Should we do employer matched RRSP contributions?
We are a one income family of 5, have a mortgage since 2016 with another 2 years left on the locked-in 5 year term of 2.89% interest, and another 22 years left on our 25 year amortization. This year, we will have paid roughly $3,500 on interest on our mortgage. We also have about $3,600 left on a $15,000 loan we had (we needed it to finish repairs on the foreclosure we purchased). We're in Halifax area of Nova Scotia.
What I'm trying to figure out is if we should take advantage of my husband's employer matching contributions for an RRSP. As it stands, we only have a $7,800 LIRA that was from a profit sharing plan from my husband's previous place of employment (we can't touch it; I wish we had some way to use it to pay off debt!). We did have about $4,600 in an RRSP, but used that for the Home Buyer's Plan to help purchase our house. So we have pretty much near nothing in retirement savings (my husband is 40). We have about $2,400 in a TFSA that we've been saving for an emergency fund ($50 a month). Our plan was to pay off the house has fast as possible once we get the loan paid off. It has been proving a real challenge.
My husband's employer is offering to match contributions, up to 2% of my husband's salary, up to a maximum of $1,800. So this means that if we contribute about $36 per paycheque, the employer will contribute $36 per paycheque. All in all, it's about $1,900 a year. About $950 a year of "free money." I was playing with the Canada Revenue paycheque calculator, and my husband would save about $10 in tax deductions per paycheque... so like $260 a year.
Is it even worth pursuing? I am seeing this RRSP deduction as another "bill," which would be almost $80 a month on average for us. I already have a post on how I achieved having a cell "bill" for $5 a month, so I'm trying to think as long term as possible and be thrifty. We don't have cable tv, have a reseller for internet, don't eat out, etc. It seems to me the $80 a month can be put to better use, such as paying off debt.
What do you all think? Am I overthinking all of this? According to Dave Ramsey's baby steps, we're still at step 2 and shouldn't even be thinking about saving for retirement right now.
What I'm trying to figure out is if we should take advantage of my husband's employer matching contributions for an RRSP. As it stands, we only have a $7,800 LIRA that was from a profit sharing plan from my husband's previous place of employment (we can't touch it; I wish we had some way to use it to pay off debt!). We did have about $4,600 in an RRSP, but used that for the Home Buyer's Plan to help purchase our house. So we have pretty much near nothing in retirement savings (my husband is 40). We have about $2,400 in a TFSA that we've been saving for an emergency fund ($50 a month). Our plan was to pay off the house has fast as possible once we get the loan paid off. It has been proving a real challenge.
My husband's employer is offering to match contributions, up to 2% of my husband's salary, up to a maximum of $1,800. So this means that if we contribute about $36 per paycheque, the employer will contribute $36 per paycheque. All in all, it's about $1,900 a year. About $950 a year of "free money." I was playing with the Canada Revenue paycheque calculator, and my husband would save about $10 in tax deductions per paycheque... so like $260 a year.
Is it even worth pursuing? I am seeing this RRSP deduction as another "bill," which would be almost $80 a month on average for us. I already have a post on how I achieved having a cell "bill" for $5 a month, so I'm trying to think as long term as possible and be thrifty. We don't have cable tv, have a reseller for internet, don't eat out, etc. It seems to me the $80 a month can be put to better use, such as paying off debt.
What do you all think? Am I overthinking all of this? According to Dave Ramsey's baby steps, we're still at step 2 and shouldn't even be thinking about saving for retirement right now.
