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An easy guide to income splitting for seniors Apr 14th
Q. My husband and I are both retired. He still has income from his business, and I have cashed in all of my RRSPs but one. My question is: Can Hubby cash one of his RRSPs (and pay taxes, of course), but then turn around and buy a spousal RRSP for me? Would that be worth doing? Then I could cash this.... More »
Making sense of the markets: Looking at 2025 + MORE Jan 3rd
Kyle Prevost, creator of 4 Steps to a Worry-Free Retirement, Canada’s DIY retirement planning course, shares financial headlines and offers context for Canadian investors.
Can we make sense of the 2025 markets?
Stock market predictions rarely age well. (As you can read from our look at 2024..... More »
Why the $35,000 RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan won’t be much help Mar 31st
It’s been about a week since federal budget day and I still have questions about some of the things the government announced. For instance, why did they introduce a deferred annuity, which will allow Canadians to put 25% of their RRSP or RRIF into an annuity that must start paying out by 85 at the.... More »
How to calculate the taxable amount for a cashed-in whole life insurance policy + MORE Apr 19th
Ask MoneySense
I cashed in my whole life insurance policy last year and received a T5 suggesting I have to pay tax on the full amount of my cash value. Is this correct? The cash surrender value was $27,000, I paid $28,000 in premiums, and they told me my pure cost of net insurance was $30,000, whate.... More »
Should we draw down my spouse’s RRIF faster? May 30th
Ask MoneySense
My wife is currently drawing $24,000 per year from her RRIF, which has a balance of $510,000. She is also receiving OAS, CPP and a work pension of $22,000. She is 67.
My question is if it would be prudent to start making larger withdrawals to try and reduce the tax that the estate .... More »
The best way to transfer RESP money to an RRSP
– moneysense.ca
Q: When transferring my unused RESP accumulated income into my RRSP, am I able to do it as is, i.e. bank stocks, or do I have to cash them in and transfer as cash?
—Johanna
A: If you end up with money in a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) that you can’t use for a child’s education, you can get back your original contributions tax-free.
The remaining Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) money or Canada Learning Bond (CLB) money is repaid to the government, but that’s money you wouldn’t have had in the first place.
Ask a Planner: Leave your question for Jason Heath »
The excess accumulated income in an RESP is taxable upon withdrawal, plus a punitive 20% penalty tax. But as you have noted, Johanna, you can transfer up to $50,000 of this income to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) on a tax-deferred basis. This back-up option is one of the reasons I think an RESP far outshines other education savings options for children – like trust accounts – in addition to the 20%+ government grants…
Why you should top up your TFSA
– moneysense.ca
It’s not uncommon for people with unused space in their tax-free savings account or RRSP room to hold non-registered investments simultaneously. While you could make a case for not maxing out your RRSP, it’s tough to justify leaving room in your TFSA if you have the savings available. (One exception might be if you have non-registered investments with accrued capital gains that will trigger a large tax liability if you sell or transfer the investments.) Here’s what could happen if you move your non-registered savings into a TFSA and limit the amount of taxable income you’re earning.
This article was first published January 2016
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The post Why you should top up your TFSA appeared first on MoneySense.
