Seniors have a lot to smile about following federal budget
Posted April 21, 2015 4:54 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) This year’s budget is bound to make seniors very happy. The Harper government’s financial plan seems to be courting the senior set with several perks.
Efforts of senior citizen lobby groups have paid off first with a change to the percentage retirees must withdraw each year from their registered retirement income funds. Your RRSP converts to an RRIF once you begin using it to fund your retirement.
Don Carson with Canada’s Professional Accountants explains seniors will be glad to see the amount they must withdraw is going down. “They wanted to try to grow the capital as much as possible because they saw themselves running out of money before their life actually runs out.”
And Carson adds seniors and people with disabilities are getting a home improvement tax credit. “It’s a tax credit on up to $10,000 of annual expenditures by seniors or by disabled individuals that will provide additional assistance if you have to put in like a stair lift or so forth.”
The Tax Free Savings Account annual contribution limit is going up from $5,500 to $10,000. This was something promised last election. Carson says seniors sometimes prefer to save this way as there are no penalties when the cash comes out and it doesn’t have to ever be replaced. Finance Minister Joe Oliver says this measure should also help younger people saving to buy a home or start a business.
