RRSP Contribution Room Carry Forward Individuals who have not been able to take full advantage of RRSP contributions may carry forward indefinitely any unused contribution room. The former rules only allowed a seven-year carry forward for unused contribution room. An RRSP must mature by the end of the year in which you turn 69. Tax must be paid at your marginal rate if you take the funds from your RRSP at this time. Obviously, this is not the preferred method of maturing the RRSP plan.
Annuities pay a predetermined amount of annual income over a specified number of years.
The amount received is based on interest rates prevailing at the time the annuity is purchased. The RRSP savings used to buy the annuity will not be taxed, but the regular payments received will be. With an annuity, you will receive a regular sum for a specified period of time, which means that as time progresses, the effect of inflation will reduce the purchasing power of the regular payment. The savings invested in the annuity may earn returns above the amount to be paid to you in the contract. The surplus will remain with the issuer of the annuity.