Most Canadians spend years obsessing over their RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) as the upfront tax deduction lowers your tax bill significantly.
But if you actually want a comfortable retirement, your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) might be the piece of the puzzle that does the heavy lifting.
Money that comes out of a TFSA is invisible to the Canada Revenue Agency and does not bump you into a higher tax bracket. It also does not trigger the Old Age Security clawback and lands in your bank account, tax-free, every time.
So how much should be sitting in the TFSA by the time you stop working?
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What is the retirement number for TFSA holders?
A BMO survey found that Canadians believe they need roughly $1.7 million across all their accounts to retire comfortably.
For most households, a $250,000 TFSA balance is a realistic and achievable middle ground. Using the standard 4% withdrawal rule, you can withdraw about $10,000 a year in income that the CRA can never touch.
The cumulative TFSA contribution room has now climbed to $109,000, after the new $7,000 was added on January 1, 2026. Yet CRA data show that the typical Canadian between 45 and 54 has only about $23,000 in their account.
Most people are nowhere close to using their room, let alone growing it into something meaningful.
Too many savers treat their TFSA like a high-interest savings account or an emergency fund. Cash sitting in a savings account earning 2%–3% barely keeps pace with inflation and will never get you to $250,000 on its own.
Compounding only works if your money is invested in quality growth stocks. Picture someone who starts at age 40 with $20,000 already saved, then maxes out their room every year at roughly $7,000.
If that money earns a reasonable 7% average annual return from equities, it can grow past $250,000 by the time they hit 55. That is the difference between a TFSA that quietly sits there and one that turns into a retirement engine.
Own TSX mining stocks such as Endeavour Silver in the TFSA
Building toward that number faster usually means owning shares of well-run, profitable companies rather than just holding cash. Endeavour Silver (TSX: EDR) is a good example of the kind of stock that can accelerate a TFSA balance over the coming years.
The miner just posted a record first quarter for 2026, with production jumping 78% year over year to roughly three million silver-equivalent ounces after its Terronera and Kolpa operations joined the portfolio.
Revenue came in at US$210 million, up 230% from the prior year, while mine operating cash flow before taxes rose 400% to US$115 million, according to comments from CEO Dan Dickson.
Dickson also told analysts that the company expects costs to keep improving as Terronera and Kolpa settle into steady operations, with higher ore grades anticipated in the back half of the year.
The company ended the quarter with more than US$232 million in cash and is advancing a feasibility study at its Pitarrilla project, expected later in 2026.
Endeavour Silver is a profitable, growing producer with a strong balance sheet and a clear path to lower costs, sitting in a sector benefiting from elevated silver prices.
That combination of growth, cash generation, and improving margins is the type of quality holding that can help a TFSA compound meaningfully faster than cash ever could.
The Foolish takeaway
You do not need a million-dollar TFSA to retire comfortably. What you need is consistency and the discipline to actually invest your contribution room rather than let it sit idle.
A $250,000 target is realistic for most Canadian households, and stocks like Endeavour Silver show why quality equities, not savings accounts, are the real path to getting there.
