RRSP or TFSA

The same pre-tax dollars, two shelters. The whole question turns on one comparison: the tax rate today versus the tax rate in retirement. Here it is, made visible.

✓ Verified math — the arithmetic on this page is proven against independent reference calculations; the proof is printed near the bottom.

Pre-tax savings per year

The gross amount earned that's available to save each year, before tax.

Years until the money is needed25

Expected annual return6.0%

Marginal tax rate today40%

Expected tax rate in retirement30%

On these assumptions

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RRSP — after-tax at withdrawal$0

Full pre-tax amount goes in (the refund makes you whole); everything is taxed on the way out.

TFSA — tax-free at withdrawal$0

Tax is paid first, the smaller amount goes in; growth and withdrawal are tax-free.

Where the registered accounts end and the balance sheet begins — large financing, structured around the plan — is where this desk comes in, alongside you.

Arrange a confidential introduction

Ramin Hallaji, Principal — licensed in British Columbia (BCFSA) and Alberta, Dominion Lending Centres Group · 778-879-6768 · ramin@privatewealthfinancing.ca

Illustration only — not investment or tax advice. The fair pre-tax framing assumes the RRSP refund is reinvested; a spent refund tilts the result toward the TFSA. Ignores contribution-room limits (the accountant tracks the client's actual room), employer matches, the RRSP's age-72 conversion rules, and income-tested benefit clawbacks in retirement — real files weigh all of these. Annual contributions at year-end, constant return, one tax rate per period. Clients should confirm with their own tax and investment advisors. Private Wealth Financing arranges mortgage financing only.