A Spousal RRSP can ensure that future retirement income is split between two spouses. This may help to reduce a higher tax bracket when you have more taxable income in your retirement years.

By allocating future taxable income as evenly as possible between you and your spouse, you can aim to provide both spouses with similar retirement incomes, referred to as “income splitting”.
Understanding your future income streams By allocating future taxable income as evenly as possible between you and your spouse, you can aim to provide both spouses with similar retirement incomes, referred to as “income splitting”.
How does it work? The contributor to a spousal RRSP benefits from the tax deduction while building a retirement nest egg for the spouse. Amounts withdrawn from a spousal RRSP will be considered part of your spouse’s taxable income, insofar as you have not contributed any amount to a spousal plan in the current or the two preceding years.
Gifted monies can be used in the Spousal RRSP Where a spouse is being gifted monies as an heir, consider purchasing a spousal RRSP for the highest income earner. As well look at maximizing the use of any unused RRSP contribution room that may exist for both spouses. The TFSA also works well when combined with an RRSP strategy, depending on the situation.