If you know how much you plan to invest each year and the fixed
rate of return your
annuity guarantees — or, for loans, the amount of your payments and the
given interest rate — you can easily determine the value of your account
at any point in the future.
If you are undecided about whether or not to buy an
annuity, because you feel that
interest rates will eventually move higher, or you are not quite ready to
give up control over your investments, you could consider rolling the RRSP into a RRIF
at retirement and then later on, if
rates go up, or if you simply become tired of managing your own money, you can transfer the funds from your RRIF into an
annuity.