Comparison might be the thief of joy, but today, we’re going to use it anyway. According to data from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), specifically Table 3A from its annual Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) statistics, the numbers may surprise you.
The latest release, covering the 2023 contribution year, breaks down TFSA balances by age group. For Canadians aged 50 to 54, the average fair market value sits at just $30,190.
That’s lower than many people might expect. On its own, it’s not enough to fund a retirement. But to be fair, a TFSA is just one piece of the puzzle. By this stage in life, you may also have home equity, a workplace pension plan, and savings in a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP).
Still, if you’re sitting on roughly $30,000 in your TFSA with about 10 to 15 years until retirement, the question becomes: how should you invest it?
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The ideal asset allocation for 50-year-olds
Asset allocation simply refers to how you divide your portfolio between different types of investments. The two biggest factors that influence it are your time horizon and your risk tolerance.
If you’re around 50 and planning to retire at 65, you still have about 15 years to grow your money. That’s long enough to benefit from compounding, so being overly conservative could mean leaving gains on the table. At the same time, this isn’t the stage to take excessive risks with concentrated stock picks.
A balanced approach tends to make the most sense. That means splitting your portfolio between growth assets and more defensive ones that don’t always move in the same direction. Growth typically comes from stocks, while stability comes from bonds.
Diversification matters within both categories. For stocks, that means owning companies across all 11 sectors and across regions, including Canada, the United States, and international markets. Developed markets like Europe and Japan, as well as emerging markets like China and India, all play a role.
The same idea applies to bonds. Holding a mix of government and corporate bonds across different maturities can help reduce volatility.
And throughout all of this, fees matter. The less you pay in fees, the more of your returns you keep.
The ideal ETF for a 50-year-old TFSA
One exchange-traded fund (ETF) that puts all of this into practice is Vanguard Growth ETF Portfolio (TSX:VGRO).
This ETF maintains an 80/20 split between stocks and bonds, giving you a strong tilt toward growth while still providing some downside protection. It’s globally diversified across sectors and regions, and it achieves this by holding a basket of underlying low-cost index ETFs.
In other words, it handles the heavy lifting for you. You don’t need to build and rebalance a portfolio yourself. You simply buy the ETF and reinvest the distributions, which currently yield about 1.87% on a 12-month basis.
Costs are another advantage. VGRO previously had a management fee of 0.22%, translating to a 0.24% management expense ratio (MER). As of November 18, 2025, Vanguard reduced the management fee to 0.17%. While the updated MER hasn’t been finalized yet, it’s expected to land in the range of 0.19% to 0.20%, which is very competitive for a globally diversified, all-in-one solution.
Final thoughts
If the average TFSA balance at age 50 is around $30,000, the focus shouldn’t be on comparing yourself to others. It should be on making the most of what you have.
With a decade or more still ahead, there’s time to grow your investments. The key is to strike a balance between growth and stability, stay diversified, and keep costs low.
You don’t need to overcomplicate things. A well-constructed and low-cost all-in-one ETF can do most of the work for you.
