With tax season approaching, Canadians young and old are starting to get their shoe boxes organized, for what is often a grueling process of accounting, that, among other things, reveals how much we can safely contribute to the coveted tax shelter known as the Registered Retirement Savings Plan.

But, at a time in their lives when they should be planning for retirement, or at least looking for any tax break they can get, almost half of Canadians (43%) aged 35 to 44 have no RRSP.

Even though they have the household income to support a modest RRSP, they prefer to spend their money on other investments or the luxuries of life, including vacations, jewelry, CDs, and lottery tickets.

Eighty per cent of 35- to 64-year-olds with no RRSP have shopped at HMV at least once in the past year, 76% shopped at gardening stores, 58% shopped at stereo stores and 35% shopped at jewelry stores. Not just shopping for luxury items either, 33% spent $2,000 or more for their last vacation.

Perhaps the most interesting fact about older Canadians with no RRSP is that just over half have some form of savings ($5,000 or more) outside an RRSP and 36% of them have over $20,000 socked away. Just by transferring these savings into a self directed RRSP would earn these people a handsome tax break.

Lottery tickets are popular among all Canadians, but you have to wonder about priorities when 31% of Canadians without an RRSP manage to spend $20 or more per month on lotteries – almost half (49%) spend $10 or more.

Media consumption habits among Canadians 35 to 64 without an RRSP are pretty much average, with radio and TV being the top two in terms of reach. So who knows? A clever ad message speaking about the many benefits of an RRSP could bring in substantial new business.

The preceding information is from BBM RTS, a syndicated consumer-media survey of over 55,000 Canadians, conducted twice a year by BBM Canada. For more information please contact Craig Dorning of BBM Canada at: cdorning@bbm.ca.