In Canada, there are a number of different types of accounts, or investment vehicles, that an individual can use, and they all serve a different purpose. What follows is a quick discussion regarding some of the different investment vehicles available to Canadians.
Browsing Tag
TFSA
Traditionally, most Canadians thought that taking advantage of the immediate tax savings of a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) for their retirement savings was the smartest choice when it came to saving for their retirement. But now that the Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) has been around for a while, some people, including tax specialists and personal finance planners beg to differ. Why? Here are some reasons:
1) The TFSA has perks that the RRSP just doesn’t have. For one, the funds you contribute to a TFSA have already been taxed, and because any earnings you get from your investments are not taxable ever, this is a great vehicle for retirees who want to access funds from their investments with absolutely no tax consequences. Although the RRSP allows you to reduce your income tax payable right now, you have to also consider the future – when you are older and ready to retire – do you want to be paying a lot of tax at that time? Just because you may be retired, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your income will be really low, and it’s likely that the tax rates will continue to increase in the future, so you may end up paying just as much or more tax later. So, when deciding how to save for your retirement, you want to consider not only the present, but also the future consequences.
2) The TFSA won’t likely be around forever. As many other government initiatives have come and gone over the years, it is very likely that the TFSA won’t be here forever, so it’s a good idea to take advantage of this account while it’s still around. If you are in the position to max out your contributions, then by all means, consider it. You also have to understand that you should be treating this account as an investment and not a simple savings account – meaning in order to maximize your potential earnings, and therefore benefit from the tax savings, you should be investing in something that can earn you more than the 1 or 2% interest rate on the regular savings accounts.
The Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) has been around for a few years now. A TFSA can be used for virtually any type of savings goal. So, what are you saving for in your TFSA?
When TFSAs were first introduced in 2009, my husband and I each opened one up immediately. We had very little knowledge of how we could use them, but we were attracted by the feature of not having to pay income tax on any interest we earned on the accounts.
Consider investing – As time progressed and we learned more about the TFSA, we bought some investments within our TFSAs, as we realized that we could save for longer term goals within these accounts, too, not just short term ones.
Open more than one – We also discovered that we could open up more than one – by doing so we could save for different savings goals in different TFSAs, eliminating confusion.
Half of non-retired Canadians say they plan to retire by age 65 and expect Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to fund part of their retirement, according to a recent Leger Marketing survey for H&R Block
Canada. But less than one-third actually know how much to expect from CPP every month.
The same group of Canadians listed Canada Pension Plan, Registered
Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and Old Age Security (OAS) as the top three
ways they planned to fund their retirements.
“Canadians who are not retired yet may be relying too much on CPP or Old Age
Security benefits as part of their retirement plan,” explains Cleo Hamel,
senior tax analyst at H&R Block Canada. “And with the recent changes to OAS,
you will not be able to access that benefit until age 67 if you were born on
or after February 1962.”
The Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) was first introduced by the Canadian government in 2009. Each year Canadians aged 18 and over could contribute up to $5000 per year into their TFSA and not be taxed on any earnings made on their contributions.
The government recently announced, however, that starting in the year 2013, Canadians will be able to contribute $5500 rather than the original $5000. They did this in order to account for inflation. This is good news for Canadians as it allows them to invest a little bit more each year without having to pay tax on their investment earnings. This is especially good news for those of you who are using your TFSA in order to save for retirement or other long term goals. The more room you have to contribute, the more you can take advantage of the tax break on investment earnings over the long term.