When Stephen Harper handed me my (shapely) butt for the high crime of democratic blogging, throwing me out of the Conservative caucus to live under a bridge, all was not lost. As I have mentioned before, the next federal budget from the elfin deity known as F bestowed the TFSA upon a needy nation. I’d lobbied the finance minister hard to do so. And, lo, it came to pass. Vindication.
Well, it’s been a decade now since the first tax-free account opened. Jim Flaherty’s gone (…kinda miss him…). Harper lurks around the web like a creepy clown. And I write a pathetic blog featuring debates on short people and dogs. Sigh.
Well, we need to talk about TFSAs, Canada. You’re totally screwing this beautiful thing up.
A poll this week confirmed what’s been hinted at here for a while. This glorious money machine, custom-made for moisters to amass wealth and for wrinklies to game the system is being treated like a giant, withered, dried-up bank savings account. In fact, TFSAs are so abused they might just be making us all poorer. That’s because for the first time more people have one of these than an RRSP. And while registered retirement plans are usually full of investment assets of some kind, the TFSAs are loaded with… (yuck) cash.
The miserable findings: 43% think a TFSA is for saving, not investing. Almost 60% have just cash or brain-dead GICs inside their plans. An astonishing 50% of Millennials hold only cash – nary an ETF or even a mutual fund. Six in ten say their TFSAs are for emergencies (nobody ever has one) or just for saving money. And women – who live longer and need more financial structure as a result – are the worst abusers. Only 4% have ETFs (as opposed to 10% of men) and 11% hold stocks (men are at 28%).
What a waste. High-interest savings accounts and GICs barely pace inflation, and rates of return will be falling even lower in the months to come. Lost on most is the fact money multiplies fast inside a TFSA, and can then provide decades of cash flow in retirement that doesn’t count as income and won’t reduce your Old People government pogey.
The contribution limit is now $63,500, or $127,000 for a couple. Starting to be serious money. If you maxed out, added $6,000 a year each for 20 years and achieved an average return of 7% in a balanced portfolio, that would become $983,400, or which $616,000 is tax-free growth. At age 65 the TFSA alone would generate $59,000 a year in eternal income. Add in your CPP and OAS (untaxed) and that becomes an annual income of almost $93,000. And it’s assured the pogey payments in two decades will be higher.
Meanwhile if you’re a moister with 40 years to retirement and can find $115 a week ($16 a day – two grams of weed) for your TFSA, and keep the money invested in ETFs making you a long-term average of 7%, the account will be worth $1.3 million at 65. A million of that is free growth. That’ll generate about $85,000 a year – plus whatever else you save, plus government pensions. This equals having an RRSP with over $2 million in it – and to stuff that you need a high-paying job most of your working life.
See what I mean? The fact people are far from maxing out contributions and keep half or two-thirds of that TFSA money in cash, considering it as a slush fund for the cat’s urinary tract operation, is enough to make F roll in his grave. Just as bad was the attitude T2 showed when he chopped the contribution room in half and intimated TFSAs were only for the rich. Leaders should be encouraging people to be free, secure and independent rather than wards of the state.
TFSA stuff worth remembering: open one for you, another for your spouse and adult children. Money given to them will not be attributed back to you, nor will any of the tax-free growth. Contribution room is never lost (as with an RRSP). But money removed can be returned (unlike an RRSP), so long as you wait until the next calendar year. If you live in Canada for all or part of a year, you can contribute – it matters not how much you earn. That makes the TFSA far more democratic and progressive than the RRSP, which favours rich dudes. Nothing earned in the TFSA is taxed. But you can’t deduct losses from gains – so no dodgy investments. And a TFSA can be passed on in whole to your spouse if you list them as a ‘successor holder.’ A named beneficiary, on the other hand, gets the money but loses the tax-free status upon death.
So there. A tax-free savings account is not a savings account. Get over it.
138 comments ↓
what are the most efficient securities to hold in TFSAs given international withholding etc.
But if I invest every last dollar in real estate I will see my money grow faster, my principal residence is tax free, and I can live in it. Why in the world would I use a tfsa when there is a very real chance investments and dollars could go to zero? Especially given current economic conditions. It’s not like real estate could ever go to zero. Everyone needs to live somewhere and I can always collect rent in whatever has value under any unforeseen conditions.
Thanks Garth. Wish more people were aware of the benefits of TFSAs. Hope they don’t take it away.
So why isn’t it called a TFIA (Tax Free Investing Account) then?
Now if only some Canadian government (or opposition party, looking to get elected, perhaps?) were to promise to:
– Boost the TFSA contribution limit to $10k/year
– Get TFSAs covered under the US tax treaty, so that they are recognized as equivalent to Roth IRAs and dual citizens can have them, too,
Then we might really have something there.
As it is, when Trudeau cut the TFSA contribution limit in half, I doubled my RRSP contributions. As a result, I lowered my taxable income by 20%, and ended up paying a lot less in income taxes.
And I still max out my TFSA.
“When Stephen Harper handed me my (shapely) butt for the high crime of democratic blogging, throwing me out of the Conservative caucus to live under a bridge, all was not lost.”
As you well know, that was not the main reason my collegueas and others argued to Harper to boot you out. It would reflect better in you if you simply admit the truth. Here at this blog you have found a fitting home, providing useful information for readers, but again you cannot help let your ego and hunger for personal wealth, power, and status get somewhat in the way. You are underestimating many of the commenters here if you believe they see not through the latter and how it taints much of your messaging. You would be more successful if you drop that attitude. As long as you don’t, you will keep resembling Kevin O’Leary.
Now, now, Stephen, that was exactly what you argued. – Garth
Garth I’m pretty sure you may have told us all before but can you remind us of why it wound up being called a TFSA instead of a TFIA? Tax Free Investment Account May have triggered more Canadians to actually invest with it instead of treating it like a savings account. I think you said you told Falherty to call it a TFIA but can’t remember your story exactly.
Good post. TFSA is a big benefit for all Canadians except… dual CAD/US citizens; the US IRS considers the TFSA a foreign trust with capital gains fully taxable.
There is an expat initiative to change this but the IRS hasn’t yet deigned to respond, and may never respond.
For the few of us who threw money into the TFSA and bought stocks with it, and now don’t remember how much they originally contributed, and have difficulty finding receipts (i know bad, i was young). What’s the simplest way to find out how much cap room we have left. I don’t necessarily want to make an online account with the CRA, it’s only a matter of time before that data is breached. Is there a way to do it on the phone or by, snailmail?
Thanks
People really don’t understand money or possess much in the way of financial literacy.
This is just proof of same.
So it goes.
Or more bluntly, man, people are dumb.
Fact is they aren’t dumb. They just don’t really care about money. Oh sure they act like they care about money, but they really don’t. If they did, they’d behave differently and not do, uh, dumb stupid things like this.
So it goes…
#6 Be Honest (Stephen) ha!
Lighten up!
Many have accepted the valuable advice given here to great effect. They are smarter than YOU think.
Thank you Garth.
Being called Kevin O’Leary, the ultimate Canadian slur.
I think the government should change the name of the TFSA to Tax Free Investment Account. It would emphasize the point you and many others are making.
#6 – Be Honest.
Do us all a favour….sit down and shut up.
Mr. Turner is not in any way shape or form deserving of your poorly written invective.
Take your retrograde stupidity somewhere else.
You and Scheer. Perfect.
Adolf and Heinrich.
#6 Be Honest
I’m sure Garth doesn’t need us to defend him but speaking for myself, I would far rather side with a politician who at least works towards bettering the financial literacy of the average citizen than with an anti-democratic psycho who prorogued parliament, twice, to save his own pimply butt. If it was Garth’s ego that felled him, I’m fairly certain that he’s paid the price for that. By putting himself above the law, Harper put the final nail in the coffin containing the Reformacon’s bloated corpse. May it remain six feet under until a socially progressive, fiscally conservative movement wrests control from the current iteration of Harper disciples.
True confession: my first TFSA was indeed cash only. Fortunately I read a column – possibly one of Garth’s – before I had put much in that account & ensured the remainder of my TFSA contributions were fully invested to generate as much growth as possible. In fact I just transferred the tiny original account into the much more robust account this year with the aid of our financial advisors. Properly paper worked so the CCRA does’t freak out & decide I over contributed.
Garth, keep preaching the TFSA gospel to the masses. I for one will continue to take full advantage of this manna from heaven for as long as the government allows.
At age 65 the TFSA alone would generate $59,000 a year in eternal income. Add in your CPP and OAS (untaxed) and that becomes an annual income of almost $93,000. And it’s assured the pogey payments in two decades will be higher.
????????????
Check the math Garth
Max CPP at 65 is ~1200/month, OAS another ~600/month.
$1800/month, 21600/yr plus 59,000/yr is not 93,000
The average CPP is 800, and the numbers were for a couple, as stated. Get married. – Garth
“43% think a TFSA is for saving, not investing.”
No surprise there. I wonder who’s the idiot who chose the name. They could’ve called it TFIA and everybody would have (hopefully) invested inside it. But as sheeple are used to do what they’re told, there you go: they are saving, because it’s a savings account!
Does it really matter if it was called a TFIA ? If it was, do you really think the numbers posted by Garth would change in any meaningful way? Didn’t think so….bottom line is Canadians are terrible at saving let alone ‘investing’
Canada’s Most Splendid Housing Bubbles, July 2019 Status
https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/canadas-most-splendid-housing-bubbles-july-2019-status/
The tens of thousands of soon-to-be concrete box owners and landlords who love to subsidizing their tenants rent, do not have money to put into a TFSA.
Garth, we’re having a debate at work, do you think Stephen Harper wrote his last book or did he get help from a ghost writer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@SailAway re: #8 “TFSA is a big benefit for all Canadians except… dual CAD/US citizens; the US IRS considers the TFSA a foreign trust with capital gains fully taxable.
There is an expat initiative to change this but the IRS hasn’t yet deigned to respond, and may never respond”
Most Canadians with a US birth place don’t file US tax returns for their Canadian income, nor do they send the details of their Canadian financial accounts on “Foreign Bank Account Reports” to the USA’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network – though they are required to according to US law. USA is unique in the world in that it can decide that citizens of other countries are tax payers on non-US income just by virtue of having been born on US soil regardless the circumstances….don’t get me started.
For those Canadians that do consider themselves US slaves…err I mean “US persons”, please remember that the less the IRS and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network knows the better. TFSA’s are NOT reported by the CRA to the IRS via the Canadian FATCA IGA, so unless you report your so-called foreign account (TFSA) to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (bad Canadian for saving your Canadian earnings in a Canadian account), then you can take advantage of the TFSA just like every other Canadian taxpayer.
More proof that DIY retirement planning, and investing as a replacement for a proper pension is an abject failure. Ordinary people need forced savings. That’s why the average person’s biggest success story is buying a house.
When I worked for a living, it was for a large international company that had a group RRSP. Cheapo to the hilt, the company contribution maxed out at 3%, with the employee portion at 1%. There were dozens of eligible employees who didn’t bother signing up. This company even had HR have a chat with them, explaining that after the tax deduction the 1% off the check wouldn’t be noticed.
When I point out that many ordinary people are financially stupid enough to turn down free money, people will tell me that those people deserve to live in poverty. They don’t seem to realize that we all pay for poverty. Poor people burn public resources, especially as they become sick and old.
So the old pension plan, with mandatory participation and forced savings was one of the pillars of economic security. Sadly a new generation is aging, too many with a one asset strategy and far too many with little or no net worth. Just like ending federal funding for co op housing in the eighties and nineties, some chicken come home to roost in a period of decades. And an affordable renting crisis, senior poverty and an aging population requiring health care will make today look like a picnic.
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Thlndlrd wll hyk rnts 2 epxc prprtns!
Th REALTORS (r) wll cnsr cmmts 2 kr3-8 a fxls3 dpctn Ovo lvngnToronto!
Ltz mx li$t3n 2 mai NckyMyn4j l4te$t $ong: Female Pause (r)!
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Tax Free Securities Account?
Tax Free Speculation Account?
Tax Free Swing Account?
Tax Free Suncor Account?
Tax Free SPY Account?
RE: the last article.. That was my life. In laws and failure to launch sis in law together under one roof. We were all so close too… We took on a large mortgage bought a house with a separate apartment for the in laws. Was a huge mistake. My in laws meddled too much. It is true what non pulsed said we almost divorced had to move them out, sold our house and left town. Would never recommend living with extended family unless it was for a short term because of illness or some other emergency.
#2 But.. on 08.20.19 at 4:14 pm
Not sure if this is sarcasm. But good look finding a renter willing to pay you money if the S&P 500 goes to zero. Everyone will be busy hunting squirrels.
I guess there is really only one true question to ask here in relation to today’s post.
Does Garth really have a shapely butt….?
Sigh…I’m wound up now. It is highly recommended by many who have been following the FATCA fiasco over the last 10 years or so, that as a Canadian living in Canada, without US income or assets, not currently in the US tax and reporting system (IRS and FINCEN), that you should ignore USA’s citizenship based taxation and reporting rules. That is unless you like misery. Also wasn’t it MLK who said something to the effect that we are morally obliged to ignore abusive laws? USA’s taxation and reporting (and all the penalties that go along with) are counter-intuitive, unique in the world, and abusive. Take a stand by saying ‘no’. Don’t tell the nice lady at the bank you are US owned. It is up to you, to decide whether or not you accept being a ‘US person’, as there is no enforcement.
Why not call the TFSA a TFRA (Tax Free Retirement Account)?
Not a word of a lie, just before reading this I was at the bank, overheard the customer next to me asking for $500 to be transferred from her TFSA to her chequing account to buy something or other.
The struggle is real…
….really irks me that I am technically afoul of US law, yet don’t remember the few short months I lived there, have no American relatives or ancestors, no US income or assets, no US passport or SIN. F-the US and their insane ownership laws. My Canadian TFSA is none of their business.
What’s In a Name?
So we think that Canadians were confused because The S in TFSA stands for savings and should have been I for investing?
Tell me what does the S in RRSP stand for? Right Savings and I have never in my life seen anyone claim that was confusing. I suppose the R for retirement helped a lot there. But what REALLY helps is the fact that money going into an RRSP is generally considered untouchable until retirement because of the taxes on withdrawal.
For many people TFSA money is too accessible. If there had been a penalty for withdrawing within ten years or prior to say age 60, that might have helped a lot of people view it as an investment and retirement vehicle.
Maybe the problem too, is the rise of self-directed investing. The much maligned nice lady at the bank at least puts people into balanced funds even if high fee.
Well, anyhow, as I have said before, when we are awash in debt we must also be awash in cash savings so that bank balances sheets can balance. Someone has to hold all that cash. Maybe just as well it is TFSA as opposed to a regular bank account.
#9 JImmy on 08.20.19 at 4:32 pm
just fyi
CRA does not need a separate account login anymore – you can use the same login you use for banking assuming you bank online, with a credentials pass through…
Or use TIPS via phone if you don’t like that….
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/tax-free-savings-account/contributions.html
“If you live in Canada for all or part of a year, you can contribute”
Mind expanding? If a post undergrad goes over seas to teach English for a year or two, while still filing taxes I’m Canada on the money made overseas, there are stipulations on their contribution to tfsa? Never came across this. Thanks!
No contribution room if you are not here. Canadian citizen or not. – Garth
Garth, you’re too good for that. Don’t dwell on the past, it makes no difference. You’re doing well providing some great intel but harboring on things of the past make you petty. My 2 cents…and yes, that’s all it’s worth.
I spent nine years serving my country in Parliament and will dwell on it whenever I choose to. – Garth
“The miserable findings: 43% think a TFSA is for saving, not investing. Almost 60% have just cash or brain-dead GICs inside their plans. An astonishing 50% of Millennials hold only cash – nary an ETF or even a mutual fund. Six in ten say their TFSAs are for emergencies (nobody ever has one) or just for saving money. And women – who live longer and need more financial structure as a result – are the worst abusers. Only 4% have ETFs (as opposed to 10% of men) and 11% hold stocks (men are at 28%).”
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Wow!
Not for a moment did I consider a TFSA as a “Savings” account. From the very beginning, for me this was a shelter from tax on my junior miners that were going to appreciate by x10, or more! Well, not many of them did…and some actually went to “0”.
But at least I got the main idea right.
I’ve now stuffed them with dividend-rich oilys and will play it safer. All the ‘risky’ stuff will be housed in non-registered accounts – so, when they go ‘wrong’, at least I have the benefit of capital losses carried forward.
tcc
I suspect the name is the way it is because Tax Free Investment Account might seem elitist. The average Canadian, I’m guessing here, does not consider themselves an “investor” but everyone knows they should be a “saver”. I think the Conservatives were trying to keep votes and avoid being labelled, further, as the party of the rich for the rich.
$16 a day – two grams of weed
Sadly, the legal weed is double that… more like $16 per G. part of the problem for the horrible roll out.
Do you think the gov will ever cap unused TFSA contribution room? As time goes on it becomes a bigger and bigger tax shield for those who never use it. As Millennials turn grey and wealth is passed from one generation to the next, seems like there would be a lot of lost tax revenue.
The unused RRSP room is epic. – Garth
“But you can’t deduct losses from gains – so no dodgy investments.”
—————————————————-
That’s right folks, when the bond market blows up and the stock market craters (as it soon will) you won’t be able to write off your losses in a TFSA. Most of the derivatives (ETFs) that everyone loves so much won’t even touch the sides on the way down. Can you imagine what it will be like to click the sell button and nothing happens? (This happened to many in the crash of 1987.)
Love your name. – Garth
Lately I place so-so convertible debentures into mine.
Hybrid of bond + call option.
Junk bond King Michael Milken posited back in the 70s that a portfolio of “junk bonds” is in itself a type of (diabolical) diversification. A hedge against the absurd, maybe.
He looks normal no?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Milken
TFSA is a good trading machine for good traders.
Some of them millionaires already. Because what you make inside of your TFSA is yours to keep.
13 Juice by Justin on 08.20.19 at 4:51 pm
Being called Kevin O’Leary, the ultimate Canadian slur.
————————————————————————————————
Well at least he didn’t call him Fredo. Lol
#41 MBA101 on 08.20.19 at 6:31 pm
Do you think the gov will ever cap unused TFSA contribution room? As time goes on it becomes a bigger and bigger tax shield for those who never use it. As Millennials turn grey and wealth is passed from one generation to the next, seems like there would be a lot of lost tax revenue
———
Those who never use it, shield $0.00 from tax. It would be the other way around. Inheritance dollars/assets are already taxed as applicable before the heirs even get their fingers on them. The heirs get what’s left.
The worst scenario for the government is an individual, who at the age of 18, starts maxing out both their TFSA and RRSP, and continues on doing this until retirement. Maximum current and future tax dollars lost.
Stephen who?
#1 willo on 08.20.19 at 4:11 pm
what are the most efficient securities to hold in TFSAs given international withholding etc.
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It’s mostly US$ withholding you’re talking about, I am not aware of any Canadian broker who has direct LSE, JPX or AMS access.
Since the IRS considers the TFSA as a trust even if you have NYSE listed stocks, they’re required to deduct dividends before it reaches your account. Cap gains are still not taxed so same as TSX holdings.
Either just fill it with TSX version if everything is in CA$ anyway. e.x VOO = VFV. I wouldn’t want to forex back and forth for nothing. US$ can be also in a TFSA but again the divvs are nailed before it gets there. RRSP, RESP and LIRA can hold US$ stuff untaxed (but not on exit).
ALWAYS GO unhedged – worse than predicting interest rates, currency is not simple at all to guess and makes a massive difference.
“Free market loving” United Conservative Party in Alberta has decided it loves the NDP policy of interfering in the free market to curtail oil production.
I have not heard any update on the government getting into the oil-by-rail game. (They will not likely sell those rail car contracts to private sector except at a loss)
Alberta has benefited greatly (enormously!) from the OPEC oil price-fixing cartel for decades. (But would never admit it.) Now our provincial government here is getting into the government price-fixing game themselves.
Maybe it’s for the best but it is not what is expected from conservatives.
When the NDP introduced oil curtailment Jason Kenney said, “that’s a bad idea – I mean a good idea, I mean I don’t know”. Maybe that was honest at least.
@#26 Dyslexic Diatribe
Well.
Thank you for confirming Mensa 1%’ers are one step from a rubber room……..
#33 BlackDog on 08.20.19 at 5:47 pm
….really irks me that I am technically afoul of US law, yet don’t remember the few short months I lived there, have no American relatives or ancestors, no US income or assets, no US passport or SIN. F-the US and their insane ownership laws. My Canadian TFSA is none of their business.
——————————————
My whole family is dual and I have a corporation here, so I’ve never considering not doing US taxes. I think we’re still in an amnesty period to catch up – I helped a few other dual citizens catch up in the last few years. Generally three years back is all the IRS cares about.
It’s not actually that hard to do the catch up once the spreadsheets are built and lists are created, although accountants will quote $10k.
RESPs and TFSAs fall in a gray area. We did the RESPs because free money is never turned down, but haven’t done TFSAs. Might do it though, because here are two interpretations of the way a TFSA should be treated by US tax authorities:
http://www.visionfinancialsolutions.com/the-us-implications-of-a-tax-free-savings-account/
http://www.citizenshipsolutions.ca/2018/05/26/canada-u-s-tax-treaty-why-the-5th-protocol-of-the-canada-us-tax-treaty-clarifies-that-the-tfsa-is-a-pension-within-the-meaning-of-the-canada-u-s-tax-treaty/
Wow, Stephen at #6. You are a going concern!
Re dual citizens:
I’ve posted this here before and GT had disagreed, but a good number of transboarder accountants have come to a consensus that IRS is indifferent to TFSA for US citizens residing in Canada. Had TFSA preceded the Treaty, it would have been treated just like RRSP.
I’m not going to waste more breath on this here, because GT’s biased persistence on what he thinks is the final verdict is unshakable, but if anyone needs more references or resources on this, would be happy to pass on that information.
@#51 Sail away on 08.20.19 at 7:14 pm
Thank you…Yes, exactly these sources and more.
transborder…typo
#44 Pseudo flop… on 08.19.19 at 9:55 pm
Tried for a $4 million profit… ended up with a $850,000 loss (+ expenses)
1448 CHARTWELL DR, West Vancouver
Bought 2015 $8,000,000
Just sold for $7,150,000… was asking as high as $11,980,000
2018 Assessed: $8,415,000
2017 Assessed: $8,509,000
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O.k so I feel a bit of movement, and just not one of the bowel.
You finally picked a name.
So this is the sort of stuff you have been try to pass on in my name?
Pity you plagiarized this guy.
https://mobile.twitter.com/mortimer_1
Anyway, dunno what else you put up since you were getting DELETED in my name, maybe it was the 2 million dollar loss from last week that you wanted me to know about?
Why couldn’t you just pick your own name?
Fair enough, it’s a free board to a certain extent.
Garth has his rules.
I’ve got mine.
Pick an original name and continually post under it, no shapeshifter stuff.
Respect the elderly and deceased as much as possible.
If you get into an argument with someone leave the spouse and/or the kiddies out of it.
Pretty easy going guy, have about 10 people I will not bother responding to because they always try to make it personal and don’t respect the truth.
Open for dialogue with everyone else.
Anytime I felt like I could help someone out on this blog I have stepped up to the plate.
There is no reason to try and discredit me ,impersonate me, and disrespect a much loved blog dog who has passed.
I am no angel.
This I understand.
That guy was a saint…
M45BC
M64WI
I agree with your assessments of yesterday. I don’t advise loading up with cheap debt because jobs depend on it. I dislike the expensive Nanny state but then that is me because I never benefited overall. True I don’t like working with sycophants or lousy morals and it has cost me. The only thing I know that gets stronger fighting the tide is a salmon and everyone wants to eat them. I saw eagles pick off 5 – 10 kilogram salmon in small creeks – there are only prettier than vultures.
At the end of the day, I don’t think Trump is smart enough to stave off recession or win all his trade wars. The only one so far was Canada and he is not finished with trying to screw us over. It is best not to speak to me about supply management or the detention of Huawei Meng. Trump has been more cunning than I expected and I do respect his putting designed thoughts out via Twitter.
I BNN commenter said “Oh goody, time to buckle up” – she was female and I like her.
Two grams of weed costs $16? Wow, it has been a long time since I’ve been stoned!
@Sail-away, Sorry, not buying the pitch in favour of ‘coming clean’ with the IRS and FINCEN. I’ve never filed any US tax returns or so-called foreign bank account reports’ for my Canadian only income and Canadian only bank accounts. Not gonna start now especially with a couple kids in uni and an uncertain retirement just around the corner. Would be too much of a hit financially. Ever heard of a PFIC? My portfolio is full of them. USA can’t do squat to Canadians who have lived a life time as Canadians in Canada with no US financial connections. I get the impression you have closer ties and personal history with regard to the USA, both financially and socially than I do. For many who never did or cut those ties decades ago, USA can go pound sand.
TFSA… how far can one push the limit of investing?
Can you put inside – within the contribution limit – highly speculative assets, like bitcoin, gold, ownership of foreign land deed?
Can you trade currency (or for that matter) anything with leverage, e.g. options?
#53 JD on 08.20.19 at 7:26 pm
Re dual citizens:
Had TFSA preceded the Treaty, it would have been treated just like RRSP.
if anyone needs more references or resources on this, would be happy to pass on that information.
————————————
I’d be interested. We used the RESP to full advantage and wrote a letter to the IRS when filing each year outlining the reason RESPs were not a foreign trust. Never had a response from the IRS, and hopefully never will.
I think we will open TFSAs- in the worst case, they’d be taxed in US as foreign trusts, so not terribly different than a non-reg investing account, and in the best case they’ll be completely ignored by the IRS or considered pensions. Good place to stash cash in any case.
It’s very nice that the CRA doesn’t care about US registered accounts (401k, IRA, Roth IRA, 529 plans).
Even the nice lady at the bank was confused when I said I wanted to open a TFSA that I could use for investments.
No contribution room if you are not here. Canadian citizen or not. – Garth
Where does this restriction come from?
This is a really weird rule for the globalized, virtualized world, where physical presence matters less and less.
It’s like if you were not eligible for RRSP contribution if you make money working from home.
It is based on residency, not citizenship nor income. If you’re here, you get it. What could be more egalitarian? – Garth
#1 willo on 08.20.19 at 4:11 pm
“what are the most efficient securities to hold in TFSAs given international withholding etc.”
Do an internet search for the Canadian Portfolio Manager (his name is Justin). He’s done detailed comparisons of all the cheapest vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ETFs on offer (both Canada- and US-listed).
A more direct answer: similar ETFs are priced competitively and the tax drag differences will be negligible. Tax efficiency of individual ETF holdings shouldn’t be your primary concern: focus on maximizing your contributions (and adding accounts after you fill the TFSA), stay hands off (rebalance your TFSA At contribution time), and keep your allocation simple (consider the all-in-one ETFs from Vanguard, iShares, or Beemo as a starting point).
Re: #9 JImmy on 08.20.19 at 4:32 pm
Just register online with CRA they send you a password in the mail. You just use a user name and the password and all that stuff is listed. You can also redo taxes from previous years if you believe the CRA owes you more money. If you’re wrong you can end up owing more.
#60
Only cash, GICs, bonds, stocks, mutual funds and ETFs. No leverage, no options. And if you still want to push the limits by trading penny stocks daily – the CRA may investigate and determine you’re trading behaviour is considered day trading and tax you accordingly.
#2 – Ross Kay. Howestreet.com Aug 20. Vancouver real estate still declining in price.
It is based on residency, not citizenship nor income. If you’re here, you get it. What could be more egalitarian? – Garth
Globalization-incompatible, tribal, discriminatory, probably violation of the Charter :)
When the accumulative contribution limit reaches high enough, someone might test it at the court.
Can I open a TFSA for my wife’s son?
OH GREAT
SO you mean I have no savings then???
#60
I tried to buy GBTC (Bitcoin ETF) through RBC Direct Investing for the TFSA. No go. Got the message they won’t allow it on registered accounts.
According to Realtors, using the TFSA is a great way to save for a house …
#73 James on 08.20.19 at 11:36 am
#28 DON on 08.19.19 at 8:22 pm
#1 James on 08.19.19 at 4:08 pm
“…First the stress test will most likely be wiped out by the Cons if they are elected. Good bad or indifferent this is most likely plausible event to occur. Therefor be ready for craziness to materialize all over again with house horny buyers. As for house prices being already ridicules well, we have no control over the market until the market drops and we still do not control of the market. The market is decided by supply and demand. As for me reading the blog post yes I did, but I do not decide prices and have no control as do you over them. Do you believe that I can affect them if so then I have a new business venture? If you are angry about house prices, Trump lying, the US economy then I suggest you take two Advil and lay down for a nap. I cannot help you. Oh and just for fun yes I have seen a recession a soft one mind you but what’s your point? We are all in the same boat on this little blue planet.”
*******************
James, your debating style seems to rely on:
1) trying to belittle your opponent
2) misreading or putting words into your opponents mouth
3) insinuating that your opponent is ill and needs medication
As for the lesson on supply and demand. I HAD NO IDEA – thank you for the edumacation.
And why would I be mad/angry about high house prices…I didn’t pay my life away. And when the recession hits, everyone’s mileage will vary, we will not all be in the same pain – I won’t need any advil.
At the moment, the global economy is struggling, and was showing signs of decline prior to the trade wars that are dampening expectations.
Garth’s last statement in yesterday’s blog post was
“Given what’s coming, borrow lightly.”
You said you lived through a soft recession hmmm…
The fact the world needs to resort to lower interest rates and debt is everywhere is not a good sign. So if prices get a immediate bump what will sustain those increased prices?
Recency bias?
#6 Be Honest on 08.20.19 at 4:19 pm
“When Stephen Harper handed me my (shapely) butt for the high crime of democratic blogging, throwing me out of the Conservative caucus to live under a bridge, all was not lost.”
As you well know, that was not the main reason my collegueas and others argued to Harper to boot you out. It would reflect better in you if you simply admit the truth. Here at this blog you have found a fitting home, providing useful information for readers, but again you cannot help let your ego and hunger for personal wealth, power, and status get somewhat in the way. You are underestimating many of the commenters here if you believe they see not through the latter and how it taints much of your messaging. You would be more successful if you drop that attitude. As long as you don’t, you will keep resembling Kevin O’Leary.
Now, now, Stephen, that was exactly what you argued. – Garth
*******************************
Mr. Harper lurking in the dark net. The reason I didn’t vote conservative and I won’t vote for mini Harper.
Take your toys and go play with Trump.
so for gods sake let’s just start calling it what it is: a tax free investment account (TFIA).
At present CAPE of 30 for US equity’s that translates into about 2.5 % return going forward for next 10-15years.
Not infallible but valuations better outside USA…..much better.
Free ride may be coming to a end…
Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP)
Looks super geniuses.. this is called a savings plan as well. Canadians would have turned their noses up to an “investment” plan because “investing” equals “gambling” to the uneducated…
#66 Bark
Buying Options or selling Covered Calls is permitted in registered accounts.
#74 DON
“Mr. Harper lurking in the dark net. The reason I didn’t vote conservative and I won’t vote for mini Harper.”
A few comments on your comment:
Mister Harper lurking in the dark net. eeeeewwwwwww! get rid of that guy already!
i am conservative. i did not and would not ever vote for a fraud like that. i cannot see myself voting for the party that merely goes by the name Conservative. my vote goes to the party that IS the most conservative of the choices. and i will withhold my vote if there are no conservative parties to vote for.
The current party that identifies itself as Conservative may or may not be conservative. We don’t know. They probably are personally. What we do know is that they do not want you and I to be conservative. no. They want you and I to spend spend spend. Especially on real estate. And then fill it up with stuff stuff stuff. Which is the opposite of conservatism.
Think about what conservatism means folks. noah. saving up for a rainy day. build the financial boat. conserve. conservation. conserving. i conserve you conserve we conserve they conserve. i will stop the conjugation here.
#67 april on 08.20.19 at 8:37 pm
#2 – Ross Kay. Howestreet.com Aug 20. Vancouver real estate still declining in price.
*******
Ross Kay makes me laugh, good guy with good data.
Regardless, hold through
Frankly, I see no harm in having some GICs in the
TFSA given that rates are quickly declining. The ideal portfolio for me would be:
20% in a 1-2 yrs GIC
15% in the highest yielding of the 5 bank stocks
25% in a laddered bond ETF
10% in a utility such as enbridge or emera or hydro
10% in a REIT or a basket of reit etf
10% in a us etf and
10% in cash if you forsee a need for it
Buying this consistently every year should dull the gyrations of each market and sector over time
Actually it doesn’t matter what they would of called it because the Canadian savings rate has deeply shrunk and the Canadian debt rate has greatly increased.
Thanks,
Copied from today’s post….
And a TFSA can be passed on in whole to your spouse if you list them as a ‘successor holder.’ A named beneficiary, on the other hand, gets the money but loses the tax-free status upon death.
Thanks for the information I was not aware of a Successor holder, changing mine tomorrow !
Oh for your information my $63,500:Savings account is worth $115,000 and my wife $63,500:Savings account is 124,000 so yes investing does magic.
I humbly admit the market has been hot all these years
Learned something today.
#69 Unhinged Trader on 08.20.19 at 8:51 pm
Can I open a TFSA for my wife’s son?
——————————–
No, and he can’t open a tfsa for you either. If he is at least 18 with a valid SIN, he can open his own account.
This is not a flippant comment…rebrand it as the “Tax Free Investing Account” and watch people’s behaviour change. What it’s called shouldn’t matter, but I bet it does.
Yikes!
Millennials top boomers in debt while Gen X still owe the most: TransUnion
Social Sharing
Total millennial debt was up by 12.3 per cent at mid-year compared with a year ago
The Canadian Press · Posted: Aug 20, 2019 5:20 PM ET | Last Updated: 6 hours ago
Younger borrowers helped push overall consumer debt up 4.3 per cent compared with last year to $1.88 trillion, while debt held by boomers and the silent generation declined. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)
TransUnion says a spike in borrowing over the past year has led millennials to overtake boomers in total debt holdings as part of a generational shift.
The credit reporting agency says total millennial debt was up by 12.3 per cent at mid-year compared with a year ago to hit $515.9 billion, just ahead of the $514.3 billion owed by boomers but still behind the $767.4 billion held by Gen X.
Younger borrowers helped push overall consumer debt up 4.3 per cent at the end of the second quarter compared with last year to $1.88 trillion, while debt held by boomers declined.
Millennials earn more than their parents did — but owe a lot more
The rising debt loads came even as lenders issued 8.9 per cent fewer new mortgages in the first quarter, and 1.6 per cent fewer auto loans, though the number of lines of credit was up 13.9 per cent.
Average mortgage debt went up 3.56 per cent year over year to $269,274, while the average consumer balance on instalment loans rose 7.38 per cent to $34,168 as younger borrowers took on more loans in the category.
TransUnion says low unemployment and stable interest rates have helped keep delinquencies low even as debts rose, but the risk of a slowing economy means borrowers will have to manage carefully going forward.
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/millennials-top-boomers-in-debt-1.5253255
Taxation without representation is theft.
T2 works for the crooked UN… get the hell out of Canada if can. These bastards are coming for every last cent you own.
Andrew is a globalist ass kisser . Mad max without the debates is going to crash and burn. The greens are insane.
They are coming for your loot. If you cant get out of Canada move your loot were they cant get it..
Gen Z is even more mental than millenials. They can vote now.
Dr Smoking Man
PhD Herdonomics
“All that money will flood back into the US”, yup.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/20/kyle-bass-says-us-interest-rates-will-follow-the-rest-of-the-world-to-zero-this-is-insane.html
Bet on the empire every time. The Trump Hate media and pathetic “Deep State Resistance” failed miserably to paint Trump a Russian agent. Hillary gets the news that husband Bill was an Epstein house of horrors regular and she does what? She’s throwing a $50000 per plate gala at her mansion! This is the hit path Trudeau is learning from his campaign manager David Axelrod, ex Obama/Clinton campaign strategist. So far, lying twice and getting caught has Canadian befuddled according to the CBC, he’s ahead in the polls. What’s the old saying? ” You get the government you deserve”.
My money’s on Trump. Meanwhile, accounting you results yesterday has seen a 17.5% increase over 3 years. God Bless Trump.
Out for a smoke a homeless dude digging through my garbage, as shit load of them out here. I watch him light up one of my disgarded cigarettes.
I offer up an unsmoked one. We start talking. The bastard was hero in Afganistan, was in a car crash’ lost his job’ hes just trying to make enough to get back to Nebraska where his daughter says she has a room for him.
I’m a sucker , I beilive him. I gave him 500 bucks. That smelly hug was the best hug I’ve ever had..
Liberals would be frightened of him.
Me a risk taker… I hope it works out for him…
The central banks can’t even raise rates past 3%. Markets are completely dislocated from the economy. The entire thing is on life support. There are trillions of unfunded liabilities due to mature over the next 10 years.
Debts continue to grow which means taxes will have to continue to be raised. The currency will have to continuously get debased. For many of us, RRSP is useless… either taxes will be way higher by then or currency isn’t even going to survive.
You keep going on about 20-year return… get with the times you boomer. This monetary cycle is heading off a cliff. I give it 10 years max before it blows up.
TSFA is a wise vehicle … every little bit helps.
#37 JM
“I spent nine years serving my country in Parliament and will dwell on it whenever I choose to. – Garth”
——————————
Ouch but an authors just prerogative.
Ciao e Buongiorno d’Italia Garth.
Like my RRSP , my immediate family’s TFSA’S are in private mortgages churning 8% annually, not including placement fees.
While I was fighting insomnia I came across this.
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=household%20debt&geo=CA&utm_source=storyfinder&utm_medium=sharelink&utm_campaign=v1&utm_content=term
I miss John Crosbie more than I do Jim Flaherty.
Dread the Fed. Central banks saving the economy is over. Everything is going down as we are not a capitalistic, free enterprise economy anymore. Look at past countries and economies that go closer being socialist. It is over everybody and who knows if Garth Turner will post this comment because i’m a just trying scare people, I have no idea what I’m talking about.
Canada’s super minister gets banned from another country:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-a-warning-chinas-central-television-takes-direct-aim-at-canadian/
Pretty soon she won’t be able to cross an international border. Trump certainly would love to prevent her from visiting the USA.
Great post today Garth!
I’m a high income earning millennial with a correspondingly high cash burn rate (especially with a wife who likes to shop and a new kid!)
As such, at the end of the day, I have limited funds to ‘save’. I’ve been choosing to sock money away in my RRSP, as I like the immediate tax savings. I’m getting back $.50 of every $1 I contribute to my RRSP.
Should I reconsider, and take a look at the TFSA plan? I have no work pension, and expect my retirement to be funded mostly by RRSP and my Toronto properties (current FMV $2.5 million, to be mortgage free well before retirement).
Input from anyone is much appreciated!
#11 Wet one you nailed it. That’s a printer for the fridge. You sound like crossbordershopper.
People say if they win lotto they’ll buy a clutch of rental kandos.
Good Weekend Mr. Milionaire please come by and unclog my latrine good sir.
Kando fees are due.
People buying all those new build recreational kandos say north of GTA. Guaranteeing their lifetime of taxes supports all the union town workers forever. A perfect system.
Real estate is an investment you know.
#6 Be Honest
Speaking of HONESTY Harpo…
You’re not one to talk.
Many remember your lies. Remember your Income Trust BETRAYAL that cost many people dearly?
YOU LIED.
Many of us see through your utter bullshit.
You’re a disgrace.
A Narcissistic disgrace.
This is your legacy.
@ #20
Bingo.
It doesn’t matter if the account is called TFSA, TFIA, TFRA, YMCA, FUBAR, SCUBA, FIFA, FOMO, YOLO, ISIS, or whatever.
Canadians lack the mentality to conscientiously save and invest in a consistent and disciplined manner. Period.
We have become a nation of hand-to-mouthers.
Living for today.
Borrowing money is the only language most understand.
Got a buck? Spend two!
Land of the 99%ers.
Broke and indebted.
@#89 Smoking Man
“I’m a sucker , I beilive him. I gave him 500 bucks….”
+++++
Never , ever give them cash.
Clean clothes, a gift certificate for a restaurant, a bus ticket, whatever.
Never cash.
Keep an eye on the garbage dumpster.
He’ll be back in a week with excuses as to why he couldnt go….
@#96 Ace
“Pretty soon she won’t be able to cross an international border….”
++++
Now THATS a shame.
Opportunity lost.
After MS Freeland exited Canada we could revoke her citizenship… “Citizenless Chrystia” has a nice ring to it….kinda like ” Jihadi Jack “…….
Perhaps Brexit Britain could take her in on humanitarian grounds…. Give her tenure at Oxford where she could talk endlessly and people would actually take notes.
@#79 will on 08.20.19 at 10:54 pm
#74 DON
“Mr. Harper lurking in the dark net. The reason I didn’t vote conservative and I won’t vote for mini Harper.”
A few comments on your comment:
Mister Harper lurking in the dark net. eeeeewwwwwww! get rid of that guy already!
i am conservative. i did not and would not ever vote for a fraud like that. i cannot see myself voting for the party that merely goes by the name Conservative. my vote goes to the party that IS the most conservative of the choices. and i will withhold my vote if there are no conservative parties to vote for.
The current party that identifies itself as Conservative may or may not be conservative. We don’t know. They probably are personally. What we do know is that they do not want you and I to be conservative. no. They want you and I to spend spend spend. Especially on real estate. And then fill it up with stuff stuff stuff. Which is the opposite of conservatism.
Think about what conservatism means folks. noah. saving up for a rainy day. build the financial boat. conserve. conservation. conserving. i conserve you conserve we conserve they conserve. i will stop the conjugation here.
___________________________
I’m not sure you know what conservatism means lol
#33 BlackDog on 08.20.19 at 5:47 pm
….really irks me that I am technically afoul of US law, yet don’t remember the few short months I lived there, have no American relatives or ancestors, no US income or assets, no US passport or SIN. F-the US and their insane ownership laws. My Canadian TFSA is none of their business.
_________________________________________
I lived and worked there for several years in southern California and Silicon Valley. The armed forces in the US had a policy when I was there for gay people in the army called don’t ask, don’t tell. I liked the sound of that rule and use it. One of the reasons I never moved towards US citizenship was due to their overbearing capabilities of taxing you anywhere in the world. As far as I’m concerned Uncle Sam has no business outside of his fence line.
@#61 Sail away on 08.20.19 at 8:07 pm
I work with an accountant who has taught me a lot on this and am happy to share info if you’d like (but not on this forum) Write to me at [email protected] and I’ll respond with her contact info.
Another consideration for dual citizens is the difficulty of accounting for ETFs so far as the US side of taxation is concerned because of IRS’s new computation requirements. So I try to avoid them in any account that needs to be reported to IRS.
I wish you would dispense with the myth ” Just as bad was the attitude T2 showed when he chopped the contribution room in half and intimated TFSAs were only for the rich. ” when you know full well that Herr Harper merely doubled the contribution to 10K. JT merely restored the status quo!
TFSA stuff worth remembering: open one for you, another for your spouse and adult children. Money given to them will not be attributed back to you, nor will any of the tax-free growth.
_____
So Garth, if I wanted to give my kids a running head start with investing when they turn 18 by funding their newly opened TFSA’s for a decade or so – this would not then come back to bite me?
How about funding it for 2-3 decades? This could then be their “inheritance”.
Seems like this way, we’d contribute less, they’d end up getting more – and the whole thing is tax free.
win/win/win?
#89 Smoking Man on 08.21.19 at 1:42 am
Out for a smoke a homeless dude digging through my garbage, as shit load of them out here. I watch him light up one of my disgarded cigarettes.
I offer up an unsmoked one. We start talking. The bastard was hero in Afganistan, was in a car crash’ lost his job’ hes just trying to make enough to get back to Nebraska where his daughter says she has a room for him.
I’m a sucker , I beilive him. I gave him 500 bucks. That smelly hug was the best hug I’ve ever had..
Liberals would be frightened of him.
Me a risk taker… I hope it works out for him…
———————————————
I’ll bet you $500 you’ll see him again- broke again but for a very good reason that he’ll tell you all about.
#96 Ace Goodheart… you actually believe there is a real reporter named Alexandra Li at the Globe and Mail? Pumping out article after article on the HK-China affair. Show me proof that this reporter is even real. What’s amazing is that people will believe anything the media tells them. Like Epstein died in jail, for example. LOL.
If a veteran is destitute in the US, Veterans Affairs will give up to $14k per year and help out with housing. This isn’t the 1950s anymore. When I separated after 6 yrs in the US military, they paid completely for 4 yrs univ+masters and we bought our first house with $500 down, with the rest guaranteed by the VA. Lots of other benefits as well.
Vets are treated and supported very well in the US. Also, heroes are few and far between. Why are all these so-called homeless ‘vets’ war heroes? Actual heroes usually continue with the military or politics because their path is paved.
Change # 90, Craig # 95,
So what are they going to do, just let things implode?
Not – a – chance.
Don’t underestimate the systems ability/willingness to take radical action to keep this debt pig airborne, as they really have no other choice.
I did that in 2008/09, not again.
It’s overused, but we truly are in uncharted economic territory. Keep an eye out for these three labels:
1) Basic Income
2) Modern Money Theory
3) Debt Jubilee
The subtle rhetoric has already begun, as these ideas are slowly spoon fed to the public.
Savers will be crushed.
RE: #110 Eks dee Siple on 08.21.19 at 10:26 am
Yeah, I also believe the Earth is round, and that we orbit the sun (not the other way around).
#111 Sail Away on 08.21.19 at 10:37 am
IMHO heroism and self-deprecation are typically close travelling companions…
It has become one of those throw away terms for most people, probably second only to the “thank you for your service” or “thoughts & prayers” platitudes; sometimes honestly meant, sometimes a rote utterance – the real thanks (or not) is shown in how society treats someone afterwards…
Unfortunately there are scars seen and unseen and not everyone’s experience is the same…
Blacksheep, the choice they had was to let people and companies and others go bankrupt years ago. They also had to make sure that this abuse of borrowing to idiots got drastically reduced or if possible eliminated.
The bottomline is you and others that say they had no choice are for socialism or some utopia crap that you know never works. Just a bunch of legalized theft on a global scale and the UN and global organizations are all responsible. Why don’t they do all the 3 things you mentioned in Zimbabwe or Argentina or Venezuela. It is because the top criminals are not in charge and powerful as the ECB, UN and other socialist organizations, bodies.
Right everyone with their i-phones and devices think cashless is great, we are all going to be eating leaves off trees like my friend showed me in Bosnia. Clueless bunch of sheep.
RE: #103 crowdedelevatorfartz on 08.21.19 at 8:37 am
The behavior of our super minister and others currently representing Canada abroad is becoming cringe worthy.
Particularly regarding the Hong Kong situation, to which Canada’s response resembles that which might be expected from a rebellious sixth grader.
I wonder if, in the situation where protesters took over the streets of a large Canadian financial hub, closed down the airport and shut down public transit, and China cheered them on, our super minister’s response would be the same?
Embarrassing
Garth:
Only works for people with money to invest. Living paycheck to paycheck, with no frills to cut…makes TSFA and RRSP almost impossible for lots of people.
We all have dreams.
More like, ‘we all make choices.’ Many make bad ones. – Garth
#109 Sail Away on 08.21.19 at 10:25 am
#89 Smoking Man on 08.21.19 at 1:42 am
Out for a smoke a homeless dude digging through my garbage, as shit load of them out here. I watch him light up one of my disgarded cigarettes.
I offer up an unsmoked one. We start talking. The bastard was hero in Afganistan, was in a car crash’ lost his job’ hes just trying to make enough to get back to Nebraska where his daughter says she has a room for him.
I’m a sucker , I beilive him. I gave him 500 bucks. That smelly hug was the best hug I’ve ever had..
Liberals would be frightened of him.
Me a risk taker… I hope it works out for him…
———————————————
I’ll bet you $500 you’ll see him again- broke again but for a very good reason that he’ll tell you all about.
_____________________________________
Old Man I used to gas up at a Mobil Mart on San Joaguin Hills Rd & San Miguel and every day the same guy was there routing through garbage and asking for handouts. They live over by Big Canyon Reservoir and they all have their own little territories in which they ask for cash. $500 bucks will buy him a lot of booze and crack. This guy will probably blow through it in two days. He will be back.
Our Super Minister is loved by all, and works very hard for all. She is very much concerned about everything, but why does she always mess things up? Is this by accident, or intentional? Is she a Nationalist or a Globalist leading the way in the world?
#113 Ace Goodheart… I also believe those things. In other words, you have no proof. Anyway, how would you like our ministers to respond?
Sail Away… I’m not sure what your point is here. Are you saying that you are not a hero? Did you engage in actual warfare during your stint in the military? If not, I agree, you are probably not a hero. But anyone who did, is a hero. Period.
miketheengineer, if you did not have a this large social program, government by Liberals, NDP, Green Party etc. to back people up, people would have no choice to change their behaviour to cut useless expenses from $5 lattes to having a new phone every year to eating out at mid to expensive places day day after day etc. etc.. The RRSP and TFSA and other investments would be needed to have as backup pool of money to not rely on others, Canadian taxpayers through this entitlement mentality, big government welfare state.
I would like more incentives for myself and my family to rely less on government and welfare, social programs.
This whole cheap money to borrow, lower and lower, ridiculous interest rates which is really socialism for housing on the backs on savers, investors in fixed income. I think it is about time people stop putting money in banks and other financial institutions to subsidize people buying houses, condos on the back of others savings, investments.
re # 89 Smoking Man …. You are rough around the edges. You piss some people off . You occasionally ramble on about gawd knows what . But damn man , that was a class thing to do . Kudos dude !
If people put too much money in dividend paying stocks won’t that push up stock prices but crash dividend yields much like bond yields are happening now? This is a limbo economy, how low can you go.
#121 Eks dee Siple on 08.21.19 at 12:42 pm
Sail Away… I’m not sure what your point is here. Are you saying that you are not a hero? Did you engage in actual warfare during your stint in the military? If not, I agree, you are probably not a hero. But anyone who did, is a hero. Period.
———————————————
No argument here. Let’s just say I’m skeptical of other’s claims, especially if they’re hoping to get something from you. Purported veterans, Navy seals and heroes abound amongst the beggars.
#76 Mark on 08.20.19 at 10:07 pm
At present CAPE of 30 for US equity’s that translates into about 2.5 % return going forward for next 10-15years.
Not infallible but valuations better outside USA…..much better.
Free ride may be coming to a end…
——–
EEM trading at levels touched in 2007. 0% return in 12 years from the fastest growing economies.
Valuations may be better, but where do you see better expected returns?
And no, not everyone who’s been in combat is a hero. There are clear citations for heroism.
This isn’t a politically correct stance but veterans fully understand it. Doing your job does not a hero make.
@#116 Ace
“The behavior of our super minister and others currently representing Canada abroad is becoming cringe worthy.”
****
True.
Lets just hope enough voters that have had enough of the smug, arrogant, politically correct agenda, with the endless “holier than thou” grandstanding will make the effort to get off their butts….. come election day….
SNC Lavalin employees non withstanding.
I believe one of the reasons that so many hold it as a savings account is on part due to the banks that open the very accounts. When I opened my account they opened it in a normal bank account, it was called a TFSA and all you could ‘invest’ in was GICs and Mutual funds. The bank never mentioned you could open a Direct Investing account whereby you could buy equities and ETFs. So for the first few years, I was stuck with those options or cash only.
Gargler is funt now day, I go on twitter click few random hearts, open few links and few minutes later all.of them.are in my “news” feed. Funny they stopped inovating and start survaling…
Dion not allowed to be questioned because the government blocked it with a vote. Now that’s transparency under a Liberal Government.
#74 DON on 08.20.19 at 9:31 pm
#6 Be Honest on 08.20.19 at 4:19 pm
“When Stephen Harper handed me my (shapely) butt for the high crime of democratic blogging, throwing me out of the Conservative caucus to live under a bridge, all was not lost.”
As you well know, that was not the main reason my collegueas and others argued to Harper to boot you out. It would reflect better in you if you simply admit the truth. Here at this blog you have found a fitting home, providing useful information for readers, but again you cannot help let your ego and hunger for personal wealth, power, and status get somewhat in the way. You are underestimating many of the commenters here if you believe they see not through the latter and how it taints much of your messaging. You would be more successful if you drop that attitude. As long as you don’t, you will keep resembling Kevin O’Leary.
Now, now, Stephen, that was exactly what you argued. – Garth
*******************************
Mr. Harper lurking in the dark net. The reason I didn’t vote conservative and I won’t vote for mini Harper.
Take your toys and go play with Trump.
____________________________________________
Huh now that just painted a picture!
Liberal members of a parliamentary committee have just blocked an opposition attempt to hear from ethics commissioner Mario Dion about his scathing report into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair. Jesus Christ the Liberals are basically the Republicans instead though its Mitch McConnell blocking for Trump.
Liberal = Republican?
They are one and the same.
Sarah # 115,
You must be new here.
In 2008/09, I was one of the biggest bears on this blog (sold my house in full prepper mode) expecting an economic catastrophe, until the system did the unthinkable, by saving the US banking system and throwing tax paying home owners to the wolves.
Read my comment again.
I did not state, what I want to happen. I said don’t underestimate level of economic craziness the system is willing to go to, in an attempt to keep things going status quo.
Savers getting screwed, is not something that should happen under any circumstances, but unfortunately a sovereign in control will sacrifice them for the ‘Greater good of society’. If you or anyone has an pain free reset solution, that will not result in an economic depression, please share.
I’m here to learn…
#39 Concerned Reader
I suspect the name is the way it is because Tax Free Investment Account might seem elitist. The average Canadian, I’m guessing here, does not consider themselves an “investor” but everyone knows they should be a “saver”. I think the Conservatives were trying to keep votes and avoid being labelled, further, as the party of the rich for the rich.
I was going to make the same point but you’ve already done it better. Go to the head of the class.
Doesn’t seem like any party will want to make this an election issue…
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/080caa_bfe843e97df247819360fcafc054a5a1.pdf
“The legion of borrowers, on the other hands, is overwhelming.”
Given anything like an honest free market logic would dictate that if demand for the rental of funds be high then so should the rental fee or if you like the interest rate. Clearly someone is cheating or breaking all the rules.
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