At age 60, most Canadians are both retired or counting down the ultimate years to retirement. By this stage, the monetary selections you’ve made — particularly along with your Tax-Free Financial savings Account (TFSA) — can dramatically form your way of life.
The TFSA stays one of the highly effective retirement instruments obtainable. Withdrawals are fully tax-free and, crucially, don’t set off clawbacks on authorities advantages akin to Outdated Age Safety (OAS) or Assured Revenue Complement (GIS). That makes it uniquely priceless in comparison with Registered Retirement Financial savings Plans (RRSPs) or Registered Retirement Revenue Funds (RRIFs).
However right here’s the eye-opening query: How does the common 60-year-old Canadian really measure up?
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The $45,000 actuality test
Based on Statistics Canada information for 2025 (primarily based on the 2023 contribution yr), Canadians aged 60–64 had a median TFSA truthful market worth of $45,109. Much more placing? They’d a median of $47,631 in unused contribution room.
Which means the everyday Canadian on this age group has extra unused room than invested property.
As a long-time investor, I see this as each regarding and stuffed with alternative. At 60, your TFSA ought to ideally be a mature, income-producing asset — not a half-used account.
Let’s have a look at the missed potential. If that unused $47,631 had been positioned right into a conservative Assured Funding Certificates (GIC) incomes 3%, it might generate roughly $1,429 yearly in passive earnings. That’s modest — nevertheless it’s nonetheless cash that would assist offset inflation or cowl recurring bills.
And that’s the ultra-conservative state of affairs.
Why the TFSA is constructed for greater than GICs
The TFSA can maintain excess of money and GICs. Eligible investments embrace mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), bonds, and particular person shares listed on main exchanges such because the Toronto Inventory Alternate and the New York Inventory Alternate.
For retirees following the 4% withdrawal rule, a TFSA portfolio producing 4-6% yearly — with some development — can present significant, sustainable tax-free earnings. Extra importantly, development above inflation will increase buying energy, which is crucial when retirement may final 25–30 years.
That is the place high-quality income-growth shares can shine.
One instance retirees may think about is Brookfield Infrastructure Companions (TSX:BIP.UN). The infrastructure enterprise presents secure money flows, and this partnership owns diversified world property throughout utilities, transport, midstream, and information infrastructure.
Roughly 85% of its funds from operations (FFO) are regulated or contracted, with inflation safety embedded in lots of agreements. The corporate targets greater than 10% annual FFO-per-unit development and 5–9% annual distribution development.
Consistency issues in retirement. This yr marks Brookfield Infrastructure Companions’s seventeenth consecutive years of money distribution will increase. In 2025, it elevated FFO per unit by 6.4% and raised its distribution by 5.8% in January this yr.
At round $54 per unit, the yield sits close to 4.6%. A transfer resulting in a yield of above 5% throughout market pullbacks ought to set off earnings buyers to observe extra carefully.
The important thing takeaway isn’t to purchase one particular inventory. It’s that the TFSA can — and arguably ought to — be working more durable than the common stability suggests.
What this common actually tells us
The $45,109 common stability tells us two issues:
1. Many Canadians are underutilizing among the finest tax shelters obtainable.
2. There’s nonetheless a significant alternative — even at age 60 — to optimize retirement earnings.
At this stage of life, capital preservation issues. However so does clever development. A thoughtfully constructed TFSA combining secure earnings, dividend development, and a few inflation safety can meaningfully improve retirement flexibility — with out growing taxable earnings.
Investor takeaway
The common Canadian TFSA stability at age 60 sits at roughly $45,000 — with about $48,000 in unused contribution room. That hole highlights a missed alternative.
Whereas even conservative investments may generate further passive earningsthe TFSA’s true energy lies in its skill to compound tax-free by means of diversified investments akin to ETFs and income-growth shares.
For Canadians approaching or in retirement, maximizing this account isn’t optionally available — it’s one of many smartest monetary strikes you may make to guard and elevate your retirement way of life.