# High Risk TFSA Investing



## hxman (Jul 29, 2015)

I am looking for some guidance on some high risk investing for my TFSA account. Any advice and/or suggestions would be a great start.

Thanks


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

You'd better know what you are doing before you get started.

Can you be more specific as to what you are considering? The fact that you asked such a vague question tells me somewhat that you are not really ready to even start thinking about this.


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## cashinstinct (Apr 4, 2009)

Go the stocks section of the forum, pick a couple of stocks there 

Lately, it seems like many picks in energy have been high risk... they could be high reward in the future when oïl prices go back up.

I don't recommend high risk stocks...

____

I would recommend index funds, instead of picking specific stocks.

You need to do lots of research.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Think of your favorite 3-letter word or acronym. Find out if there's a stock with those letters. If so, buy it. That will be plenty risky.


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## Woz (Sep 5, 2013)

I’ve never really understood the high risk TFSA strategy. You have a higher probability of getting a large tax free return, but you also have a higher probability of getting a large loss that can’t be deducted. 

If I were to do the high-risk TFSA thing I’d use options to create leverage by either buying call options on their own or creating synthetic longs by buying call options in my TFSA and selling put options in my unregistered account.


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## Moneytoo (Mar 26, 2014)

Don't know if it's high enough risk for you, but here's the regularly updated portfolio of 10 Canadian stocks for 10K+ in TFSA: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/trading-idea-based-graham-tsx-1682065 (so far beats the index this year )


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## mf4361 (Apr 11, 2015)

The kind of investment with the highest risk is invest in what your friends tells you to and have no idea what it is.


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## avrex (Nov 14, 2010)

I employ a high risk strategy in my TFSA.

Why? 
I'm older and only (hopefully) a few years away from reaching from financial independence. 
My retirement will be funded mainly by my RRSP. (I have no pension.)
The RRSP consists of low-fee indexed ETFs and some individual large-cap stock selections, in a targeted asset allocation, that fits my risk tolerance.

My TFSA makes up a much smaller piece of my retirement pie.
Therefore, I've decided that I will be more aggressive and gamble in my TFSA.

My decision has nothing to do with the type of account that it is. i.e. TFSA vs RRSP. 
I just wanted a smaller, separate account where I can keep track of the 'aggressive' portion of my portfolio.

In my TFSA, I will typically *buy Call and Put Options*.

It is high risk. It is a leveraged play. You will win some and you will lose some.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I like buying puts on long VIX ETFs. Only with a portion of my TFSA, though.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

Greek bonds.


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## janus10 (Nov 7, 2013)

andrewf said:


> I like buying puts on long VIX ETFs. Only with a portion of my TFSA, though.


I was going to suggest this. Extremely volatile is something like UVXY and the options even more so. I actually bought call options when S&P VIX was around 12 the other week. If I had held on for one more day my one week return would not have been ~50%, it would have been >250%.

Did you sell puts just before the Greek crisis hit its peak a few weeks ago? I could imagine there were some 10x to 30x baggers if you played it perfectly.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I am on the other side of the trade. I buy puts to exploit the erosion of value in these funds between vix spikes. Spikes are too difficult to predict and time, and I don't have time to watch the markets constantly.


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## avrex (Nov 14, 2010)

@andrewf. Let's say the VIX spikes, so you buy the VXX put.

What is your strategy on when to close the position, and sell the put?


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I'm willing to hold to expiry. For instance, I bought some Jan 2016 20 puts for 4.05 earlier in the year. They were underwater for a bit but are now sitting just under 6. I will probably either hold until Dec or Jan or take profits if they rise to 8 or so.

In my non reg account I have been favoring bear call spreads. I have a September uvxy spread that is well in the money (8,7 presplit), and I just opened some Jan '16 spreads 15-16 spreads sold for 0.45. I am happy to hold them until expiry, just letting them expire worthless and keeping the credit.


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## avrex (Nov 14, 2010)

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing your strategy.


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