Creating $1,000 in monthly income from your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) by 2030 isn’t about luck. It’s about strategy, patience, and math. You’ve got roughly five years to turn your capital into a self-sustaining, tax-free paycheque, so every choice from here matters. Yet before we get into a dividend stock to pick up, here’s what to think through before building that plan.
Getting started
To earn $1,000 per month or $12,000 a year, you’ll need a portfolio large enough to support that payout without eroding your capital too fast. If you don’t already have the balance, you’ll need to grow it. As of 2025, the TFSA lifetime limit is $103,500 for someone who’s been eligible since inception, plus $7,000 new room each year. If you’ve contributed less, you’ll need to blend annual contributions with compounding returns.
From there, focus on total return instead of just yield. High dividends look tempting, but a sustainable $1,000 per month depends on both yield and growth. A healthy mix of strong dividend payers can help balance stability with compounding. So choose reliable monthly or quarterly payers from financials, utilities, or telecoms, for example.
Then, reinvest until you reach your target! Dividends are powerful when reinvested. If you’re still building toward that $1,000 goal, use a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) to automatically buy more shares. That compounds your income faster. Once you hit your number, you can switch from reinvesting to withdrawing.
GRT
A strong option that checks these boxes is Granite Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:GRT.UN). Granite REIT is an industrial and logistics property REIT that owns, acquires, and manages properties in North America and Europe. It’s a dividend stock that pays out a monthly dividend at $0.2833 per share, with a yield at 4.4% at writing, covered by a 62% payout ratio.
Because GRT.UN pays monthly, you don’t have to wait for quarterly cheques. This makes constructing a smoother income stream easier. If you’re in accumulation mode now, you can reinvest those monthly distributions to buy more shares, which increases future income. Plus, Granite has been in a transformation phase selling non-core assets and optimizing its portfolio, and has a pipeline of developments. Critical to support future income.
Bottom line
Right now, it would take around $272,000 to create that $1,000 per month. However, we have until 2030. That’s why you can merely chip away and reinvest month after month to reach that goal! It also allows investors to create some diversification instead of putting all their eggs in this dividend stock basket. Instead, investors could start out with even a quarter of that price to work away at their reinvestment. Sure, you won’t be getting $1,000 in monthly dividend income today, but you’ll be well on the way towards it. The important part? Just start!
If you stick to this, by 2030 you could have a diversified, tax-free income stream that feels like a paycheque without the job. The trick is consistency: steady contributions, dividend reinvestment, and owning businesses that pay you reliably, month after month.
