Jan. 26: BEST OF THE BLOGOSPHERE
January 26, 2026
Has cash become king for younger savers?
New research from TD Bank suggests that younger savers are not contributing to their Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) but are preferring to keep their savings in ready-to-spend cash accounts.
The research was covered in a recent report by Ari Rabinovitch of Global News.
As younger Canadians struggle with the heightened cost of living and a difficult job market, a new survey from TD Bank suggests Gen Z and millennials who use a tax-free savings account (TFSA) aren’t investing in that account because they want the money readily available,” he writes.
The unemployment rate for younger Canadians, the article continues, is “more than double the national average according to recent Statistics Canada data.” Indeed, the article adds, youth unemployment was over 14 per cent as of October 2025.
Perhaps because of that, the article reports, “41 per cent of Gen Z and millennials who currently hold a TFSA are not investing inside of it, the TD research found.”
It’s not just the young who are keeping things in cash, the article continues.
“The survey also says 65 per cent of all Canadians hold a TFSA, but 39 per cent of them are not investing the money inside,” Rabinovitch notes.
“Introduced during the Great Recession, the TFSA was launched in 2009 and acted as a way to encourage Canadians to invest for retirement and other milestones,” the article explains.
“A TFSA acts as a tax shelter, allowing Canadians to put a certain amount of money into their account and, if they want, use that to invest in things like stocks, bonds, GICs and mutual funds,” the article adds.
You don’t pay taxes on dividends, interest, or capital gains inside a TFSA, the Global report adds, and in 2025 the annual contribution limit was $7,000.
The cost of living, the Global article tells us, was “the biggest concern for Canadians” ahead of the recent federal budget.
Recent polling done by Ipsos for Global “suggested 69 per cent of Canadians are `worried’ the government won’t do enough to help them in the years ahead. That number rose to more than 70 per cent among younger demographics,” the article states.
As well, the report concludes, “nearly half of respondents (46 per cent) to an Angus Reid survey conducted by Willful in October said they had to dip into their savings to keep up with daily expenses.”
Even if there’s not much left after the bills are paid, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan is a capable partner for long-term retirement savings.
You can contribute any amount you want, up to your personal registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) limit. You can make pre-authorized contributions from a bank account or credit card or set up SPP as a bill in your online banking and make contributions that way.
Your savings grow tax-free while they are in SPP – those taxes are deferred until you begin to withdraw your money as income in a post-work future. And your income options include a lifetime monthly annuity payment that never runs out, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.
Check out SPP today!
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Written by Martin Biefer
Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.
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