TFSA Contribution 2018

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mudLark
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TFSA Contribution 2018

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Peculiar_Investor
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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The Government of Canada has published Indexation adjustment for personal income tax and benefit amounts - Canada.ca to include the 2018 adjustments.

Our wiki article, Tax-Free Savings Account has been updated to show the contribution limits that go into effect for 2018. The calculated unround indexed amount in 2018 will reach $5,722.

Since TFSA contribution room is rounded to the nearest $500, it looks likely that the 2019 TFSA contribution limit will bump up to $6000.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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Unused TFSA contribution room to date + Total withdrawal made in this year + next year’s TFSA dollar limit = TFSA contribution room at the beginning of next year
I just have a spreadsheet with columns for: deposits, withdrawals, new room.
I calculate my limit as: All new room ever - all deposits ever + all withdrawals ever - all withdrawals current calendar year
Then every New Year, I enter a row to record the new room, and I adjust the range of the "all withdrawals current calendar year" sum to start only in the current year.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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Here is a spreadsheet I created to track TFSA room for up to three accounts:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5fv3nq74xzl45 ... .xlsx?dl=0
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Koogie
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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GreatLaker wrote: 11 Dec 2017 08:02 Here is a spreadsheet I created to track TFSA room for up to three accounts:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5fv3nq74xzl45 ... .xlsx?dl=0
Contribution rows out to 2047 ? Someone is hopeful... :P
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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If you need a spreadsheet to track your TFSA withdrawals and deposits IMO you might not be using it to its full advantage, if you use a checking account instead no need for spreadsheet.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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Our preferred way to contribute is $5,500 in both TFSAs right away on January 1, then RRSP contributions to both accounts once the tax return is back by ~April, then once all RRSP room is tapped out, contributions into the 2 joint taxable accounts, then during the last few months of the year, have $5,500 set aside by end of December to do it all over again.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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Koogie wrote: 11 Dec 2017 10:02 Contribution rows out to 2047 ? Someone is hopeful... :P
If I live as long as my Mom's current age I will run out of rows. And she is optimistically talking about living another 10 years. :beer:

BRIAN5000 wrote: 11 Dec 2017 11:23 If you need a spreadsheet to track your TFSA withdrawals and deposits IMO you might not be using it to its full advantage, if you use a checking account instead no need for spreadsheet.
Yes, I should hang my head in shame around here. In less enlightened times I opened two TFSAs, then decided to close both and consolidate to one at a discount broker. Concurrently I had a couple of large expenses in the same year (new shingles, new septic system) and had to pull some money out.

But thanks to Finiki and FWF I am a changed man benefiting from much greater wisdom and financial success. :rofl:
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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GreatLaker wrote: 11 Dec 2017 21:03 If I live as long as my Mom's current age I will run out of rows. And she is optimistically talking about living another 10 years. :beer:
I wasn't making a cheap shot at your anticipated longevity, more a cheap shot at the greed of current and future governments. :wink:

2047 would take us out to about 240-250K in contribution levels at least.. hard to imagine any government willing to give up that much in potential tax.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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I think I've mentioned this before....but I believe the lifetime contribution cap will be circa $100k, a short 5 years from now or so.
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Insomniac
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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There is no lifetime limit to the amount of contributions.
http://www.taxtips.ca/tfsa/contributions.htm
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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Insomniac wrote: 12 Dec 2017 13:38
There is no lifetime limit to the amount of contributions.
http://www.taxtips.ca/tfsa/contributions.htm
+1 :thumbsup:
Last edited by longinvest on 12 Dec 2017 16:15, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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Insomniac wrote: 12 Dec 2017 13:38 There is no lifetime limit to the amount of contributions. YET.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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Remember what happened with Cap Gains exemptions and tax rate changes over the decades? It will happen eventually with TFSAs. Naive to think otherwise.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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Koogie wrote: 12 Dec 2017 13:49
Insomniac wrote: 12 Dec 2017 13:38 There is no lifetime limit to the amount of contributions. YET.
FIFY
That quote is not mine. It's from the taxtips website. I provided the link.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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AltaRed wrote: 12 Dec 2017 14:04 Remember what happened with Cap Gains exemptions and tax rate changes over the decades? It will happen eventually with TFSAs. Naive to think otherwise.
OK, I see what you meant now. You believe that the gov't will set a cap of $100K. Who knows? I doubt that it would cost them an election if they put a cap on it, so they probably will.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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TFSA is a copy-paste of a British ISA. TFSA is a slightly improved version with one major downside: ISA's annual limit is >$10k (thanks Justin!) ISA has been around for almost 20 years, so people had an opportunity to contribute >>$100K. There is no discussion of limiting life-time contributions to ISA.

Roth IRA is a bit different but also older than TFSA and with a slightly higher annual contribution limit. The key difference is that people with decent incomes aren't allowed to contribute. However in the US personal taxes are far lower than here.

Anything is possible but limiting lifetime TFSA contributions seems no more likely than any other arbitrarily made-up tax plan.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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There are several things in the tax code that make sense to many of us as future developments but we never cease to be amazed that politicians do not pick them.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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Mordko wrote: 12 Dec 2017 20:45Anything is possible but limiting lifetime TFSA contributions seems no more likely than any other arbitrarily made-up tax plan.
The Liberals especially are most likely to cap lifetime contribution room at some point because ideologically they do not want the 'rich' to have access to perhaps $1 million (to use a number) of tax free wealth creation capability that could then multiply itself many times over in a lifetime. The middle class will never be able to fully fund 6 or 7 digits of contribution room and that will be one of the trigger points as well. The Feds will be too desperate for tax revenue at some point to service the debt to leave that golden egg alone.

Remember Feb 22,1994 when the lifetime cap gains exemption was frozen (taken away) to service the debt? The TFSA is sort of an equivalent 'back door' way of resurrecting that 'space' over time, and it too will be affected in some upcoming tax revenue crisis given the recklessness of our spendthrift politicians.

I am under no illusions about history repeating itself.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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AltaRed wrote: 12 Dec 2017 12:32 I think I've mentioned this before....but I believe the lifetime contribution cap will be circa $100k, a short 5 years from now or so.
How do you figure 5 years? At contribution limit of 5500 it will take another 8 years to get to 96,000
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

Post by kcowan »

While we are wildly speculating, why not have the TFSA replace the RRSP? I could see an optional increase in TSFA limits based on foregoing RRSP room as an evolutionary step.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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deaddog wrote: 13 Dec 2017 12:45
AltaRed wrote: 12 Dec 2017 12:32 I think I've mentioned this before....but I believe the lifetime contribution cap will be circa $100k, a short 5 years from now or so.
How do you figure 5 years? At contribution limit of 5500 it will take another 8 years to get to 96,000
We are already going to be $57.5k in a few weeks. A move to $6k/yr thereafter, perhaps $6.5k within 5 years.... so "5 years or so" is about right. Perhaps 6 in total.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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kcowan wrote: 13 Dec 2017 15:22 While we are wildly speculating, why not have the TFSA replace the RRSP? I could see an optional increase in TSFA limits based on foregoing RRSP room as an evolutionary step.
I've answered the same question from you in the past: the RRSP system is well integrated with the pension plans, resulting in relative fairness for people with or without a pension at work.

It would be grossly unfair to offer the same (RRSP/TFSA/combined) room to civil servants who are very well provided in terms of pensions, and to people without any pensions.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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Is limiting the amount contributed going to solve the perceived problem?

Those with a little luck will still accumulate and be able to compound returns tax free.

The rich get richer.

I can't make investment decisions today based on what I think might happen in the future. I have to play by todays rules and adjust after the rules change.
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Re: TFSA Contribution 2018

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It's always a matter of degree. Give $100k of room and smart folks will parlay that into something significant over time. Give them $1M of room and they might parlay that into something 10 times as big.

I look at it this way. When the pool of untaxed (and untaxable) capital gets big enough, and/or when the Treasury is hurting and/or when a public groundswell perceives this as a 'rich get away with murder' scheme, nothing will be off the table. Not sure why y'all don't understand tax policy does not stand still for generations at a time.

We will all take advantage of what we can while we can. Nothing new about that.
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