I want to start using my TFSA more this year, my question is, is there a way for me to control my TFSA without having to go through a bank or financial advisor? Can I manage it from my home computer, using a monthly payment plan towards mutual funds or stocks I choose?
Obviously, it needs to be held in a financial
institution, but it doesn't have to be one of the big banks. Quest Trade (or any low fee online brokerage) lets you do exactly what you want. Mind you, so do the big banks. For RRSP account the big banks tend to charge $125/year until you have $25k invested with them (then it is free). Quest Trade is free for RRSPs. Both the big banks and Quest Trade have free TFSA investment accounts. In all cases you have access to an online investing portal that lets you do research, view your portfolio, buy, and sell. Setting up reoccuring payments is also really easy.
There are other low fee brokerages, I'm just using Quest Trade by name because it is the one I am most familiar with. I do not however have an account with them.
Since you expect to have the same income in retirement as in working (I'm curious how/why you plan that btw, since pensions are lower than working wages, and most people live on less when retired than working, so why work the extra years to build up the high retirement income?) the RRSP loses its biggest advantage (the tax break) - Kinda. You'll pay the same taxes when pulling the money out, but if you reinvest all that you get back from your tax return, you'll have more capital to grow faster, which is a pretty great thing.
The TFSA definitely wins for flexibility though. Want to pay out your mortgage early? Can do. Want to draw income early without being penalized or transfering the RRSP to an RLIF, Can do. I've got a mix of TFSA and RRSP (close to 50/50) so that I have that flexibility later if I want it, but I also get some of the tax advantages now.