u/quinstinger

I recently sold my house and purchased a new home with my girlfriend, with ownership split 50/50. After the sale, I now have $220k in cash and I’m unsure what the best next move is financially. I’d appreciate some advice on how to handle it. Here’s some background information:

• My TFSA is already maxed.
• I have $41k of RRSP contribution room remaining.
• I have an RDSP with $21k in it currently, and it should be maxed by the time I’m 40, with an estimated value of over $150k.
• I’m 31 years old.
• I have a federal defined benefit pension.
• I plan to retire at 55, possibly as early as 50.
• I started full-time at my current job at 28, so I won’t have enough years of service for a full pension. My plan is to bridge my retirement income so I can avoid taking a penalty for drawing my pension early. (Draw from RRSP, RDSP, until I take pension)
• I have no debt other than my share of the mortgage payments.
• My salary is $90k per year and increases by roughly 2% annually until retirement.
• I also have an emergency fund already set aside.
• All of my investments are self-directed, mostly in XEQT, and they’ve averaged roughly 14% returns so far.

What I’m mainly looking for advice on is:

• Should I immediately max out my RRSP using part of the $220k cash I currently have sitting in my account, or would it make more sense to invest through a non-registered account instead?
• If I do max out my RRSP, does it make sense to contribute the full amount now but only claim part of the deduction this year and carry the rest forward to future tax years?