As we head into RRSP season with the deadline for the last tax year a few weeks away, we are starting to see reports suggesting Canadians will have no money to set aside or, conversely, they are doing alright, thanks you.
It really depends who you listen to or what data you track.
On one hand the numbers show we are settling into a savings cycle again. It had fallen to near zero prior to the pandemic then skyrocketed when restaurants and bars were closed and retail went online.
But now we’re finding our way back into the five per cent range. In other words, we are saving about five per cent of our income.
But then we saw an Angus Reid poll over the weekend saying half the population under the age of 55 couldn’t handle an unexpected bill of $1,000 and forty per cent said they have no money to contribute to an RRSP or TFSA right now.
But those over 55 – mostly people who have no mortgage – could handle these easily. That’s about 30 per cent of the population in Saskatchewan.
