How do you get your money out?
The RDSP is designed to provide a pension plan for people with disabilities at age 60. Because most beneficiaries won’t receive much or any CPP, the RDSP can be an important safety net for their retirement years.
When considering a withdrawal from an RDSP, it is vitally important to review the original financial plan for the beneficiary. We strongly encourage everyone with an RDSP to also set up an emergency savings fund so that they are not tempted to use the RDSP funds early and risk the repayment penalties. However, this is not always possible.
Whose decision is it anyways?
It is the holder of the plan who makes all decisions and must always act in the best interest of the beneficiary. This means that withdrawals must only be made and used for the benefit of the beneficiary.
Present circumstances such as the health and financial needs of the beneficiary should be reviewed routinely. In certain cases, an early withdrawal may be warranted.
Early withdrawals can significantly reduce the earning growth of an RDSP so the balance between present and long-term support must be carefully evaluated. We encourage you to consider all other possibilities before withdrawing from an RDSP before the age of 60.
It is best to always consult your financial professional when contemplating withdrawals.
Our Helpline Advisors can also provide you with more information and support about this matter: Call
1-844-311-7526 or email info@rdsp.com
Early Withdrawals
Early withdrawals mean that funds are withdrawn from an RDSP before the year in which the beneficiary turns 60. These withdrawals may or may not come with a penalty. This will depend on the last date any government contributions were deposited into the account.
Because the RDSP is intended to be a long-term savings plan, there are penalties for withdrawing before 60. The penalties come from what is called the 10 Year /Proportional Repayment Rule.
The 10 Year /Proportional Repayment Rule
If there were any government grants or bonds deposited into the RDSP within the last 10 years*, withdrawals will not be allowed without having to pay some of those grants and bonds back.
The proportional repayment rule means that for each $1 withdrawn from an RDSP, you will lose $3 of any grants or bonds paid into the plan in the previous 10 years as they will need to be repaid to the government. All personal contributions and interest earned are considered the property of the beneficiary and will not need to be repaid to the government at any point.
The only limit to how much money you would have to repay is the *assistance holdback amount. All personal contributions and interest earned are considered the property of the beneficiary and will not need to be repaid to the government at any point.
*Even if these were received retroactively for previous years
**The assistance holdback amount is a technical term meaning the total amount of grants and bonds that are in the RDSP currently, minus any grants and bonds that had already been paid back in the previous 10 years. Note that the 10 years are calculated from the exact date that the grants and bonds were received in the RDSP.
Example: Azariah has $10,000 in their RDSP. This consists of $6,000 from personal contributions, $600 in interest earned, and $3,400 in government grants and bonds that were received in the last 10 years. Azariah would like to withdraw $1,000 of personal contributions because the vehicle that they use daily has broken down and they have no other way of paying for the repairs. Azariah will withdraw $1,000, and based on the 10 Year Rule they will need to pay back $3,000 in government contributions. Azariah’s RDSP will now consist of $6,000 – $5,000 in personal contributions, $600 in investment income, and $400 in government contributions. If Azariah wants to withdraw the remaining $5,000 of personal contributions and interest at a later point in time, they would repay only the remaining $400 in government contributions because there were no other grants or bonds received in the account before making this additional withdrawal.
Depending on the age of the beneficiary, they may be able to receive the same amount or more of the lost grants and bonds into their RDSP. This will be from future grant and bond eligibility and any retroactive grants or bonds that were not paid back.
Financial institutions may also have fees for early withdrawals, and not every financial institution allows early withdrawals. This is something to consider when choosing what financial institution and professional you want to have your RDSP with.
One Time Withdrawals – Disability Assistance Payments (DAPs)
DAPs are one-time withdrawals that can be requested at any time. Early withdrawals are one form of DAPs but they are not the only form–people may also request a DAP after the calendar year in which they turn 60. After 60, DAPs would not be subject to the 10 Year rule because all grants and bonds received in the account would be considered the property of the beneficiary. When requesting a DAP, make sure the financial institution is clear that you are not wanting to start Lifetime Disability Assistance Payments (LDAPs).
The amount you can withdraw as a DAP after the age of 60, depends on who has put more money into the account: the government or the individual (and other personal contributors).
If the RDSP has more personal contributions than government contributions, the individual can simply go to the issuer of their RDSP and request a withdrawal from their plan. In this instance, an individual could request the full value of the RDSP and closure of the plan.
It is important for the holder to check with their province of residence to see if DAP payments from an RDSP are taken into consideration when calculating any provincial benefits they are receiving. The holder would also want to confirm that all assets within the RDSP are considered exempt income even while within the plan – this is because there are still some provincial or territorial programs that do not consider the RDSP exempt.
If the RDSP has more government than personal contributions, DAP withdrawals must not exceed the greater of the LDAP formula and 10% of the fair market value (FMV) of the plan assets at the beginning of the year. In very specific circumstances of severe financial hardship, there is the possibility to request an exception to this rule – to do so, the holder would need to put in a formal request with the issuer of the RDSP (their financial institution) who would then submit that to the Registered Plans Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency. For more advice on this, please contact our helpline at 1-844-311-7526 or info@rdsp.com
The Pension – Lifetime Disability Assistance Payments (LDAPs)
The LDAP is a series of recurring withdrawals from an RDSP to the beneficiary when they reach the age of 60. These payments will continue at least once/year until there are no funds left in the RDSP or the beneficiary dies. Payments are intended to act like a pension. In certain circumstances, an LDAP may be requested before the end of the year in which the beneficiary turns 60, although to do so one must think about the possible tax and investment consequences that may occur as a result. All financial institutions offer the LDAP as this is the most common form of withdrawal from an RDSP and meets the goal of providing an income in retirement. LDAPs require at least one withdrawal each year and the amount will differ every year depending on the investments and total funds in the RDSP, the beneficiary’s age, and whether the beneficiary has any locked-in annuity contracts.
In very general terms, up until the beneficiary is in the year they turn 80, the LDAP formula will take the value of the RDSP at the end of the previous year and divide it by how many years the beneficiary has left until they reach age 83 to get the annual payment. However, once the beneficiary is in the year they turn 80, they can expect to receive 1/3 of the total value of the plan each year until there are no funds in the RDSP or the beneficiary dies. For more detailed information about the withdrawal formulas, please go to the following government website: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/registered-disability-savings-plan-rdsp/payments-rules/what-types-payments-made-rdsp.html
Your financial institution may offer these payments monthly or annually, so it would be good to check in with them and determine what their options are so you can prepare accordingly. Your financial institution should be able to offer you an estimate of how much money the beneficiary can expect to receive as an LDAP per year. If they are unable to do so or you are self-directing your account, we encourage you to take advantage of our RDSP calculator to see what you could expect to see in regular withdrawals: https://www.rdsp.com/calculator/
Three additional considerations:
- If the government contributions are more than the personal contributions, there is no possible way to stop the LDAPs or change the formula for these withdrawals. However, if there are more personal contributions than government contributions, even by $1, then the beneficiary may take larger withdrawals than the formula but still must take the minimum.
- A beneficiary may take an additional 10% withdrawal of the total amount in the RDSP at the previous year. This is only allowed if the 10% withdrawal will be more than the LDAP formula allowed for the year and keeps enough funds in the RDSP to equal more than the amount the government has contributed. This may not be applicable if the LDAP formula has been requested to start early.
- Shortened life expectancy leads to more flexibility; see the next section on this topic.
Shortened Life Expectancy
The normal rules on withdrawals are relaxed if a medical doctor or nurse practitioner attests in writing that the life expectancy of the beneficiary is five years or less. The holder has an opportunity to make an election to convert the RDSP to a Specified Disability Savings Plan (SDSP). Once the plan is designated as an SDSP, no more contributions from any source (including grants and bonds) are allowed into the RDSP except for rollovers from an RRIF or RRSP.
With the SDSP designation, you are allowed to withdraw $10,000 per year of taxable amounts and their associated contribution amount. If the LDAP formula results in a taxable amount that is greater than $10,000, there is no limit to how much you can withdraw per year. The taxable portion of the withdrawal includes the government grants and bonds, money rolled over from another account, and investment income. Your personal contributions will never be taxed. The SDSP will continue until the beneficiary dies or the holder decides to reverse the designation and return the plan to a regular RDSP. There is no consequence for the beneficiary living past the five years.
The rules in this area are complex so any decision must be made carefully after reference to the links in the references below. Work closely with your financial institution, pay particular attention to the forms required at any election, and keep a copy of all the required forms. For more information on this, please call our Helpline at 1-844-311-7526 or contact Employment and Social Development Canada at 1-866-204-0357 or
1-866-754-2674. More information can also be found on the ESDC website.
Taxation of Withdrawals
An RDSP will generally consist of the following: personal contributions, interest earned in the account, government contributions, and any proceeds from a rolled-over amount (e.g., from an RESP). When a withdrawal is made, everything but personal contributions will be taxed. Personal contributions are tax-exempt because they have already been subject to tax. All other amounts have never been taxed and so are taxed once they are withdrawn.
The RDSP issuer, aka your financial institution, will automatically make a withholding for tax before issuing the payment. This is not the same as paying the tax. Instead, the financial institution will report both the gross taxable amount and the withholdings to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and to the beneficiary through a tax form. Note also that if the holder is not the beneficiary, they may not receive the tax form. One way to avoid this is for the holder to have authorized access to the account of the beneficiary at the CRA.
If the taxable amount withheld was too high, the beneficiary will receive the over-taxed amount back after filing that year’s income tax return. If the holder wishes to get an idea of what the taxable portion would be before making a withdrawal, they could either call Employment and Social Development Canada at
1-866-204-0357 or 1-866-754-2674 (this will be accurate only if the issuer has been reporting the earnings), or they could call their issuer. ESDC will immediately understand what a “taxable amount” means, but the issuer might not. Another way of phrasing it would be to ask for the total bond, grant and earnings in the RDSP (the fair market value of the RDSP minus the total personal contributions).
Final Note
If you are wanting to learn more about any of these topics and how they might apply to your situation, we encourage you to reach out to our Helpline to be connected with somebody for one-on-one support with your questions. You can reach our Helpline at 1-844-311-7526 and info@rdsp.com.
References
More information:
Shortened life expectancy.
Note that this reference is particularly complex, is written specifically for financial institutions, and has a quiz section to check for understanding.
Withdrawal rules and amounts
Rollovers