The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) says it welcomes the federal government’s decision to increase the age limit at which Canadians can build their RRSPs to 71 from 69, as announced in yesterday’s federal budget.
In its fall submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, IFIC recommended that the age limit at which an individual must convert an RRSP to an annuity or RRIF should be raised from 69 to be consistent with demographic trends that indicate Canadians may be encouraged to work longer to meet predicted labour shortages.
“This and other budget proposals are in line with IFIC’s budget submission for the government to provide incentives that will encourage and enable Canadians to save for their retirement,” said Joanne De Laurentiis, IFIC’s president & CEO, in a news release. “We had asked the government to increase the RRSP age limit to 73, but this is a good first step in having Canadians save adequately for their retirement.”
De Laurentiis also said IFIC was pleased with the government’s statement to continue working with the investment funds industry to create a more efficient process for T3 slips, giving investment fund companies enough time to prepare the slips and taxpayers enough time to meet the tax deadline.
Other promises in the budget that help ensure future financial security include:
De Laurentiis said IFIC would be pleased to talk to federal officials about some of IFIC’s other suggestions, including raising the RRSP contribution limit, implementing a Tax Pre-Paid Savings Plan and implementing a promise made during the last election to eliminate or defer capital gains tax on a reinvestment of proceeds.
She also noted that a separate section addressing capital markets identified several positive initiatives that the industry looked forward to discussing further with the government, including a part dealing with providing principles-based disclosure requirements for financial products.