RRSP vs TFSA Calculator
Compares the two accounts' projected after-tax outcomes given your income, contribution, horizon, and retirement marginal rate. Defaults to refund-reinvestment for the methodologically correct apples-to-apples comparison.
Best choice for your inputs
RRSP wins by $23,717
Current marginal rate 30.0% vs estimated retirement 25.0%.
Your current marginal rate (30.0%) is higher than your estimated retirement marginal rate (25.0%). The RRSP deduction is worth more now than the eventual withdrawal tax.
Your Situation
Projected after-tax balance over 30 years
| RRSP | TFSA | |
|---|---|---|
| Ending balance | $474,349 | $474,349 |
| Refund reinvested (side TFSA) | $142,305 | — |
| Withdrawal tax @ 25% | −$118,587 | $0 |
| Net after-tax | $498,067 | $474,349 |
Break-even retirement marginal rate
With refund reinvestment, RRSP and TFSA produce identical net outcomes when your retirement marginal rate equals your current marginal rate of 30.0%. Below that, RRSP wins; above it, TFSA wins.
By Province
Each provincial page pre-fills the calculator with that province's brackets and adds province-specific context.
How this works
The economic core: both accounts shelter investment growth from annual taxation. The difference is when you pay tax. RRSP defers — you skip income tax on the contribution today and pay it on the entire balance at withdrawal. TFSA pays tax now — your contribution is post-tax dollars, but withdrawals are tax-free forever.
With refund reinvestment ON (the default), an RRSP contribution of $X actually invests $X plus the cash refund ($X × current marginal rate). That refund grows alongside the main RRSP balance in a side TFSA. At withdrawal, the main RRSP is taxed but the side TFSA is not.
The mathematical identity: if your current marginal rate equals your retirement marginal rate, RRSP and TFSA produce identical after-tax balances. Below that — RRSP wins. Above — TFSA wins. The calculator surfaces both your current rate (derived from income + province + tax year) and the break-even insight.
Frequently asked questions
Should I contribute to RRSP or TFSA first?
Use this calculator. The general rule: if your current marginal tax rate is higher than your expected retirement rate, RRSP wins. If lower, TFSA wins. The break-even point is where they equal.
What is the break-even retirement marginal rate?
When you reinvest your RRSP refund, RRSP and TFSA produce mathematically identical after-tax outcomes if your retirement marginal rate equals your current marginal rate. Above that rate, TFSA wins; below, RRSP wins.
Why does the calculator default to reinvesting the RRSP refund?
Without reinvesting the refund, you would be comparing $5,000 of RRSP contributions to $5,000 of TFSA contributions but ignoring the ~$1,500 cash refund the RRSP also generates. The methodologically sound comparison treats the refund as additional investable capital.
Does the calculator account for OAS clawback?
Not directly — set your retirement marginal rate higher (e.g. 35%+) to approximate the impact of OAS clawback in retirement. A future version may model this explicitly.
What about FHSA, spousal RRSP, or pension splitting?
These have dedicated calculators on catax.tools — see the FHSA Calculator, Spousal RRSP Calculator, and Pension Splitting Calculator. This tool focuses specifically on the binary RRSP vs TFSA decision.
Deeper TFSA guides
- TFSA Contribution Room 2026 — 2009-2026 annual limits table, $109,500 lifetime maximum, multi-institution aggregation, CRA My Account verification.
- TFSA Withdrawal Rules + Recontribution — withdrawals only restore room on 1 January of the following year, the 5 exceptions where same-year recontribution is allowed, and the year-end strategy.
- TFSA Overcontribution Penalty — the 1% per month §207.02 penalty, T1-OVP filing, CRA reasonable-cause waiver path, and the 6 common scenarios that trigger it unintentionally.