Look outside the Big Banks box for best savings rates + MORE Nov 21st

Find out your current tax-free savings account (TFSA) contribution limit by using this calculator.

TFSA is a bit of a misnomer. While you can use it for straightforward savings, think of it more accurately as an investment holding account to store things like exchange-traded funds (ETFs), guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), bonds, stocks and, yes, plain-old cash. While you do have to abide by the set amount of contribution room each year, any gains you earn on those investments will not affect your contribution room for the current year or years to come. Plus, the income earned is tax-free (more on that below). Any resident of Canada, over the age of 18, with a valid social insurance number can open a TFSA.

Is a TFSA really tax free?

TFSA contributions won’t reduce your taxable income, unlike registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) contributions. (If you haven’t maxed out your RRSP, get on that before the deadline). However, where you do save on taxes with a TFSA is that the money you earn inside your TFSA is not taxable…

One of the side-effects of working for a personal finance magazine is that my buds good-naturedly ask me for advice. I always oblige, albeit sheepishly, without letting on that I’m still learning, too (which I freely admit here).For instance, the other day I was having lunch with some friends when we started talking about money. The exchange went something like this:
Friend: Ugh, I’m so lost when it comes to money. What should I do?
One of the greatest mistakes young people can make right now (other than blow their money on something stupid, like, say, a house in Toronto) is not realize that their money can do more than just sit there.
Me: Well, do you have a TFSA?
Friend: Yes (in a proud voice).
Me: That’s great, you’re ahead of the game. What are you investing in?
Friend: W-w-what?
I then went on to explain what a TFSA really is. The tax-free savings account is NOT, I repeat, NOT just a savings account.
What is a TFSA?
A tax-free savings account (TFSA) should really be called a tax-free INVESTMENT account…

Small financial institutions, ETFs and investment savings accounts offer the best interest rates around

After cryptocurrency values started crashing hard this year, headlines of people losing millions, their life savings or retirement funds flooded the news. When crypto bank Celsius Network filed for bankruptcy this summer its customers alone lost US$5 billion. Even digital-asset evangelists like Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried saw their portfolios drop billions. But one group in particular was disproportionately affected: Black investors. 

In the last few years, several companies have used targeted marketing approaches to pitch crypto to Black communities as a tool to build individual and generational wealth. While companies like Crypto.com, EthereumMax and FTX spent millions on marketing campaigns using celebrities like Matt Damon, Kim Kardashian and Tom Brady to tout the potential of crypto investments and broaden its appeal, the messages to Black investors—using stars like Spike Lee and Kyle Lowry—were more intentional: Do not miss out on this wealth-building opportunity and get left behind…

Small financial institutions, ETFs and investment savings accounts offer the best interest rates around