By Tom Bradley

Early in my career, RRSP season was a big deal. Companies like ours ramped up staff for January and February. Financial institutions advertised like crazy, and bank branches stayed open late to accommodate last minute contributors.

It’s not as big a deal today, but there’s still an urgency created by the RRSP deadline. Certainly, we’re much busier in February than any other time of year, and we still feel compelled to have a celebration when the season is over (nothing that would impact our MERs ... wings, sliders, popcorn shrimp and a few pitchers).

For the millisecond or two that we talked business at this year’s Wrap Party, the idea of the ‘real’ RRSP season came up. Rather than perpetuating the industry hype around RRSPs, we should recast the discussion.

So here it is. We’re calling it the RRRSP season (real RRSP) and it starts now. It lacks a firm deadline, but makes up for it with simplicity and elegance. The RRRSP means having an investment plan, including a goal and strategic asset mix (SAM), and a routine for funding it throughout the year. Monthly contributions or PACs are the best. Investing half of every bonus cheque is a good discipline. And for sure, reinvesting RRSP-related tax refunds is a must. I think you get the idea.

We have an awesome client base and it would be even more awesome if February was just another month in the year at Steadyhand. After all, the real RRSP season is now. The real TFSA season is now. The real ‘planning for the last 1/3 of your life’ season is now (RLTLP).