For Incorporated Owners

Leave it in the corporation, or pay it out and invest personally?

Not the RRSP question — this is specifically about retaining surplus in a corporation (or a holdco) to invest there, versus extracting it now and investing in a personal, non-registered account. Model it with your real numbers below.

What this simplifies, on purpose: corporate investment income is modeled at a flat ~50% combined tax rate on growth each year, without simulating the Refundable Dividend Tax on Hand (RDTOH) refund's exact timing and amount — a real mechanic that would improve the corporate path's result somewhat, not modeled precisely here (see the RRSP-vs-corporate comparison for more on why RDTOH matters and how much it can move the answer). The corporate path assumes the accumulated balance is eventually paid out as a non-eligible dividend, taxed personally at your stated withdrawal-year rate. The personal path assumes annually-taxed capital gains at the 50% inclusion rate — a diversified equity portfolio realizing gains every year, not interest income or deferred gains, both of which would change the personal side's result too.

See this alongside your actual corporation's real revenue and expenses.

Model your corporation →

This is the structural question behind holding companies — a holdco exists specifically to be the place retained surplus like this actually sits.

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