ATA Members

ATA Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)

How it works

Generally used as a companion to the ATA Group RRSP, the ATA Group TFSA was created to give you a parallel stream of investing. The ATA Group Tax Free Savings Account has many of the same advantages of the ATA Group RRSP, including:

• No transaction fees -- that means no cost to start investing or make changes to the account. It's like a Self-Managed Plan but without the high fees! (There is a small charge to withdraw money - it's not meant to be used like a chequing account)

• The same investment choices, including 16 different fund managers and 44 funds, all of which are professionally managed, tracked, and constantly "pruned" to improve performance.

• Access to unique products like Target Date Funds and Portfolio Funds that take the guesswork out of investing -- complicated products with strong returns that don't require you to have an MBA to understand them.

• All money grows tax free and can be taken out without paying additional tax.

• Unlike your RRSP, your TFSA has no age limit to withdraw. With an RRSP, you have to start withdrawing from it by the end of your 71st year. With the TFSA, you can keep your money in it as long as you want to.

• Typically, the yearly contribution room is $6,000 and any unused contribution room is carried forward. If you have never contributed – you could have up to $81,500 (as of January 2022) worth of contribution room.

• Online contributions make it as easy as paying a bill! Set up your TFSA contributions as a payee in your online banking. More information here.

Are you a non-teaching school board employee? Head over to the Alberta School Board Employees Group TFSA for all the specific information.