Should you withdraw from non-registered or TFSA investments in retirement? + MORE Mar 8th

If your partner were to pass away, how confident would you be about managing your finances alone? In a new survey commissioned by my company, Willful, and Angus Reid, we found that among Canadians who are married or in common-law relationships, women are significantly more concerned than men about being left with financial challenges if their partner were to pass away: 60% of women versus 44% of men. Of those women, 25% said they were “very worried” about being left with financial woes.

On average, women in Canada live four years longer than men. Canada is also in the middle of the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history, which will see an unprecedented amount of wealth pass primarily to women to manage. The reality is that women are more likely than men to be alone and financially self-reliant in their later years. Having a carefully thought-out financial plan—and ensuring loved ones also have financial plans in place—is critical to preparing for both unexpected life events and the future in general…

Think of the Bank of Canada (BoC) as the “influencer of all influencers” when it comes to interest rates. Banks and other financial institutions follow its lead. Learn more about how the BoC’s overnight interest rate impacts you in this short video, featuring MoneySense executive editor Lisa Hannam.

How the bank of Canada’s interest rate affects you

function request_ad(e,t){t(e)}!function(e,t,n,o,i,u){e._Rumble=o,e[o]||(e[o]=function(){(e[o]._=e[o]._||[]).push(arguments),1==e[o]._.length&&(i=t.createElement(n),u=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0],i.async=1,i.src=”https://rumble.com/embedJS/ulkdw1″+(arguments[1].video?”.”+arguments[1].video:””)+”/?url=”+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+”&args=”+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify([].slice.apply(arguments))),u.parentNode.insertBefore(i,u))})}(window,document,”script”,”Rumble”),function(){var e,t,n=”v25dby4″,o=”videoplayer-v25dby4″,u=(document.getElementById(o),[]),c={},l=function(){c={},u=[],e.clearAds(),a(0,[“https://pubads…

Ask MoneySense
I have stocks in my TFSA as well as some that are non-registered. I am at the point in my life (retired) now that I’d like to begin selling them and using the money. Do I sell from the TFSA account or just from the non-registered portfolio?—Catherine

TFSA versus non-registered withdrawals in retirement

Great question, Catherine. And like many of my answers, I would say it depends. First, a primer on how stocks are taxed.

How dividends are taxed

In a non-registered account, dividends are taxable each year, whether you withdraw them from the account or not. This includes reinvested dividends in a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP).

The way dividends from Canadian stocks are taxed is a bit weird. If your income is low, they can actually save you tax. For an Ontario taxpayer with under $49,000 of income in 2023, for example, the tax rate is about minus 7%, after accounting for the Ontario dividend tax credit. So, for every dollar of Canadian eligible dividends, you can save around 7 cents of tax that would otherwise be payable…