While most clients don’t start thinking about their Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) until the new year, or even just before the contribution deadline, the CSF’s client support teams want to bring up this issue now. You can encourage your clients to plan a few months ahead to make this frantic period – as predictable as freezing weather in January – a little less so.

“We know that mutual fund professionals are often overloaded during the months of January and February,” notes CSF Community Relations Manager Yoan Muzart. “On top of that, we’ve been going through a period of economic turmoil for some time, so we want to make sure everyone is well prepared.”

On a related note, many consumer protection and investor education organizations have been raising concerns about how people are planning for retirement, especially lately as the cost of living is skyrocketing and many people still do not have a retirement plan. Of these, the self-employed, seasonal workers or those earning income from less traditional sources may have more reason to be worried.

It may seem rather atypical to think about RRSPs at the beginning of the fall, but we would like to remind professionals to always keep their clients’ retirement savings in mind - whether in the form of RRSPs or other forms of savings - so that they can properly plan for this crucial stage in life, which is retirement. Calling on a professional member of the CSF to evaluate the various strategies and means available to them to achieve this is an excellent reflex,” affirms Geneviève Beauvais, Head of Quality and Compliance at the CSF.

The CSF would like to encourage professionals to contact their clients who need it to remind them that contributing to their RRSPs well before the end of February would be beneficial for them (and for their advisors as well).

“We, like all professionals, want people to get good financial advice in a timely manner and have their RRSPs well planned as the new year begins,” concludes Daniel Richard, Vice-President, Community Relations.