watch – these days, that’s probably a good thing!
| Written by Martin Biefer |
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Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing, classic rock, and darts. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22 |
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