RE:RSP DisadvantageThere is also an estate liability. Your RRSP (or RRIF) will be taxed at your marginal rate in the year you die, but if you instead went to a non-registered account it's only subject to 2% probate (Ontario).
It is also possible, from within a non-registered account and taking advantage of the dividend tax credits, that you will pay little or no tax on the (hopefully increasing, if you invested well) dividends as the years go by. This beats the RRSP tax deferment immediately and carries only the 2% probate liability into your estate.
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ckwong wrote: When you are young, your tax bracket is about 10-15%. If you do well, when you retire, the tax bracket could be 25-30%. The withdrawal from RSP is 100% taxable at your highest tax bracket. So you delayed the tax but pay more. On top of that you would not enjoy the dividend tax credit which will only be losing its advantage when you have some very decent income. If you have capital gain, you pay maximum of 25% tax but you pay your top tax bracket for your RSP withdrawal.
For dividend investor or capital gain investor, it is better off to stay away from RSP.
TFSA limit is about $6,000 each year which is higher than many's RSP limit. There is no tax advantage for the contribution however at the end you have tax free income when you pay the tax up front.
RSP is designed by the government to grab more tax.