In the mid - 1960s conventional wisdom or motherhood for retirement planning said that you should take all of your investments and put them into government bonds or fixed income type products. The thinking was that you could not afford to take any 'risk' in your retirement years. Thus it was believed that guaranteed investing was the best approach to retirement planning and they were correct at that time.
There are many Baby Boomers who are anticipating hitting the jackpot via inheritances in the coming years as a solution to their own financial planning needs. We have heard many media reports about the tidal wave of money expected to move between the generations over the next 15 years or so estimated to be upwards of $1-trillion.
An HSBC report released last September found that 39% of working people are banking on some type of inheritance with a median value of about $77,000. While some 57% of fully retired people expect to leave some sort of inheritance.
The Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) was introduced in 2009 as a new way for Canadians to build assets and wealth on a tax-advantaged basis. Any capital gains, dividends or interest income are tax-free upon redemption from the account. The initial contribution amount was $5,000 with annual increases of $5,000. This has been increased to $5,500 in 2013 to offset inflation. This brings the maximum contribution amount for a new subscriber, in 2013, to $25,500.
