Time’s up: the deadline for contributing to your RRSPs for the 2015 tax year was February 29, and according to a new BMO poll, fewer of you took advantage of this opportunity.
In total, 53% of British Columbians contributed to their RRSPs by the deadline; this is down eight percentage points compared with 61% for the 2014 tax year.
The average contribution was up, however, increasing almost 7% to $3,704 from $3,470 last year.
Among those who did not contribute, 31% said it was because they simply did not have enough money to do so. The good news is that this figure is down 11 percentage points from 42% last year.
The poll also found that market volatility was a factor in their RRSP decision-making process for 41% of B.C. residents.
Nationally, 53% of Canadians contributed, down four percentage points from the previous year, and the amount contributed was up 10% to $4,117.
One-third of Canadians said they would invest any tax refunds they received.
@EmmaHampelBIV
