It has been 17 years because the tax-free financial savings account (TFSA) was rolled out in 2009, and by all accounts, this system has been a hit. The typical Canadian has deposited tens of 1000’s into his/her TFSA through the years and made substantial funding positive aspects within the course of.
So, there’s little doubt that TFSAs are fashionable. The query is whether or not they’re making an actual contribution to Canadians’ retirement financial savings. Whereas the TFSA is extensively used, it’s nonetheless much less fashionable than the RRSP, which frequently has employer-matching plans and different such institutional helps hooked up to it. The TFSA isn’t fairly there but. Nonetheless, the TFSA is a well-liked account for making investments, particularly short-term trades.
So, it’s a pure factor to marvel how your TFSA compares to that of the typical Canadian your age. If you happen to’re 50 years previous, then you definitely’ve had a while to develop and compound your account. What’s your scorecard?
Whereas your “place relative to the averages” just isn’t one thing that determines how a lot you’ll really have to retire, it’s one thing you may ask in your approach to figuring that out. With that in thoughts, right here’s my finest estimate of what the typical Canadian has in his/her TFSA at age 50.
Supply: Getty Pictures
Tips on how to gauge what the typical Canadian has in TFSAs
The best approach to estimate what the typical Canadian has in TFSAs at age 50 is to go off of Statistics Canada (StatCan) information. StatCan publishes lists of TFSA contributions and balances for the newest 12 months it has on file. Presently, that 12 months is 2023. Whereas StatCan doesn’t give precise TFSA estimates for each potential age, it does give estimates for age brackets. Utilizing these tables, we will put together a variety of estimates for adjoining age teams and provide you with an estimate primarily based on that.
What the typical 50-year-old Canadian had in a TFSA in 2023
Based on the newest StatCan information, the typical Canadian had one thing like $24,000–$27,000 in his/her TFSA in 2023. Right here’s how I arrived at that.
Based on StatCan’s 2025 information dump, the typical TFSA stability within the 45 to 49 age vary was $23,818, whereas the typical for the 50–54 age vary was $29,371. Whereas we will’t assume that the annual quantities develop completely linearly and simply take the precise center worth as the typical, we may be fairly assured that the typical TFSA stability at age 50 was between $25,000 and $28,000 in 2023.
Investing in your TFSA
If you happen to’re questioning the way to improve your TFSA stability, I’ve one suggestion for you:
Have a look into index funds.
Take a fund just like the Vanguard FTSE Canadian Excessive Dividend Yield Index ETF (TSX:VDY). It’s a Canadian dividend-themed index fund constructed on high-yield dividend shares. It tracks an index supplied by FTSE, a good index writer. It has 61 shares, which is an affordable quantity of diversification (“not placing all of your eggs in a single basket”). Lastly, it has a 16.5 P/E ratio and a 2.3 price-to-book ratio, indicating it’s a good worth. General, placing your cash right into a fund like VDY most likely makes much more sense than chasing particular person “sizzling” shares in your TFSA.
