@melsha According to Chris Reed (I recommend this paper on the topic:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3240046 - it has no citations unfortunately but the math is sound and you can download spreadsheets to play with the examples yourself), the problem is that people understand the rules and mechanisms but don't fully understand the resulting benefits.
For instance, it's very easy (and seems perfectly legitimate at first glance) to say "well RRSPs are obviously tax-deferred, since you pay taxes later! Thus, there's no way growth can be tax-free!". But when you actually do the math, you realize that even though you
do pay tax on withdrawal, the
amount of tax you pay does not increase based on capital gains, dividends, etc. Yes, you're taxed as the account grows, but if you think of the account as simply "70% owned by me, and 30% owned by the government", then it's clear that your part's growth is never taxed. I see why people are tripped up by it, which I think is also partially based on the poor marketing surrounding the account, which the author discusses too.