Topic: How To Invest

I have yet to open a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) and would like some advice as to some specific investments that could be appropriate and advantageous to include in such an account. Can you please give some specific investments you would consider to be advantageous as part of such an account?

Article Excerpt

TFSAs can generally hold the same investments as RRSPs. These include cash, mutual funds, publicly traded stocks, GICs and bonds. However, you are best to hold lower-risk investments in your TFSA. That’s because you don’t want to suffer big losses in your TFSA. If you do, you can’t use them to offset capital gains. You’ll also lose the main advantage of a TFSA: sheltering gains from tax. You won’t have gains to shelter if the value of your investments falls. You can only invest $5,000 this year to start your TFSA, so you can’t yet build a diversified portfolio. Until you accumulate more in the plan, you are best to hold lower-risk and low-fee equity investments, such as index funds or interest-bearing investments like high-yield savings accounts, such as those from President’s Choice Financial or ING Direct. Over the years, as your TFSA’s value increases, you could switch to a well-diversified portfolio of conservative, mostly dividend-paying stocks. stocks. …