Mr. Lewis's position as a computer-systems administrator at the Department of National Defence in Montreal is being eliminated in nine months. His wife began working part-time only a year ago. There's no guarantee he'll find other work with the government, or anywhere else.

But, says Mr. Lewis, that's no reason to change the financial strategy he and his wife have followed for more than a decade. If they need to tap into resources down the road, the spousal RRSP will be the last to go.

"If I don't get another job right away, we'll turn first to our emergency fund. It's worth a few thousand dollars. Then, we'll look to a loan and if we have to use RRSP money, I'll reduce my own first. We won't touch my wife's spousal unless we absolutely have to. The income-splitting is too big an advantage when it comes time to retire," says Mr. Lewis.

What about other couples worried about job security? Is a spousal RRSP the best way to go?

"First, ask yourself whether you can afford an RRSP contribution at all. If the answer is 'yes,' the best route may well be a spousal, because it combines two basic planning strategies: tax deferral and income splitting," says Krista Kerr, vice-president of Kerr Financial Corp. in Toronto.

Spousal RRSPs make sense when one partner's income is significantly greater than the other's. The rules were changed last year to include same-sex as well as common-law and married couples.

The higher earner contributes to an RRSP in the spouse's, or annuitant's, name, and still gets the immediate tax writeoff as if it were his or her own RRSP. The lower-income spouse can still contribute up to the maximum allowed to his or her own RRSP.

By dividing up their registered savings, the couple will pay less tax when the money is eventually withdrawn. One paying tax at, say, 50 per cent and the other at 30 per cent works out to less than if the money had been kept in one account, in a higher tax bracket.

To determine whether a spousal RRSP makes sense, you need to look at your entire future income, including pensions and other assets. Mr. Lewis will receive a government pension at 60, for instance, while Ms. Bartlett doesn't have one. But if the lower-income partner has a big pension and the higher earner hasn't any, income-splitting may not be an advantage.

Spousal RRSPs are a long-range planning strategy, not a short-term solution to financial problems. Like any RRSP, once you cash in, you lose the contribution room.

If you do need the money, though, it's just as easy to get your hands on as a regular RRSP. Plus, the refund you get for making the contribution can help pay expenses later in the year, says Ms. Kerr.

But forget it if you think you can invest in a spousal RRSP now, then take the money out at your partner's lower tax rate later in the year.

For the year in which the contribution is made, and the next two years, any withdrawal will be attributed back to the contributor and taxed at his or her rate.

"Many people don't realize this and it comes as a rude awakening," says Jeff Greenberg, manager of financial-planning consultants at RBC Investments in Toronto, a unit of Royal Bank of Canada.

Beyond the three-year period, withdrawals are taxed at the annuitant's rate.

"Say the husband is working, the wife is looking after the kids and he's been putting $10,000 every year into her RRSP. The company downsizes, he loses his job and since his wife has $100,000, they decide to use that. But the first $30,000 will be taxed on the husband's tax return, in his higher tax bracket," Mr. Greenberg says.

This is especially punishing if the husband is laid off later in the year and they make the withdrawal then, when he's acquired a large part of his annual income, putting him into a high tax bracket.

Better to take out a loan and wait until the New Year, when he may not be earning anything.

Putting as much as possible into a spousal RRSP might help you dodge a bullet if it's your own business that's in rough shape. Kostas Andrikopoulos, regional vice-president and general manager of Toronto-based TE Financial Consultants Ltd., says some business people use the spousal to keep money away from their creditors.

But Mr. Greenberg says you can't count on getting away with it.

"The creditors can fight it if the spouse is an officer of the company or participates in it some way. Or, there might be guarantees through the bank or somewhere else on family property and assets. Then there's the issue of how recently the money went to the spouse, if it's shown to be a way of keeping them from getting their money," Mr. Greenberg says.

At the best of times, say financial advisers, spousal RRSPs often aren't properly understood, or used as much as they could be.

One common misconception is that you can make your full contribution to your own RRSP, then match it in your spouse's plan. Nope. You have to divvy up your contributions to a spousal plan and/or your own within your limit.

Also, you can't transfer funds from your own RRSP into your partner's. You have to make the contribution directly.

If you decide you do want a spousal RRSP this year, should the type of investment you make change if your career is in question?

"Especially for people who don't have cash or have used their line of credit to the hilt, the RRSP investments should be flexible enough to provide for hard times," says Mr. Andrikopoulos.

Financial experts generally suggest putting higher-taxed fixed-income properties inside the RRSP and investments producing capital gains and dividends outside.

The best strategy for tough times, though, is still the one followed by Mr. Lewis and Ms. Bartlett. Build up an emergency fund, tap your credit line or negotiate a loan if at all possible before using any RRSP funds as a fallback.

If all that job stress causes your relationship to break down, there's something else to consider about a spousal RRSP.

"If your relationship is shaky, you may be worried about giving money to the other spouse. Of course, it's part of the overall asset mix that gets divided up if things break down. But your partner could cash in the RRSP and spend it, and you'd have to go after them to try and get it back. We've seen that happen," says Chris Snyder, president of the ECC Group of personal financial advisers, in Toronto.

Then there's the double whammy of attribution. The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency says that if you are divorced or living "separate and apart," the old rule is thrown out. The withdrawal won't be taxed back to you.

But what if you're still living in the same residence? "That seems to be a grey area," says James Schofield, a senior financial-planning adviser at Assante Capital Management in Whitby, Ont. " I think you'd have to prove to CCRA that you were actually separated."