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View Full Version : Socialist Canada Has Tax Free Savings Accounts




clb09
05-12-2010, 04:30 PM
http://www.mint.com/blog/saving/tfsa-account/


It would all be so much easier if you lived in Canada.
Introducing the Tax-Free Savings Account

Since January 2009, Canadian residents have been eligible to open Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs). They work almost exactly like Roth IRAs: you contribute after-tax dollars, and all withdrawals are tax-free. All Canadians 18 and older can contribute up to $5,000 (Canadian) a year to a TFSA, and you can stuff it with a variety of investments: regular savings accounts, CDs (called GICs in Canada), and mutual funds.

Unlike Roth IRAs, however, you can use a TFSA to save for absolutely anything. You don’t have to submit receipts. You can use the savings for college, medicine, retirement, or a pony. Furthermore, if you don’t contribute your full $5,000 this year, the leftover amount rolls over. I could, if I were Canadian, put $5 in my TFSA this year and $9,995 next year. (You can actually put in even more than this, in a way too complicated to explain but easy to do in practice.)