A 2009 introduction to the Canadian financial world was the Tax-Free Savings Account, or TFSA. Its name implies that any interest, capital gains, or dividends received are tax-free.
The TFSA was first designed to support Canadians in saving during their high-earning years. The TFSA offers further options for long-term investing in Canada, even if the RRSP was and is still a popular method to save for retirement.
TFSAs are today a necessary tool for Canadians to invest and save. The current TFSA lifetime contribution limit is $95,000.
Benefits of the non-taxable account are being enjoyed by those who have been making the maximum annual contribution since 2009.
This essay will go over the advantages and disadvantages of the TFSA and help you decide if investing in one in 2024 is worthwhile.
How Function TFSAs?
The fact that the TFSA is called a savings account does not mean you cannot possess most investment assets in it. This covers bonds, GICs, mutual funds, ETFs, and stocks.
Because the TFSA is still a registered account, the Federal Government maintains stringent regulations. There is a penalty for over-contributing even though the TFSA has far more laxer regulations than other registered accounts.
It does not follow that you cannot purchase international equities just because it is a Canadian investing account. Enjoy investing in any American stock listed on the main markets. One warning is that US earnings received in your TFSA will be subject to a 15% withholding tax by the IRS.
The Canadian Government sets the annual contribution cap each year. They are rounded to the closest $500 increment and inflation-indexed. The annual contribution limitations have varied from $5,000 to $10,000 in 2015. The contribution cap is now set at $7,000.
A TFSA requires a valid Social Insurance Number and an age of eighteen. You can open a TFSA from anywhere, including abroad, as long as you satisfy these two requirements.
Advantages of TFSAs
TFSAs Are In fact Tax Free
Comparable to the US Roth IRA in many ways is the TFSA. Though donations are not tax deductible as they are with a Registered Retirement Savings Plan, any Canadian dividends or capital gains are tax-free. Unlike other registered Canadian investment accounts, deposits and withdrawals are also tax free.
The real benefit of a TFSA is long-term, totally tax-free investing. Only until withdrawal are taxes with an RRSP postponed. Whether you take money out of an RRIF or move it there and cash it out, you still owe those taxes.
Early withdrawals from a TFSA are not penalised. You get the long-term compounding of an investing account together with the flexibility of a savings account.
Contributions are retroactive and rolled over.
As previously stated, in 2024 the maximum lifetime contribution amount for a TFSA will be $95,000. You can invest up to $95,000 right now if you have been qualified since the program’s inception in 2009 but haven’t made a contribution.
It also implies that you can make up lost time in subsequent years if you are unable to contribute one year.
Age Restraints on the TFSA
Up until you are 71 years old, you can make yearly contributions to an RRSP; after that, you must begin taking money out. You are taxed on these funds, of course, but the effect will be lessened because by that age you should be in a lower income tax bracket.
Still, you can make contributions into your 70s or 80s with a TFSA. If Canadians of today had made yearly TFSA investments starting in 2009, they might have a sizable nest egg stashed up.
TFSAs Advantage Every Canadian
Tax deductions from RRSP contributions are not maximized for many Canadians with lower incomes. Whatever their income while working, every Canadian may take advantage of tax-free investment growth with a TFSA.
Characteristics of TFSAs
Contributions to TFSAs Are Not Tax Deductable
Though a small complaint, that is one benefit of making contributions to an RRSP. Contributions to a TFSA do not lower your taxable income, even if you max out your contribution.
That Name is Deceptive
You would be shocked to learn how few Canadians really know how valuable a TFSA is. Some people don’t fully use their TFSA investments because it is called a “savings account.” Possibly a better title would have been Tax-Free Investing Account (TFIA)!
Comparing RRSPs and TFSAs
Every adult Canadian can open two primary retirement accounts: the TFSA and the RRSP. They differ mostly in the following ways:
Contributions to RRSPs are yearly tax deductibles
After age 71, RRSPs must be withdrawn or moved to an RRIF.
Not tax-free, but tax-deferred, are dividends and capital gains from RRSPs.
Your earned income from the prior year determines the maximum amount you can contribute to an RRSP.
Creditors cannot touch RRSPs, but they can touch TFSAs.
Early RRSP withdrawals are liable to taxes.
There is a spousal plan with RRSPs but not with TFSAs
Compare Savings Accounts to TFSAs
Though a savings account by name, the TFSA offers clear advantages above a standard savings account.
Interest earned in TFSAs is tax-free and they usually have higher interest rates. Earned interest in a savings account is income-taxable.
With a TFSA, of course, your lifetime contribution maximum caps out. Such restriction does not apply to a conventional savings account.
Lastly, you can use a debit card to immediately spend money if you have a savings or checking account. One cannot use a TFSA to pay for items or services straight at a store or online.
Is a TFSA Worth It?
Unquestionably. It is among the strongest instruments available to Canadian investors. Tax-free compounding has been available since 2009 and can be permitted to increase for years or even decades.
Its modest contribution limitations are its one drawback; other than that, it offers far more flexibility than an RSP. A yearly financial objective for long-term Canadian investors should be to max up their TFSA.