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 The
Money Management Newsletter: Retirement
Income Planning
Turning 69 this year? What you should know
about converting locked-in RRSPs into LIFs
or RIFs
By Rob Whipp
Money Management Newsletter - October 1997
If you are aged 69
and have to convert your RRSPs
to RRIFs
before December 31 of this year, you may have a dilemma if you have GIC
RRSPs that mature later than December 31 with one or more small trust
companies that don't offer RRIF products.
The dilemma arises
if your GIC RRSP has a very good rate that you would like to keep until
the scheduled
maturity date but if the institution does not offer a RRIF product
they cannot convert the RRSP to a RRIF and maintain these terms for you.
This problem should not exist if the company offers a RRIF. Upon instructions
from you and the completion of their RRIF application the institution
should convert your RRSP to a RRIF at the original terms.
 If the former situation applies what should you do? There are a few options available. The first and most obvious is that you give up the rate and simply transfer the RRSP to a RRIF product at a new institution taking whatever rates are available at that time for whatever new term you select. This can be a blessing if the new RRIF rate is higher than what you were receiving on the RRSP, but in this current interest rate environment this will not be the case for most people. The institution releasing the funds may charge its normal transfer fee if one exists but in most cases they will not charge a penalty for removing the funds early since you don't have a choice. Beware those companies however that want to reduce the accumulated interest earned on the RRSP prior to transfer because the rate was based on say a 5 year term and maybe your transferring it after 3 years. They may want to pay interest at only the 3 year rate applicable at the time of purchase. Find out the policy ahead of time so you can argue your case if need be.
Another option available to you in some cases that will allow you to keep
the original rate and term is to transfer the RRSP "in kind"
to a self directed RRIF plan. Transferring "in kind" means that
investment terms stay the way they are with the releasing company changing
the GIC RRSP in your name to a straight GIC in the name of the new self
directed trustee
in trust for you thus keeping your investment registered. Check what fees
if any are associated with the self directed plan and determine if this
option is viable. You will want to compare how much extra interest would
be earned on the investment at the existing rate versus current rates
and whether this difference would substantially offset any self directed
fees. Not all companies will transfer the RRSPs "in kind" so
check ahead of time to see if this can be done. If your rate is particularly
good you may want to exercise your powers of persuasion if a company initially
refuses your request. An additional point to note is that your self directed
RRIF must have enough liquidity to meet your required payments so if you
are only transferring in one compound interest GIC there will not be any
cash available to make the payments.
The last option I will mention is again to terminate the original contract as noted in the first option but instead of buying a GIC RRIF at current rates consider allocating this money to one or more mutual funds that meet your risk tolerances and investment objectives with the intent of obtaining a higher long term return. Whatever option you decide to take remember one thing: don't leave it to the last minute as December will be a busy time for all institutions as they will have many RRSPs to transfer out or convert to RRIFs.
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