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temptation to make unnecessary withdrawals.

TFSAs also make a great addition to your retirement savings toolkit. While many people think that investing in a TFSA or an RA is mutually exclusive, they work well together as part of a balanced portfolio. The TFSA provides additional flexibility, while the RA ensures you grow a designated pool of money that cannot ordinarily be accessed before retirement.

Contributions are limited to R33 000 per tax year, or R500 000 over your lifetime.

If you haven’t started a TFSA, the end of the tax year (February 28) drawing closer provides an additional incentive for you to get in touch with your financial adviser. But whatever you do, remember that the benefits of TFSAs stack up in the long run, so don’t delay too long. pre-1998 benefits that you have not previously claimed will be excluded from the cash lump sum taken, to which the retirement tax scales will be applied.

After this deduction, the retirement tax scales will be applied, which includes that the first R500 000 is not taxed, taking into account any other previous retirement benefits that were taken. This means that any unclaimed benefit still available from pre-1998 will be assessed before the normal retirement tax scales apply. top up my retirement savings.

I’m concerned about meeting the monthly repayments on a car, as well as affording my retirement annuity (RA) debit order, so I would like to know how best to allocate this windfall.

Name withheld

Jacqui Kruger, a financial adviser at PSG Wealth in Silverlakes in Pretoria, responds: