Oh, I forgot to mention one massively unforgettable item in my 20 words:
The government has granted Canadians the privilege to open a tax-free savings account where we can deposit $5000 a year. interest earned is tax free AND no penalties for withdrawls.
Now, if I read this correctly, if you grow your account above the $5000 in a year due to ROI, you are allowed to replenish the account to the highest level achieved. For example, if I deposit $5000 into super risky penny stocks that double in the first year to $10K you can now withdraw and replenish the account to the $10K amount. Then the next year you can add another $5K, etc. etc.
If this is indeed the case, in 20yrs you could have a tax free account that has a minimum of $100K. This is very, very, very sweet! With some aggressive work and some fortune (depending on how risky you go), that number could be even higher. You could have a nice little egg on top of your RRSP, Pension and other taxable investments. And this egg, you could pull off of the interest without ever having to worry about paying taxes.
So, continue to maximize your RRSP investments. But also make sure you tap in the 5K a year into your TFSA.
Now, here’s the bad, and I mean BAD news:
When (not if) in 10-15 years from now the government claws back on OHIP and we have to start footing most (or all) of our health bills, they can point to this bone they threw us and take the stance: “Hey, we gave you a wonderful opportunity to save your money for your health when we introduced the TFSA in 2009. Too bad if you didn’t have the foresight to anticipate this happening.” – OUCH, could the government be this ruthless?