I Maxed Out My TFSA! Now What? (Tax Free Savings Account)

[@stephandden]

What investment account are you focused on contributing to right now? Let us know! 👀

[@NecromancerTO]

FHSA

[@droid4161]

I have a question about the TFSA, when you say you say “the money you invest within this account after it grows hopefully after years and years, you can take that money out in the future without paying any taxes”. Does that means that you have to invest the money of your TFSA on assets to make it grow. Or is it an account to store your gaining after cashing out from investments like stock, bonds, gold, crypto, etfs, etc, without being taxed? I would really appreciate clarification 🙏

[@foodbody2031]

Hi Step, thank you so much for sharing valuable info. Please guide if these accounts are available for immigrants, international students currently studying in Canada and PR holders of other nationality? Would really appreciate if you can make a video on investment options for them

[@colinpritchard5066]

RESP > TFSA > RRSP

[@stephandden]

Thanks for watching! Good question - we have videos dedicated to each of the different investment accounts in Canada, and who can open one (the link to the playlist is in the description box!). For the TFSA specifically, any person who's a resident of Canada with a valid SIN and is 18+ years old, or any person who's a non-resident of Canada with a valid SIN and is 18+ years old can open a TFSA. We hope that helps. 😊

[@MaximeFortin]

I'm almost 24 and my TFSA is also maxed out right out so my next goal is the to max out my FHSA to by a home in the next few years. Love these kind of video!

[@stephandden]

Amazing 🥳🥳 We love to hear that!

[@patb2582]

A maxed out TFSA at 24 is a major flex

[@MaximeFortin]

@@patb2582 Thank you! I'm so lucky and privileged to have been able to do that.

[@leslie7872]

I'm 23 and I'm close to maxing out my TFSA but I'm no where near homeownership so my next move is to start contributing to my RRSP. What do you do for work and how much do you make? I don't know many 24 year olds looking to buy a home anytime soon considering I live in Toronto, sadly.

[@MaximeFortin]

@@leslie7872 I live in Quebec so homes are expensive but nowhere near as expensive as Toronto. I plan on using my TFSA and FHSA as the down payment and remaxing it out after. I work in marketing but have no student loans and lived with my parents until I was 20. Wishing you luck with the current market.

[@CanadianTShirt]

Congrats on maxing out your TFSA! That's a huge milestone! 🙌I hope I'll be able to max mine again this year! 😊

[@stephandden]

Thanks, Adrian! 😊 I’m sure you will!

[@paulinepustovit1392]

I am 19 and my contribution room is 19,500, I started contributing this year with Wealth Simple after watching one of your videos! Your videos are so useful and encouraging guys, thank you so much!

[@vzeq24]

I wish I would have started at 19. I would have been rich by now. Here's my tip to you. 1. Have $3000 (cash, your savings) in October. 2. Also in October, borrow another $7000 at a low-interest rate ( eventually do a balance transfer to a credit card that allows it - you can usually borrow with a 3% cost upfront) 3. Buy stocks and ETFs at the end of October under your RRSP account. 4. Start paying your debt or save money to pay off the debt when the balance transfer expires 5. In Spring when you get money from CRA pay off the whole debt. You have to be able to borrow and pay off your debt in 7-month cycles. Once your salary increases you multiply the whole trifecta ( your cash money, borrowed money, CRA return). I personally, use TFSA only to save money for paying off the balance transfers when expire. Believe it or not, balance transfers offer the cheapest loan these days (3-4% per year). But you have to be careful. You have to respect 3 cardinal rules: 1) Always borrow when the balance on your credit card is zero ( otherwise they will charge you the regular rate for the existing balance) 2) Always pay off the debt (right) before the balance expires ( otherwise the regular rate will kick in and you have to pay a lot in interest) 3) Do not use a credit card with a balance transferred to for purchases anymore ( they have an algorithm that maximizes their profit, they will not pay the balance from purchases before the whole debt - they will mostly use the payments to cover the balance transferred than the new purchases ) Do not break these 3 rules! Also, make sure your credit card(s) have enough limits so that borrowing will not impact your credit score (too much).

[@stephandden]

That's amazing - we're so happy to hear that! 🙏🏿🙌🏻

[@dominiquetheeasyminimalist]

Awesome plan, you're building a strong foundation that will financially protect you for life!

[@MFTW]

Maxed TFSA and FHSA. Just hoping to max RRSP this year and defer my RRSP collection for future years when I make more 🍞

[@stephandden]

Thank you so much! 😊

[@stephandden]

🥳🥳

[@warzoneboidems]

Nice video Steph. Congrats on maxing your account. Wish Den and you well.

[@stephandden]

Thank you so much! 😊

[@wolverinetrapper5238]

Excellent video on basic information the general Canadian population doesn't know about or take advantage of.

[@stephandden]

Thank you 😊

[@SofiaPowell]

Congrats Steph! and thanks for another great video! Would you and Den be able to make a video on how to go about changing banks (ie. going from a big bank into a lesser known one for higher interest savings), how to go about it, and what the pros and cons would be, etc.?

[@stephandden]

Thank you so much! That's a good video suggestion - overall, the process is fairly simple, but it's hard to know that without seeing it first hand! We'll add this to our list, or at least make a short form video about it. 😊

[@rajbirgill7671]

Congrats, and you guys are just amazing.🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@stephandden]

Thank you so much! 😊

[@Aubatron]

I did the TFSA and FHSA maxing, but I'm personally skipping the RRSP. Unless you're a high income earner, the benefits are not really worth it when you're already maxing the other two.

[@JuliaValentin-ex5js]

Love your videos!! I’m 21 years old and I have my TFSA maxed out too! Working on my fhsa now!!

[@stephandden]

Amazing! That's so great to hear 🥳

[@Charles-kv2xr]

Congrats Steph! I’m 27 and been fortunate enough to max out my TFSA (up to 2024) and RRSP (up to 2023). I bought my first home in 2022 right before the FHSA was introduced so I’m still a bit salty about that 😅

[@stephandden]

Yay, that's amazing! So happy to hear that (other than the home timing! but being in a position to buy a home is still a win 🥳)

[@JadenHercules]

Congrats! May I ask if you accomplished buying a house in Southern Ontario or elsewhere?

[@Charles-kv2xr]

@@JadenHerculesthanks! Yes I’m in Southern Ontario. I’ve been fortunate enough to work in tech which pays pretty well. I also didn’t have any student loans as I was an international student and my parents took care of my tuition. As much as international student tuition was expensive (120k+), the credits I got back during my first two years of full-time work were instrumental in saving for a down payment. I essentially got refunded all the tax I paid in those years.

[@joshuahankins2613]

How did you qualify unless you make 100k? Can find anything below 400k in Waterloo without super high condo fees.

[@Charles-kv2xr]

@@joshuahankins2613​​⁠interest rates were lower then and I was making 200k at the time. You’re probably wondering how or think I’m lying - and a few years ago, I’d have thought the same. I work in tech and discovered the pay gap between US and Canadian companies so I grinded hard and more than doubled my salary in one job switch. Took advantage of US companies now hiring Canadians remotely “for cheap” relative to US-based counterparts.

[@JadenHercules]

Great video as always! I've been trying to convince my friends and brothers about investing. Not many listen to but these accounts are all great for becoming financially independent which is my ultimate goal.

[@stephandden]

Thanks, Jaden! 😊 We’ve found that it can be hard to get someone to care about investing, too - I think the more someone hears something, the more likely it’ll be that they finally take action on it!

[@MoementumFinance]

Great job for maxing our your TFSA 👏 Way to go!

[@stephandden]

Thank you so much! 😊

[@epictetus3406]

Why wouldn't you take as little salary as possible from the corporation to save on taxes and rather invest through the corp?

[@danielbernatchez3216]

What i found crazy is having a juicy tfsa can help reduce tax by adding % of your dividend in your tfsa to you rrsp and then put back the credit receive in your tfsa !

[@fabiancanada8876]

I was wondering how you evaluate the danger of the government stealing the money from the TFSA? If there is a reset or a major crisis it would be very convenient to just take the money out of peoples accounts. Problem for us is that we have children and we can barely cover the basic needs like mortgage (property tax, repairs&maintenance), insurances, vehicle, food. The problem is that the salaries are so low here (Nova Scotia). I am working on my own business but it has been difficult so far and when you are that late in the game (mind 40s) it's hard to do something and time is running out. The investing part is easy, getting the money for it is the problem. Average income here is 50k gross (before tax and believe it or not you pay a fair amount of income tax for making that amount!).

[@raphaelventura8465]

Great video!!!! Thank you for posting. Could you please explore in some future videos how to invest the money in those accounts? I would appreciate if you could explore more about ETFs IFs, Stocks in general, with examples. Keep up the good work! Tks again!

[@stephandden]

Thank you for the video suggestions! This video about how to invest for the first time should be helpful - kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKm7kJybm9apoa8 We're also planning on doing one all about ETFs that should be coming out soon 😊

[@asukatakahashi7834]

Thank you for your useful videos. What is the reason that you maxed out your TFSA last year instead of starting FHSA if you are planning to buying a home in a few years? If you are planning to buy one within five years, is it better to benefit the limit of 40000$ than contributing TFSA which we can catch up later?

[@stephandden]

Thank you for watching! Good question - investing as much as possible for retirement when I'm young is a big priority for me (more so than buying a home for us to live in), so I wanted to ensure I was contributing as much as possible to that financial goal, first. Now that my TFSA is maxed out, I'm adding in the goal of saving for us to buy a home! If your (or anyone's!) focus is to buy a house as a primary residence within the next couple of years, then yes, it might make sense to switch your focus to the FHSA first to capitalize on that contribution room (especially since you can catch up with your TFSA room in the future). 😊

[@Gelliny]

Congrats Steph! Hopefully I get to say the same thing in 2 years 🙏

[@stephandden]

We know you will! Thank you so much 😊

[@joshuahankins2613]

I will be graduating into a government job in accounting plan to contribute 10% of my after tax pay minum to TFSA and FHSA. Also have to mandatory contribut 8-10% to the pension plan.

[@stephandden]

Amazing - we love to hear that 👏🏿👏🏻

[@xrpfreak7881]

At rate cost of houses are increasing, better to jump in and buy now in places like Calgary instead of deferring funds into a FHSA. Buying now could save hundreds of thousands on the cost of a new house that will inevitably go up rapidly in price in the coming years.

[@stephandden]

Many people don't have the funds available to jump in an buy now - if you do, then yes you have more flexibility 😊

[@chthonicnoise860]

So my wifes bank account holds all of our savings. Were looking to putting our savings into TFSA's with wealth simple. If i open an account under my name and information and use her bank account to transfer money into my TFSA and to buy stocks does this effect my contribution limit or hers?

[@SkyRanger999]

You can’t use your fhsa to buy a rental investment propety. It doesn’t matter if you are first home buyer or not

[@stephandden]

Yes, that's true 😊

[@vhateverlie]

Duplex, triplex, fourplex, so long as you're living in it and somehow have enough money to front for the actual construction...

[@Krish._b-kb]

Where do you park your TFSA funds EQ bank ir Quest trade

[@Krynale]

I maxed RRSP first got the employer's match and the additional tax refunds as a result. Then maxed the TFSA as brokage account.

[@stephandden]

If you have an employer’s match, it’s definitely great to take advantage of that!

[@imaginosdesdinova]

Can you please give some info on annual obligatory reporting to CRA on TFSA

[@stephandden]

Just replied to your other comment! 😊

[@vh6209]

Thank you for the video. If I arrived in Canada in September 2022, can I use the 2022 contribution limit for my TFSA? Or do I need to start counting my limit from 2023

[@droid4161]

I have a question about the TFSA, when you say you say “the money you invest within this account after it grows hopefully after years and years, you can take that money out in the future without paying any taxes”. Does that means that you have to invest the money of your TFSA on assets to make it grow. Or is it an account to store your gaining after cashing out from investments like stock, bonds, gold, crypto, etfs, without being taxed? I would really appreciate clarification 🙏

[@rizvimi]

You keep 1000$ in TFSA. Invest that 1000$ on stocks, you gained 500$. No need to pay taxes on this 500$ - which means you have to invest the money of your TFSA on assets to make it grow. It is not an account to store your gains from other places. Only the gain you get from investments using TFSA money is untaxed.

[@stephandden]

Hi! Good question - yes, ideally you'll open a TFSA, contribute money, and then invest that money within the account. Then, both the money you originally contributed, and the growth of your investments, will sit in that account together. You should also check out our video all about the TFSA for more details + examples 😊kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJencmCflNGXqtU

[@rahuldatta1382]

which platform do you recommad to open up a tfsa account

[@user-wj9xq7ig2v]

It's all about the Benjamins or should they be Borden's?

[@stephandden]

Ha! 😂

[@mark2bellon]

Ive max out my TFSA and RRSP, not eligible for fhsa. Can I contribute to my wife TFSA?

[@stephandden]

Congratulations on maxing out both your TFSA and RRSP! You can't contribute to your wife's TFSA directly, but you can gift your spouse (or common law partner) money so that they can contribute to their own TFSA. 😊

[@cunliffest]

Maxed mine out last year and again this year!

[@stephandden]

🥳🥳 amazing!

[@Whiteruud]

In the UK they are allowed $35,000 Canadian per year and in the USA they are allowed $25000 in their tax savings accounts, how come in Canada we get a measly $7000 ? and they wonder why young people cannot buy a house !

[@Jibril_Abdulkadir]

Great vid not close to maxing my Tsfa 😂 but at least I know about the first home account I already have a rrsp

[@stephandden]

Thank you! Knowledge is the most important first step 😊

[@bennyjetsaroundtheworld9047]

I'm 18 years old and my tfsa, rrsp, fhsa are all maxed put now what should I do?

[@carloespinosa5377]

Invest

[@stephandden]

You can use a taxable account and continue investing. 😊

[@kaylasmith6960]

Love your content! I’m in the process of adding to my FHSA but not entirely sure which options are the best to invest in this account because of it being short term until buying a house. Are you going to be doing a video on the best investment options for beginners investing in FHSA and saving for a their first home?

[@stephandden]

Thank you! 😊 Good question - yes, we're going to be posting a video about investing in an FHSA soon! We also have this video about GICs where we touch on the FHSA, as well - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHK2iJ5qbNKAoLM

[@ImaniLove94]

I really love this! You guys do a great job of breaking everything down, so thank you! I would love to hear more about how you organize the finances of your business? As you're earning money do you keep it in a business account, have your set salaries automatically withdrawn and then at the end decide what the bonus would be? What percentage do you keep in your business savings? For business expenses do you use a credit card and then pay the balance of the cc at the end of the month? I appreciate any advice! Thank you.

[@stephandden]

Thank you so much! Yes, all of our money gets deposited into our business bank account, and as employees of our business, we get paid our set salaries on the first on the month. Our year end bonus is dependant on how we did throughout the year, and we have an accountant that helps us determine the right amount for us. We do also have a business credit card, and yes we ensure the balance is always paid off! We hope that's helpful. 😊

[@shaolongchen]

hi where do you guys learn about all the taxes information? i am still very lost on taxes work, where did you guys learn them? school?

[@vzeq24]

CRA website. They also have examples.

[@stephandden]

Hi! Good question - we've learned from various online resources! KZbin is a great starting resource, but like the other commenter said, the CRA website does have the information + examples, too. 😊 we wish this was taught in school, though!

[@luisacevedo8699]

If the TFSA is maxed out for you, can you start an STSA account for your spouse? will he/she have also the same limits or is it per household? thanks.

[@stephandden]

Do you mean can you contribute money towards your spouses TFSA? You can’t directly contribute the money into their account, but you can give your spouse money so that they can contribute to their own TFSA. That money, and any income it generates, then belongs to your spouse (according to the TFSA rules). You would both have your own contribution room and limits - aka it’s not per household. 😊

[@shaolongchen]

can i contributing my RRSP room to deduct taxes without invest in to an RRSP account? when i file my taxes this year, can i just put the contribution amount that I want on the tax report to aviod paying taxes at the moment., ? please help

[@stephandden]

Hi! In theory, yes - the money you contribute to your RRSP reduces your taxable income, whether you invest it or just let the money sit there. However, if you want to use the RRSP in the way that's most beneficial to you, you'll invest the money you contribute so it grows over time. You should check out our video all about RRSPs to learn more (the more knowledge you have, the better!) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/imqQq5ZjYr-epas

[@shaolongchen]

@@stephandden thanks for the reply. What was trying to say was, can I use the contributions without even putting any money into the Rrsp account. Like all I want is to pay less taxes this year, but I don’t want to put any money inside an rrsp account at all. With no money inside the rrsp account, can I just put whatever amount that I want on my taxes report

[@vhateverlie]

​@@shaolongchenif your money isn't going into an RRSP account you're not getting your taxes reduced. The TFSA is for aftertax income and doesn't provide any upfront tax advantages.

[@FactsAllowed]

So is government spending maxed out.

[@brendonvz]

Does it make sense to stop contributing to a TFSA and only focus on an FHSA?

[@stephandden]

If your priority is saving to buy a home within the next few years, as opposed to investing for the long-term (aka retirement), then it might! It depends on your current financial goals 😊

[@danielst.arnault4660]

So if you maxed out your TSFA account, and your investments exceed the amount that’s capped, so does that mean you don’t get taxed on the profits?

[@stephandden]

No you wouldn’t get taxed on the amount that’s grown on top of your contributions! It’s all about how much you’ve contributed to the account yourself. We dive deeper in our TFSA Explained video 😊

[@KrazEWillY]

great video steph, I am also probably going to follow the same investment steps but i am also wondering if you have opened a personal / taxed account? when should you open one?

[@stephandden]

We just posted a video about this on our channel a few weeks ago! It’s called ‘Taxable Accounts, Explained’ 😊

[@KrazEWillY]

@@stephandden awesome, thank you!

[@cindyxc.]

love your content! Have a question about the FHSA.. i have not maxed out my TFSA, should i still open the FHSA anyways even though im not contributing anything? or should i put in 8k for the year so it also lower my incomes taxable amount?

[@stephandden]

Do you plan on using any of the funds in your TFSA to buy a house and when do you think you’ll want to purchase a home (as in how many years from now)? 😊 Also, if purchasing a house is more of near term goal - then you should definitely consider opening one up. You just want to make sure that you’re going to be able to get the most out of the account given that you lose contribution room if you cant keep up with your growing contribution room. Check out our in depth video on the FHSA Explained.

[@cindyxc.]

@@stephandden im not going to use my tfsa to buy a house, its for investing. And plan to buy a house in the next 10 years. In this case should i not open one until i am ready to purchase a home in the near term/can contribute $, so i wont lose any contribution room?

[@vantrichardson1584]

Does America have anything similar to a FHSA?? if not I'm packing and catching a flight lol.

[@stephandden]

Sadly no, not that we know of! 🥲

[@joshuahankins2613]

No but there homes are way less expensive

[@alvarotorrado7949]

If you plan to invest for the long run, I would advice to start with rrsp and fhsa and after you max out those for the year then go for TFSA. As you mentioned TFSA room accumulates but if you don’t contribute to rrsp or TFSA you lose the room for that year. Also those are tax deductible

[@shafinmahmud1204]

Which stock did you invest in the most?

[@stephandden]

You should check out this video - I cover exactly what I've invested in over the past three years! 😊 kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGLOhmmHZpd8i7c

[@NecromancerTO]

How much rent do you pay now?

[@stephandden]

$1,900/month total - my half is $950/month 😊

[@NecromancerTO]

2:20 - just out of curiosity , is that income before or after tax ?

[@stephandden]

After tax (aka my ‘take home pay’) 😊

[@elgooges]

I recommend opening a money market account and invest in monthly dividend paying REITs and ETFs.

[@stephandden]

That's not what I'm looking to do at this time 😊

[@elgooges]

@@stephandden what's your plan then?

[@damianmussi3205]

Hey thanks for the video! So can I max all tax free accounts to reduce my current tax bracket?

[@obesia1873]

Not me buying an overpriced house days before FHSA became a thing. I feel discriminated against by Justin Trudeau

[@stephandden]

Oh no 😅 hate that timing!

[@obesia1873]

@@stephandden Its bs because I bought a house just as expensive as people who need FHSA to buy a house.

[@cryptojohnny7781]

good for you .......I wish LOL

[@stephandden]

Thank you! You’ll get there 🙏🏻🙏🏿

[@xrpfreak7881]

The problem with an RRSP is the devaluation of the money you've put into the account. 10k put in RRSPs at age 30 will likely only have 10 percent of the initial purchasing power by time you're ready to take it out decades later. Better using that money somewhere else. Governments and banks already know this but continue to promote this scam.

[@Charles-kv2xr]

This makes zero sense. Educate yourself please.

[@xrpfreak7881]

@@Charles-kv2xr When you put 10k into RRSPs, how much do you get out, say 20 years later? That's right, 10k. So you get a reduction on taxes due to you being in a possible lower income bracket, but what you fail to understand, is the purchasing power of that 10k is significantly less when you finally take it out, regardless of time frame. You're being ripped off pal.

[@xrpfreak7881]

@@Charles-kv2xr In fact, why don't you educate me? This should be good.

[@vzeq24]

@@xrpfreak7881 The problem is not investing in RRSP, the problem is investing in mutual funds. Many mutual funds have been investing a lot of money in fixed-income; federal and provincial bonds with 1-2% yield and maturity date in 2050! It does not make any sense. On top of that, they charge 2% as a management fee! Like investing money with a rate of return lower than the inflation rate deserve any reward. People have to stay away from mutual funds. Stocks and ETFs ( when they do not have enough money) should be their assets.

[@Charles-kv2xr]

@@xrpfreak7881any reasonable party putting money in an RRSP isn’t letting it sit in cash. It’s placed in investment vehicles that have historically returned over 5% real returns (net of inflation). The best part is that this growth is unencumbered by taxes therefore compounding happens more smoothly. The reason the 10k you’re mentioning loses purchasing power is due to inflation. It doesn’t seem like you understand what that concept is or why investing is so important - which is why I said to educate yourself. Also, you seem to be making this claim with regards to RRSPs but not TFSAs or FHSAs. By your logic, shouldn’t the same thing happen when you deposit 10k in these accounts? Or in any account for that matter? So why save in the first place? Just blow all your money since it has peak purchasing power right now lmao 😂 I would suggest you look up “compounded growth” and use a simple investment calculator (just google it) to visualize what this means. The earlier you understand this, the better. Your current cynicism could end up costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifespan. You’re welcome.

[@xrpfreak7881]

If I was a young person, the primary investment I would be focusing on is reaching 1 full bitcoin. Nothing else will keep up with inflation, including the TFSA.

[@vzeq24]

They can buy stocks that mine bitcoins. It's like having bitcoins on steroids. When the bitcoin goes up by 3-4%, the stock goes up by 10-12%. When the bitcoin goes down by 3-4% the stock goes down by 10-15%. They are also cheap so young people can easily invest in such stocks.

[@stephandden]

The TFSA isn't what will keep up with inflation - it's the investments you buy within a TFSA 😊

[@xrpfreak7881]

@@stephandden There is nothing in your TFSA that is keeping up with real inflation.

[@joshuahankins2613]

​@xrpfreak7881 your advising gambling

[@jomarie04]

Hi i just have a question, so i am restarting my journey at investing. Does it really matter how much money you put in your investment/stocks? For example, if i do $100 per month everytime i invest is it a good start? I am using wealthsimple for investing and i’ve seen a lot of people do both wealthsimple and questrade

[@stephandden]

Hey! Great question 😊 No it doesn’t matter - you should contribute however much you can when you’re just starting out. I began my investment journey contributing $200 a month, but over time I’ve increased that amount. Also, there’s no reason to be using both Questrade and Wealthsimple. Hope that helps!

[@jomarie04]

@@stephandden i see thank you for that advice :))