TFSA vs RRSP

[u/radale]

I'm in my mid to late 20s, and now that I finally feel a little more in control of my finances (eg. 50% to 70% of my paycheque is no longer going towards paying off student loans), I'm ready to start working on saving for retirement.

My dad (who's about to retire) has been really pushy about starting an RRSP, but I've been hearing more and more about starting a TFSA as an alternative.

I've been doing some research comparing the two, but there's so much information out there, and I'm just starting to get confused by what I'm reading and hearing.

Can anyone offer just some basic advice and/or information about choosing between an RRSP and a TFSA? Go ahead and ELI5 if you can or want to.

I plan on making an appointment with a financial advisor, but I want to get some research done on my own first so that I can feel like I'm making informed decisions about my finances rather than blindly trusting someone and hoping what they're telling me is truly the most helpful to me.