If you’re 30, the average Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) balance matters more than you think. The CRA’s latest TFSA statistics use age bands, and Canadians aged 30 to 34 held an average TFSA fair market value of about $16,760 in the 2023 contribution year, which works as a decent stand-in for “around age 30.” The same table shows average unused TFSA room of roughly $61,882 for that age band, which tells you most people have lots of space left to catch up. Knowing the average helps you benchmark, but it should not shame you. It should give you a clean starting line, plus a reminder that time still sits on your side. So here’s how to speed things up.
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FFH
Fairfax Financial Holdings (TSX: FFH) looks boring on purpose, and that’s a compliment (don’t come for me, Prem Watsa!). It’s a holding company built around property and casualty insurance, plus reinsurance, with investment management sitting right beside it. In plain English, it sells insurance through a web of operating companies, collects premiums, pays claims, and invests the money in between. That “in between” part can turn into a quiet engine for long-term growth when management stays disciplined.
The company’s structure gives it a lot of levers. Insurance units do the day-to-day work, while the head office sets the playbook and allocates capital. Fairfax also talks openly about book value growth as a core aim, which matters because book value often tracks long-term value creation for insurers more reliably than flashy revenue headlines. When underwriting stays steady and investments cooperate, the compounding can feel almost unfair. When either side slips, results can swing.
That long-game mindset has shown up in the stock’s recent run. Over the last year, Fairfax delivered a return of about 31% at writing, which sits right in the same neighbourhood as the broader TSX. That does not guarantee anything for next year, but it does show the market still rewards steady execution. It also reminds you that this is not a “set it and forget it for three months” kind of stock. It suits a patient TFSA investor.
Earnings support
Now to the numbers. In its third quarter of 2025, Fairfax reported net earnings attributable to shareholders of about US$1.2 billion, or US$52.04 per diluted share. It also reported book value per basic share of US$1,203.65 at September 30, 2025, up from US$1,059.60 at December 31, 2024, with the company noting that gain after adjusting for a US$15 dividend paid earlier in 2025. Those are big, confidence-building figures, and show why investors watch book value so closely here.
What pushed results forward? Fairfax pointed to stronger operating income from its core insurance and reinsurance businesses, plus higher interest and dividend income, which makes sense in a world where yields have stayed meaningfully higher than the ultra-low-rate era. It also flagged a deal to sell most of its stake in Eurolife’s life operations while taking a significant equity interest in a Cyprus-based property and casualty insurer. The big risk, as always in insurance, comes from ugly surprises like major catastrophe losses or reserve changes that can turn a great quarter into a mediocre one fast.
Meanwhile, it still looks surprisingly down-to-earth for a company that just posted such results. Fairfax trades at nine times earnings, with a market cap around $56 billion, plus a modest dividend yield that sits at 0.8% at writing. That mix tells you the market treats it as a compounding story, not an income play.
Bottom line
So why does Fairfax make sense for boosting a TFSA balance at age 30? Because your best friend is time, and this is the kind of business that can compound quietly over long stretches when management stays rational. At 30, you don’t need a giant dividend to feel progress. You need a solid engine that can grow while you keep adding contributions, especially since the CRA data shows most people your age still have lots of unused room to work with. Keep it sized sensibly, pair it with diversification, and let the calendar do the heavy lifting.
