RRSP vs. TFSA
Both shelter growth from tax. The difference is when you pay it — and that turns on a single comparison: your marginal rate the year you contribute, against your marginal rate the year you take the money out. This runs that comparison on 2026 British Columbia rates, including the OAS clawback most calculators leave out.
Your rate on the next dollar today
Your rate on a withdrawal later
The RRSP stops winning above
What this assumes
- British Columbia, 2026 federal and provincial rates. Combined marginal rates only — CPP, EI and credits other than the basic personal amount are not modelled.
- Your RRSP refund is invested in a TFSA in the same year. If you spend it, see the third column of the chart — that is the case where the RRSP does not win.
- Withdrawals are spread out, so they are taxed at your retirement marginal rate. Drawing the whole balance in one year would push you into higher brackets and cost more.
- The same rate of return applies to both accounts, and your income in retirement is otherwise unchanged.
- Tax rates and brackets are held at 2026 levels throughout. They will change.
This calculator is an illustration, not advice. It does not account for your full circumstances, and a real recommendation depends on facts it does not ask about — pension income, spousal attribution, income splitting, GIS eligibility, the Home Buyers’ Plan, and the order you draw accounts down. Speak to Brent before acting on it.
Let's talk about your plan.
A 45-minute diagnostic conversation. No cost, no deck, no product. If we can't add value, we'll tell you in the first meeting.
Book the Diagnostic