Four investment accounts. Are they working together?
You have investments in your corporation, an RRSP, a TFSA and a regular personal account. Each may make sense on its own. But are they working together as you save, use the money and leave some to family?
The investment and its account are two different choices.
One portfolio
Look across the account boundaries.
Your corporation, RRSP, TFSA and regular investment account all have different tax rules. First decide what mix of investments suits you. Then look at which account should hold each one.
Using one account while another grows changes your investment mix. In this example, stocks make up about 50% of one path and 88% of the other at age 90. That changes the risk as well as the balance.
This example starts at 50 with $2.3m across four accounts. The share held in stocks changes over time. The gap includes different investment risk, so it cannot show tax savings from account choice alone.
Corporate investments
Investments owned by a corporation. Taking the money out for personal use can create more tax.
RRSP
A registered retirement savings plan. A tax deduction can help now; withdrawals are normally taxable later.
TFSA
A tax-free savings account for an individual, with limits on how much you can add. A corporation cannot hold one.
Personal non-registered
A regular investment account outside registered plans. Income and gains can be taxable.
A holding company is a separate corporation, not another type of tax-free account. Money moved from a corporation into personal accounts may first need to be paid to you. Explore the holding-company decision →
Starting age
50
Starting investments
$2.3 million
Initial mix
50% equity / 50% fixed
Timeline
Age 50 to 90
One owner. Two routes.
Follow the money through the years.
The same starting account balances, total gross investment mix, business profit, spending and retirement age. The after-tax exposures and later portfolio weights are not identical.
Path A
Fixed income in the corporation
Start with corporate fixed income and RRSP equities. Keep a balanced mix in the TFSA and personal account.
Path B
Equities in the corporation
Reverse the corporate and RRSP placements. Keep the same starting balances and total gross equity/fixed-income mix.
See what could be left before tax, after taking the money out or after death. These are estimates, not guarantees.
Path A$3,196,680
Fixed income in the corporation
Path B$3,738,514
Equities in the corporation
Difference at age 65$541,834
At age 65, equities are about 52% of Path A and 66% of Path B. These results combine tax effects with changing investment exposure.
BC projection, starting in 2026. Both paths fund the stated lifestyle. All amounts are CAD in 2026 purchasing power, before planning fees. These are separate examples, not results to add together.
Read the values after withdrawal tax as a table
Estimated values after withdrawal tax, in 2026 dollars
Projection age
Path A
Path B
Age 65
$3,196,680
$3,738,514
Age 90
$4,048,930
$6,545,580
Why the paths separate
The account and the investment work together.
Tax changes the return you keep.
Interest, dividends and growth can face different taxes in each account. The return before tax does not tell you what you keep.
Withdrawals change the portfolio.
As you use one account and leave another to grow, your investment mix can change. Plan where to hold investments alongside when you will use the money.
More wealth can carry more risk.
Part of the gap comes from holding different amounts in stocks over time. It is not all tax savings, and the two paths do not keep the same risk.
The bigger number needs a second look.
Both routes begin with 50% gross equity exposure. By age 65 it is about 52% versus 66%; by age 90 it is about 50% versus 88%. The roughly $2.50m living-value gap at age 90 combines tax, withdrawals, compounding and that substantial change in exposure. A personal plan would also test rebalancing and the risk you actually want to carry.
How we built this example, and what it leaves out
Opening accounts: $1 million corporate, $1 million RRSP, $150,000 TFSA and $150,000 personal investments, all at tax cost. Starting corporation profit is $300,000 before owner pay and annual lifestyle is $90,000. Retirement is at 65. The model keeps each account’s assigned mix but does not rebalance the whole portfolio. This is an initial-placement comparison; it does not assume appreciated assets can be transferred between accounts tax-free.
Equities assume 6.15% total annual return, including 0.75% eligible dividends and 0.75% foreign income. Fixed income assumes 3.20%, distributed as interest. The shared 50/50 accounts assume 4.675%. Inflation is 2.1%. These are assumptions, not forecasts. Account tax and foreign withholding are included.
Changing total annual returns by one percentage point in either direction puts the after-tax living-value difference at age 65 between $439,457 and $608,175, measured as Path B minus Path A. These checks show what happens under two different return assumptions. They do not show the full range of possible outcomes or how likely each is.
The amount after withdrawal tax assumes you sell the investments and take all the money out at the chosen age. It sets aside estimated tax on corporate dividends. It does not find the best way to spread withdrawals over retirement. The estate estimate also sets aside tax due at the owner’s death. It leaves out tax deferrals for transfers to a spouse and special planning that may reduce tax after death. Future tax rules, returns, fees and your own situation can change the result.
Examples calculated with Senova’s lifetime planning model on September 29, 2026. They compare possible choices. They are not client results, guaranteed savings or a claim that either plan is the best possible choice.
You don’t need to know which tax strategy to ask for. Tell us what’s changing in your business or life. We’ll agree on the work and fee before we start.