Usually when we get questions here we try to go into some depth in explaining the situation and possible answers. Other times our answer doesn’t need a lot of explanation. Here are some rapid fire questions and responses.
I have a chequing account and a credit card with my bank. Can I cancel the chequing and just keep the credit card? I don’t want to keep paying the monthly fee on my chequing account.
Yes. As far as I know, all banks in Canada allow you to have just one product with them. Some may charge different fees depending on how many accounts you have, but credit cards are usually free.
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How do people keep track of how much room they have left in their RRSP and TFSA accounts? The numbers shown in my CRA account don’t look up to date.
When you get your notice of assessment each year, after filing taxes, that will tell you how much contribution room is in your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) for the year.
When you sign into your CRA account on-line, on the main page (the Overview page), there will be a section at the bottom-left corner of the page which lists your RRSP and tax free savings account (TFSA) contribution room. These numbers are typically up to date as of the start of the calendar year. The TFSA section typically says: “Your TFSA contribution room as of January 1.”
So this is how you know how much room you have at the start of the year in both accounts. Since you know how much room you have to deposit at the start of the year, I recommend then doing one of two things:
- Set up an automatic monthly deposit where the total for the year will be less than the amount of contribution room you have. For example, if your contribution amount is $6,000 then make sure your monthly deposit is $500 or less. ($6,000 / 12 months = $500 per month)
- Put these contribution limit numbers in a text file or a spreadsheet. Then, whenever you make a deposit into either account, add the date and amount to your file. This way you’ll always be up to date.
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