Who has the largest TFSA Balance?
A recent article from the Globe and Mail has got me wondering who has the most valuable TFSA in the country and how they managed to achieve it. I imagine there's quite a few people who have used the account to gamble on extremely risky stocks and have increased its value multiple times over.
Personally, I have seen more moderate results, as I explained in my post My TD e-Series TFSA - 1 year later, but am still very pleased with my performance nonetheless. I like thinking about the differences in peoples' accounts because everyone starts from a level playing field, in the form of the contribution limit. Whereas the RRSP contribution limit depends on your yearly income up to a maximum, the TFSA limit is the same for everyone.
The largest balance I've been able to find online is this article from someone writing in to the Financial Post with a total value of $172,382.
A bulletin board stock in a TFSA netted reader big gains - $172,382
I've scoured the Canadian Personal Finance world to see how well some of my fellow bloggers have faired and I seem to have done moderately well comparatively, but am definitely jealous of some of the others like Moneygeek. I actually couldn't find many people who have posted their net worth recently showing their TFSA balance. Let me know if you'd like to be added to the list.
Moneygeek - $44.141.00
Youngandthrifty - $35,090.00
Miiockm - $29,609.36
Canada Dream free at 45 - $26,600.00
Million Dollar Journey - $26,250.00
Canadian Budget Binder - $23,973.81
The Fiscally Fit - $17,997.00
*These were balances as of Aug 1, 2013.
After looking around it seems that we in the personal finance world are actually quite far ahead of the average Canadian's TFSA and I find that somewhat disappointing. According to this CBC article, as of June 2012 the average account balance was only $7,400. To make matters worse RBC customers apparently had 65% of their TFSA funds sitting in High Interest Savings Accounts or GIC's.
The Financial Post also recently put out a call for people to submit their TFSA balances and the stories behind them. I've listed most of them here below if you're interested.
A bulletin board stock in a TFSA netted reader big gains - $172,382
He may be a gambler, but check out the balance in his TFSA - $102,014
You want to talk value investing, try to top this guy’s TFSA - $79,738
This investor loves retail and so does his tax-free savings account - $57,200
Rolling the dice in your tax free savings account - $47,319
The preferred way to invest in your account - $37,808
The don’t-get-rich-but-sleep-easy-TFSA - $28,241
What's your TFSA balance?
As of January 20, 2014, without having topped up my TFSA for this year, I have a balance of $37,996.85. I have stocks in BCE, Bankl of America, Bank of Montreal, Brookfield, Manulife, SNC, Teck and TansCanada. Edward Jones has been providing me with my investment advice.
ReplyDeleteI've around $80,000 in mine as of today including $5500 added in January. I use no margin and invest in only Canadian stock. Also, there has not been a 10 baggers. The largest gain is 350% which I still own,
ReplyDeleteHere are my annualized performance:
2009 +44%
2010 +17%
2011 +35%
2012 +46%
2013 +41%
2014 YTD +5%
That's pretty good, mine is sitting at just over $33k at the moment without this years top-up. In your case did Edward Jones recommend individual stocks to you or a basket of funds/ mutual funds? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteRe: $80,000 TFSA, Those are incredible yearly returns. Can I ask how many stocks you own in that portfolio and what kind of stocks you purchased? I know Netflix has posted a 300% gain or so.
ReplyDeleteOn average I hold 7 to 10. To get good returns, it is necessary to buy smaller companies. You simply can't find very good bargain in large cap area. Two big winners recently are ADF Group inc.+180% and Photon Control.+380%. Other that are doing okay are Hammond Manufacturing. ZCL Composite and ITHACA ENERGY INC. Lately I am into Brampton Bricks and Bri-Chem.
ReplyDeleteWith the market in much higher, I don't know if I can repeat these type of returns I had in the past 5 years.