Overivew
A spousal registered retirement savings plan (spousal RRSP) is an RRSP that can help lighten the tax load for couples with a big income disparity. It helps you pool your retirement savings so that the higher-income earner doesn’t have a large pile of retirement savings in their RRSP while the lower-income earner has a small pile.
Each person has a different role in a spousal RRSP. One person is the annuitant and the other person is the contributor.
You can only open a self-directed spousal RRSP on a web browser or a desktop. It’s currently not available on the mobile app. The annuitant and the contributor each need a separate Wealthsimple profile. The spousal RRSP account opening process must be initiated from the annuitant's Wealthsimple profile.
Annuitant
- Usually the partner that earns less income
- Owns the account and makes the investment decisions
- Typically* not able to make contributions to the account
- Can withdraw funds from the account and view all transactions
- Will pay taxes on withdrawals at their own marginal tax rate
Contributor
- Usually the partner that earns more income
- Makes contributions to the account, and therefore gains the tax benefits
- Not able to make withdrawals from the account
- Can view their contributions and the account balance
*Technically the income tax act permits annuitant contributions to spousal RRSP, however, Wealthsimple does not have the functionality to support them. Only some financial institutions support this, most do not.
Feature limitations during beta testing
Before you open a self-directed spousal RRSP, please note the feature limitations during beta testing:
- Only annuitants can open an account and invite a contributor to it.
- Annuitants can only initiate internal transfers from a managed spousal RRSP to a self-directed spousal RRSP.
- Contributors can only initiate internal transfers from a Cash account to a self-directed spousal RRSP.
- You can only buy or sell a stock or ETF in your self-directed spousal RRSP. Other trading features are unavailable.
- USD accounts aren’t currently available for self-directed spousal RRSPs.
Open a self-directed spousal RRSP
Note: Self-directed spousal RRSPs are in beta testing and aren’t available to all clients yet. You can open a self-directed spousal RRSP if you’re invited to the beta test.
The option to open a spousal RRSP is only available on a web browser or desktop. The annuitant must complete the steps below to open a self-directed spousal RRSP:
- Log in to your Wealthsimple profile
- Under Accounts, scroll down and select + Add an account
- Choose Spousal RRSP from the account options menu
- Select Next
- For what you’d like to invest in, choose Self-directed investing
- Select Next
- Choose if you’re the annuitant or contributor
- Select Next
- Follow the prompts to add a contributor and open the account
The contributor will receive an email inviting them to accept the invitation to the account. They must accept the invite before you can start using your spousal RRSP.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.