From an investor's point of view, are investment options that are allowed to grow 'tax free' a beneficial choice? The investor is anyway going to pay tax once he withdraws the money\*. 

What I am asking is: **How exactly does the 'tax-free' part of a TFSA help the investor?**

To be more precise, the question I am asking is: **If the investor decides to cash the money at the end of the term, are TFSA and normal account investment options equivalent?**

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*[moderator's note: for a TFSA, that premise is false.]*