RRSP Centre

• Self-Directed RRSP
• Deduction Limit
• Spousal RRSP
• Investment Options
• Investment Strategies
• RRSP Loans
• How Much Will I Need to Save?
• RRSP Maturity Options
• Annuities
• RRIFs
• Self-Directed RRIF
• How Much Income Will I Need?
• How Long Will My RRIF Last?
• Naming a Beneficiary
• Retirement Planning for Small Business Owners

RRSP Centre

Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIFs)
A RRIF is very much like an RRSP in reverse. An RRSP is an account designed to help you save for retirement - a RRIF is an account designed to provide an annual income in the form of withdrawals from the RRSP during your retirement.

Like an RRSP, the assets in the RRIF continue to be tax sheltered until withdrawn. With a RRIF you continue to control how your funds are invested and have access to all the same investments you had with an RRSP.

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requires that you take at least a minimum amount out of your RRIF each year, however, you may withdraw more than the minimum if required. The withdrawals are calculated based on your age and the market value in the account (both at January 1st of the current year). The following chart outlines the minimum annual RRIF withdrawals as a percent of the asset values at the beginning of the year.

A BMO Nesbitt Burns Self-Directed RRIF allows you to hold one or all of the following qualified investments within a single plan:

• Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) issued by a Canadian bank or trust company;
• Treasury Bills;
• Qualified mutual funds;
• Bonds and debentures of Canadian governments and Crown corporations and certain foreign governments;
• Shares and debt issued by corporations listed on prescribed stock exchanges;
• Rights and warrants that, if exercised, would acquire securities that are qualified investments; and
• Certain Canadian mortgages.

For more information, visit our Retirement Planning section, or contact an Investment Advisor at a BMO Nesbitt Burns branch near you.

If you would like a BMO Nesbitt Burns Investment Advisor to contact you, simply complete this brief contact form.

Note: Using borrowed money to finance the purchase of securities involves greater risk than a purchase using cash resources only. If you borrow money to purchase securities, your responsibility to repay the loan and pay interest as required by its terms remains the same even if the value of the securities purchased declines.