Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Ice Player
I neglected retirement planning almost to the last minute. I have some RSP savings but certainly not enough. My TFSA gets maxed every year and is doing reasonably well. Due to the previously mentioned neglect and disinterest I have a lot of accumulated RSP room. My plan is to leave my job at mid year, having turned 65 the previous year. At tax time, I will make an RSP contribution large enough to bring my total income for the year of my retirement to zero. This would qualify me for a monthly max GIS payment tacked on to my OAS, a strategy I can continue until I use up all my RSP room. My question is, would I also qualify for retroactive GIS for my entire retirement year? Technically, I'll be a destitute senior for that year so I would think so.
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For GIS, I'm not 100% sure, but have a feeling it's based on the calculation of gross income (ie: Total box 15000 on your tax return).
RRSP contributions (as a deductions) are in the 20,XXX range to calculation net income (ie: Total box 236000). I don't think you can use RRSP contributions (ie: RRSP deductions) to have low enough taxable income (ie: Total box 26000) to qualify for GIS as a strategy.
Hire a professional to explain this stuff to you. Pay hourly for the requested questions and work (I assume you'd probably would be anywhere between 3-5 hours before you get the answers you need) and then go back on your merry way. Don't hire someone based on a percentage of your investments.
However, you might quickly find out that you were asking the wrong questions, so you have to go back and ask revised questions for a new scenario you may have ended up in. It's very normal to have to redo calculations every 3-5 years. You can't just do one up and leave it for decades until you die.
By the way, the same should be done for wills. Re-read and evaluate them every 5 years and get them updated/corrected if certain things change.
I don't have any recommendations for professionals. I'm just saying I'm 99% sure GIS income calculations are untweakable via deductions.