Retirement Programs and Retiring on a Low Income | E006

Today on The Wisdom of Wealth, we're going to talk about a goal shared by all Canadians: retirement. At some point, we all retire, hopefully by choice, and when we're ready for it. But whether it's at a time when we choose, when we can't work anymore or unfortunate enough to lose our jobs, we all stop working, and we all eventually retire, and whether it's at age 50 or age 75 it can be nerve wracking to think about not having any more employment income coming in while you have all these expenses of life still going out. So, today, we're going to talk about how you're going to pay for it.

Wisdom of WealthJason PereiraMarch 18, 2020Retirement, Pensions, CPP, OAS, GIS, RRSP, TFSA

The Deathbed TFSA: Death, Taxes - and Lost Optionality.

On death, a surviving spouse can transfer the assets within the deceased TFSA to their own TFSA without affecting their own room. However when the taxpayer dies, any unused room dies with them, and unlike an RRSP, an estate cannot contribute to a TFSA. The unused room is gone forever.

So where does that leave the surviving spouse? As of 2020, with a lost opportunity to shelter up to $69,500, even if the estate has sufficient assets to fund the account. Unless they move quickly before their spouse’s death by making a deathbed TFSA contribution.

WowMJason PereiraMarch 2, 2020TFSA, Estate