Retirement savings advice usually starts with a budget, and budgets usually fail. You build the categories, track the spending for two weeks, and then life happens and the spreadsheet disappears. Anita Bruinsma’s approach skips that entirely: the day you get paid, $50 goes into a TFSA before you see it, and everything left is yours to spend.

The structural difference matters more than the amount. A forced savings habit removes the daily decision. Where that money sits matters too: chequing earns zero, online banks like EQ and Simplii pay more, and invested in the stock market for retirement, the compounding means you save far less to end up with far more. CPP and OAS add another layer most people discount or distrust. Bruinsma is direct: those programs are well managed, the money will be there, and combined they cover a meaningful base of retirement income that most people aren’t factoring in.

The other move is finding one subscription or expense you genuinely don’t care about and redirecting it. Not your coffee. The streaming service you forgot you had. That’s the proof of concept that momentum is possible from wherever you’re standing right now.

Topics: retirement savings Canada, TFSA tips, CPP and OAS retirement income, debt consolidation, small savings strategies

GUEST: Anita Bruinsma | http://clarityonyourmoney.com

Originally aired on2026-03-02