This Is the Average TFSA Balance for Canadians at Age 60

Turning 60 puts your TFSA in the spotlight, and this senior-housing dividend payer aims to deliver tax-free income plus long-term demand growth.

Amy Legate-Wolfe

Author Bio

Amy became interested in investing in 2018 after having her first daughter. After receiving a masters degree in journalism from Western University, she became frustrated that the finance industry remained a confusing place for Canadians like her: new parents, millennials, and other young people who needed to understand their finances. Now, Amy focuses on tech companies and renewable energy for growth opportunities, coupling that with long-term investing strategies and equities. She also provides investors with a daily newsletter, Canada Stock Digest, for daily market updates. Before joining Motley Fool Canada, she wrote for major news organizations including HuffPost, CTVNews.ca, and CBC. When she’s not researching investing strategies, Amy’s time is pretty much monopolized by her two wild daughters, but in what little spare time she has she loves to do yoga, go on walks with her dog, and travel with her husband.

Social Media

Follow Amy on LinkedIn and Canada Stock Digest.

Favorite Investment Quote

“October: This is one of the particularly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.” – Mark Twain

Published April 22, 4:30 pm EDT

| More on: SIA

Key Points

At 60, your TFSA matters for tax-free withdrawals, benefit planning, and flexible income without boosting taxable earnings.
Most Canadians keep building their TFSAs after 60, so staying invested beats letting the account sit in cash.
Sienna Senior Living offers a 4%+ yield with improving occupancy and growing cash flow, driven by Canada’s aging population.

Turning 60 makes your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) balance feel a lot more important. At that age, retirement stops feeling abstract and starts feeling close enough to price out. A healthy TFSA can give Canadians tax-free income, flexibility for big withdrawals, and a buffer that does not push taxable income higher the way some other accounts can. That matters even more when people want to protect benefits, manage cash flow, and keep more control over how they fund the next stage of life.

What to consider at 60

The latest CRA statistics show Canadians aged 60 to 64 held an average TFSA fair market value of $45,109 in the 2023 contribution year. That number rises to $51,244 for ages 65 to 69, which suggests many Canadians keep building after 60 rather than tapping the brakes. Still, the big takeaway is not that $45,109 is some magic finish line. It’s just an average, and plenty of Canadians sit well below it or far above it depending on income, contribution history, withdrawals, and investing style.

What should a 60-year-old consider? First, consider how much TFSA room remains. Someone eligible since 2009 and who has never contributed could have $109,000 of room in 2026. Second, consider how the money is invested. Too much cash can feel safe, but it can also leave long-term growth on the table. At 60, many Canadians still have decades ahead of them, so the TFSA often works best as a mix of income and growth rather than a parking spot.

Regular contributions, reinvested dividends, and a focus on durable businesses can keep the account moving upwards. The kinds of stocks that fit well are often dividend growers, defensive compounders, and companies tied to long-term demand trends. That is where a stock like Sienna Senior Living (TSX:SIA) starts to look interesting. It offers income today, but it also has a business model built around a trend that should not disappear any time soon.

SIA

Sienna Senior Living owns and operates seniors’ residences and long-term-care communities across Canada, with a heavy presence in Ontario. That alone makes it relevant right now. Canada’s population is aging, and the need for senior housing keeps rising. Over the last year, Sienna stayed busy expanding its platform, including a December 2025 acquisition in the Greater Toronto Area and another announced in April 2026. These deals added scale and showed management still sees room to grow, not just maintain.

The latest earnings backed that up. In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2025, retirement same-property occupancy improved to 94.7% from 92.9%, same-property net operating income (NOI) rose 10.1% to $47.4 million, and adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share climbed 3.9% to $0.293. For full-year 2025, proportionate revenue topped $1 billion for the first time, up 15%, while AFFO rose 25.7% to $102.5 million and AFFO per share increased 4.7% to $1.119. Those are the kinds of numbers income investors like to see, especially when the business is still growing occupancy and rates at the same time.

The valuation is not dirt-cheap, but it still looks workable for the story on offer. The stock recently carried a market cap of about $2.3 billion and a trailing dividend yield near 4.1%. The trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio sits around 47, which looks rich on the surface, but real estate investment trust (REIT)-like and senior living names often get judged more on cash flow than plain earnings. That is why AFFO growth matters here. The risks are worth noting, too: interest rates, integration risk from acquisitions, and any slowdown in occupancy gains could cool the story. Even so, Sienna fits a TFSA well for Canadians near 60 who want income now and a decent shot at gradual growth later.

Bottom line

The average TFSA balance at 60 may not look enormous, but it can still do a lot of work. What matters most now is using the room wisely, staying invested, and choosing businesses that can keep paying and growing. Even this year’s contribution room of $7,000 can do a lot.