What is average?
The average TFSA balance for 40-year-old Canadians tends to be well below what most people expect. That gap is one of the biggest reasons why advisors emphasize being in your late 30s and early 40s. Surveys from major banks and government data show that Canadians in their late 30s to early 40s often have a TFSA balance between $20,000 and $35,000, even though the contribution room is much higher at age 40.
Many people spend these years focusing on mortgages, children, child care costs, and career changes, so the TFSA becomes more of an afterthought than a priority. The problem is that these are also the years when investing matters the most, because building investments takes time. Once you turn 40, time becomes your most valuable asset.
The good news is that age 40 is still early enough to make a TFSA a serious long-term wealth driver. With contribution room increasing every year and more financial stability than in your twenties, this is the perfect stage of life to transition from ‘save when I can’ to ‘save when I can’. What I can do it.” Even modest monthly contributions can increase dramatically over the next twenty to thirty years, especially if they are tax sheltered. For many Canadians, understanding typical TFSA balances at 40 is the wake-up call that leads to meaningful, consistent investing.
Think about BN
Brookfield (TSX:BN) is an ideal investment for 40-year-old Canadians looking to build their TFSA. It combines long-term growth potential with diversified exposure to some of the world’s most sustainable asset classes. At age 40, the goal is to own businesses that can build on them for decades, and Brookfield is built for exactly that. Its global reach, disciplined acquisition strategy and vast asset management arm give the company multiple growth engines that are not dependent on a single sector or economic cycle. When BN increases assets under management, profits rise. When it improves or sells assets for a profit, the value flows back to shareholders.
BN is the parent company of the Brookfield empire. It oversees real estate, renewable energy, infrastructure, private equity and credit activities. It makes money by managing assets for global institutional clients and investing its own capital alongside them. This dual structure provides BN with both stable fee-related income and benefits from the long-term appreciation of assets. The company has had a decades-long reputation for buying undervalued assets, improving them and unlocking value, while maintaining a disciplined, contrarian mindset.
Recent earnings figures have shown how resilient Brookfield still is. Fee-related revenues increased as institutional investors continued to allocate capital to infrastructure and private credit. Distributable earnings also showed strength as the company made gains on asset sales and continued to expand its asset management business. Even during the turbulent markets, BN’s fundraising momentum remained solid. Moreover, the balance sheet remained strong thanks to diversified cash flows.
In short
The best part? BN gives ordinary investors access to infrastructure, renewable energy sources, private equity and real estate. These are areas that typically require capital at the institutional level. And right now, you can grow your TFSA through BN’s dividend yield of 0.52%. Here’s what that $35,000 could then turn into.
| COMPANY | RECENT PRICE | NUMBER OF SHARES | DIVIDEND | ANNUAL TOTAL PAYOUT | FREQUENCY | TOTAL INVESTMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BN | $64.67 | 541 | $0.34 | $183.94 | Quarterly | $34,997.47 |
Holding a stock like BN within a TFSA allows compounding to occur tax-free, which is incredibly powerful over a twenty to thirty year horizon. For Canadians at age 40 who want a durable, diversified compounder in their TFSA, Brookfield is an almost perfect fit.
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