@calmmoneycoach: Most Canadians have one retirement tool. Half use it wrong. I’m tired of the lies Canadians are being sold about RRSPs and TFSAs. What Canadians actually earn (after inflation). 47% of Canadian TFSAs are sitting in cash. That is the trap. The TFSA and RRSP are the only retirement plans most Canadians have. Only 37.7% of paid Canadian workers are covered by a workplace pension (Statistics Canada, 2023). The other 62% have one tool. And almost half of them sit in cash. 47% of TFSA owners hold their balance in cash (BMO, Jan 2024). 22% of RRSP assets sit in cash (BMO/Pollara, 2020). 67% of Canadians cannot identify the differences between an RRSP and a TFSA. Here is what each asset actually returns after inflation, per Dimson, Marsh and Staunton’s UBS Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2025, over the 125 years from 1900 to 2024: S&P 500: 6.6%. Global equities: 5.2%. World bonds: 1.7%. Cash: 0.5%. Canadian housing since 1975: ~2%. CPP for someone born after 1971: ~2.1% real per Fraser Institute. People think CPP is garbage. It is right in line with most asset classes, indexed to inflation, paid for life. The gap between cash and equities is roughly 4 to 5 percentage points a year. A 2% MER fund versus a 0.20% ETF, on $100,000 over 30 years at 5% real, costs you ~$165,000 in lost growth. Just the fees. Add leveraged ETFs, single stocks, performance chasing, and each costs another 1 to 3 points a year. You only have 4 to 5 to give. At 5% real, your money doubles every 14 years. Over a 40-year working life that is 3 or 4 doublings. That is your whole game. So when someone tells you to bet $500 on the next stock, they are asking you to gamble away a doubling period you cannot get back. Stop optimizing your MER. Start optimizing your life. Not advice. Just math. Sources: Statistics Canada, CRA, BMO, Pollara, Dimson Marsh Staunton (UBS GIRY 2025), Fraser Institute, Canadian MoneySaver.

Brian | Calm Money Coach

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Tuesday 12 May 2026 19:00:58 GMT