While making an RRSP contribution before the March 2, 2015 contribution deadline (for the 2014 tax year) is a great way to bolster your retirement savings, here are three costly RRSP missteps to steer clear of:

1)     Funding your contribution with a credit card. The pressure to make a contribution before the deadline may be immense, but using a cash advance from a credit card to come up with the money is always a bad idea. The high interest charged on most credit cards is all but guaranteed to exceed whatever investment income you might earn on your contribution.

2)     Making a contribution instead of paying down high-interest debt. Much like the first mistake, if you already have unpaid credit card debts on which you’re paying high interest, you’re better off using your contribution money to pay down that debt first. Once you’ve paid that off you can then turn your focus to your RRSP.

3)     Over-contributing. The flipside of trying to come up with the money to contribute is contributing more than you’re allowed. You’re allowed a lifetime over-contribution of $2,000. Beyond that, any over-contributions are subject to a tax of 1.0 per cent per month, so be careful. Your notice of assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency will show you how much unused contribution room you have.