Norwitt’s constant floor
Transfers — as a decision ruleStrip out the options and what is left is a pre-set rule for converting concentrated equity into diversified assets, executed on a calendar rather than on a view. That scales to one person with a private company. You have no public stock to sell, but you face the same annual decision — how much leaves the company, and in what form.
The direction matters in Canada in a way it does not in the US example: salary creates RRSP contribution room and CPP obligations; dividends do not create RRSP room. A rule decided in advance (fund RRSP room to the limit, fill the TFSA, then decide the remainder) beats a split decided in December based on how the year felt.
THIS WEEK → Write down the 2026 salary/dividend split you intend and the RRSP and TFSA amounts it funds. One page, not a model. Then confirm it with your accountant before 31 December — the corporate year-end and payroll remittance deadlines constrain the salary side and cannot be fixed retroactively.