BC Business
In January on behalf of BCBusiness, Mustel Group asked 300 B.C. residents: “Do you currently invest in a registered retirement savings plan or RRSP?” Just over half of female respondents (57.8 percent) replied yes, compared to three-quarters of men (75.5 percent). Despite the wage gap between sexes, principal Evi Mustel finds the figures both surprising and disconcerting, because once women retire they will be less protected financially.
The stock market was volatile when the survey was carried out, so Mustel Group also asked whether that had caused respondents to change what they contributed to their RRSP in 2018. The majority (80.4 percent) stayed the course. “It bounced back really quickly, so in some ways it’s very encouraging that most people held steady,” Evi Mustel notes.
Thirty percent of those over 45 years of age were more inclined to have reduced their contribution, which makes sense, Mustel observes: people under 45 have more time so are less concerned about market volatility. A small group (4.6 percent) contributed more while prices were soft. “That’s supposed to be the theory of investing: buy low, sell high,” Mustel says. “I think the overall story is that most people rode the volatility out and just stuck with their plan.”