# TFSA update, how is yours doing?



## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

So how is your TFSA doing? What investments do you have in it? Any plans to change this over the coming year?

I have $14K right now, the rest is in limbo land (don't ask). I used to have this money earning 1.25% interest, so at the end of 2010 there was about $125 of growth in the account. I invested all the money (as part of my overall portfolio balance) in a US index fund and a global energy fund. It hasn't gained much value since, hoping for a better return by the end of the year as this is my tier 2 money and I have to keep an eye that things don't tank and obliterate my life-saving emergency fund.

That's where I'm at. Where are you at with this? And if you are one of these people with a $35K TFSA, please tell us HOW you did that cuz you know I'll ask.


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## hypo (Aug 11, 2010)

> I have $14K right now, the rest is in limbo land (don't ask). I used to have this money earning 1.25% interest, so at the end of 2010 there was about $125 of growth in the account. I invested all the money (as part of my overall portfolio balance) in a US index fund and a global energy fund. It hasn't gained much value since, hoping for a better return by the end of the year as this is my tier 2 money and I have to keep an eye that things don't tank and obliterate my life-saving emergency fund.


Your money in the index fund will not tank unless the entire US economy tanks, in which case generally everyone will have lost tremendous amounts of money. If this really is your emergency fund, you should not have it 100% in stocks.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

I just ran the numbers.
My annualized returns as of this moment are 16.10%.
Total invested : $13,927
Current Value : $17,539

I'm happy with it, but it's below my target RoR of 20%.

Wife's is all in a savings account so I didn't count that.


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## lister (Apr 3, 2009)

$150K
+ spouse ($19K) = $169K

$15K contributed into each TFSA. The spouse's TFSA was nearly doubled at one point. The stock it has is currently down but it's still above the $15K invested. The stock should rebound later this year and get above $30K easily. Just have to be patient.

The how has been explained in other threads. Do a search.


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## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

What's that smell?


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## lister (Apr 3, 2009)

Addy said:


> What's that smell?


Must be coming from you.

"He who smelt it. Dealt it."

That's been covered in the other thread(s) too.


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## larry81 (Nov 22, 2010)

11,000$

10% in the last 6months

All in XRE so mix of yield and nav increase.

I am happy with the results


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

Up 13.5%.


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## peterk (May 16, 2010)

Only have the funds to utilize about half my limit at the moment. Up 17% since the summer though. Hopefully I'll continue to be so lucky. I've got oil producers, retail, international telecom, and a brazilian water utility in my TFSA


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## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

up 23%.

Bought CPG, PBN and COS. Bought the COS at 24.89 (after it announced it's divident cut late last yr.), currently ay 32.00. so far so good...
but 
my my, 
valuations are high!

..I think we due for a correction soon.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

lister said:


> Must be coming from you.
> 
> "He who smelt it. Dealt it."
> 
> That's been covered in the other thread(s) too.



LOL -
Addy has requested your presense in the 'ban the user' thread.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Invested $15,000 today value $18,059.18	.I have put the max in every year as soon as possible.The past 7 months have made most of the return.And that was a type right Lister?


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## sprocket1200 (Aug 21, 2009)

max in every year as soon as possible? so you are talking early October before each year with ING right?


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

Invested $15,000.

Current Value $16,103.44

Total Return = 7.36%

Disappointed in myself. I only started contributing in the summer of 2010. Shame on me. I could have a lot more money in there if I contributed sooner.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

Hi Kae, thanks for posting.

In 9 months you've gained 7.36% and you are disappointed? That is very good. NOTHING to be ashamed of. In that same period I made about 1%. I am hoping to increase that by having more than just simple cash in this account. Hoping for a good 2011 in my TFSA. I would love to get 7.36%. Good job.


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## al42 (Mar 5, 2011)

I was fortunate enough to buy 1000 shares of Mag Silver for me and my better half a couple of years ago in the low $5.00 range. Recently sold it in the low $11.00 range. Think I should have kept it but didn't want to be greedy.
Also bought a Junior oil and gas company that we are down on by 50% but still holding for now. Over all both TFSA accounts today are just under 40k a 25% gain.


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## Greyhound86 (Feb 21, 2010)

Total invested $15,000

Worth $22,251 today

Ithaca Energy, Painted Pony and Rogers made up most of the realized gain


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## Bighairybeast (Feb 24, 2011)

Invested $9600 in Tck.b and HOU. Worth $25743. Most profit was from Tck.b and my HOU just recently made gains again. Hoping to max out to my contribution room soon.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

the-royal-mail said:


> Hi Kae, thanks for posting.
> 
> In 9 months you've gained 7.36% and you are disappointed? That is very good. NOTHING to be ashamed of. In that same period I made about 1%.


That's why returns are best expressed as annualized % , not cumulative returns like Kae did.
That makes it easy to compare against benchmarks as well.


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## daddybigbucks (Jan 30, 2011)

*tfsa*

invested $15,000
Today $20,500

tried day trading with the account and all i did was make my broker rich. Heavy in Superior Plus (SPB) currently, with the DRIP 

wifes 
invested $15,000
Today $21,800

Mostly cash right now waiting for a downturn


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## cannon_fodder (Apr 3, 2009)

I like Bighairybest's selection. I bought TCK.B when it was around $11 during the meltdown. But not in my TFSA (since TFSA's weren't available then) and I've played with HOU/HOD but not done well. HNU/HND on the other hand...

I was able to calculate a 25% CAGR for our TFSAs. I'm planning to do better from here on in.

Not as well as Lister, mind you, but better.

TFSA - The Fantastic Speculative Accelerator


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## Betzy (Feb 7, 2011)

cannon_fodder said:


> I like Bighairybest's selection. I bought TCK.B when it was around $11 during the meltdown. But not in my TFSA (since TFSA's weren't available then) and I've played with HOU/HOD but not done well. HNU/HND on the other hand...]
> 
> What the hay is up with HNU? Am i reading right that it was 2000 a few yrs ago? It was $16.68 high last 52weeks! Nat gas futures are in the tanks I guess???
> 
> I hold COS,TRP,GBB,GER, wife ABT,REI.UN,BNS in our TFSA's.


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## cannon_fodder (Apr 3, 2009)

Betzy said:


> cannon_fodder said:
> 
> 
> > I like Bighairybest's selection. I bought TCK.B when it was around $11 during the meltdown. But not in my TFSA (since TFSA's weren't available then) and I've played with HOU/HOD but not done well. HNU/HND on the other hand...]
> ...


July 3, 2008, HNU was (on a preadjusted split basis) $1,9xx. It is now under $5. HND was (on a preadjusted split basis) $0.64. It reached $11 on Thursday but was almost $12.50 in October 2010. Almost a 20-bagger in just over 2 years. Not that I had the foresight to buy and hold.

HNU/HND have been extremely good to me nonetheless.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

sprocket1200 said:


> max in every year as soon as possible? so you are talking early October before each year with ING right?


As soon as I had the cash and I have mine at TD Bank .This year I bought about the 11th of January and about same time in 2010 ,that's as far back as my memory will take me .You can buy in October at ING?I always though it has to be in the calendar year but I really don't pay much attention to TFSP except for the max contribution limit.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

HaroldCrump said:


> That's why returns are best expressed as annualized % , not cumulative returns like Kae did.
> That makes it easy to compare against benchmarks as well.


Since start i have 20-21% gain ,but got a nice boost when i bought 120 shares of CNQ-T for $41.65 ,these have gone up 20% since my order on January 10.Before this i was only getting about 4%.


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## Argonaut (Dec 7, 2010)

I only recently opened my TFSA, so most of my capital gains on these stocks happened before I used my $15k contribution room unfortunately.

Holding in almost equal weight:

Inter Pipeline
RioCan REIT
BCE
CN Rail
Westshore Terminals

Dividends yielding 5.8%; if I only get small capital gains from here I'm still pretty happy with that for safe tax-free growth! Going with the more risky stuff in the cash/margin account.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

i believe the reason people still use cumulative returns rather than annual figs for tfsa is that, for people who contributed the max 5k for each of the 3 years so far, it's a much easier way of keeping tabs.

it's much easier to glance at a broker's statement & think oh-yea-18,000-i'm-up-20%.

my tfsa is still too small to warrant the effort of annual bookkeeping. Maybe i will when it gets over 100k.

i'm in at 24,135.00. Up 60%.

what i did was drive as fast as possible towards capital gains, rotating between a gold explorer & an energy while holding a high-risk high-yield reit & taking a brief excusion into a diamond mine. The rising market past 2 years has helped to buoy my picks. Now i'm planning to move into more conservative holdings.


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## sprocket1200 (Aug 21, 2009)

marina628 said:


> As soon as I had the cash and I have mine at TD Bank .This year I bought about the 11th of January and about same time in 2010 ,that's as far back as my memory will take me .You can buy in October at ING?I always though it has to be in the calendar year but I really don't pay much attention to TFSP except for the max contribution limit.


yup, so far each year ing gives you double interest for opening with your TFSA amount in OCT. leave it with them and they double the interest your standard account on Jan 1.

the benefit is that if you are in the highest tax bracket then you get a bit of an edge. the lower tax brackets do much better. then, if you want, you can transfer to a different TFSA account without cost of penalty...


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## cannon_fodder (Apr 3, 2009)

humble_pie said:


> i'm in at 24,135.00. Up 60%.
> 
> The rising market past 2 years has helped to buoy my picks.


So THAT'S where the expression comes from. You open up your monthly statement and exclaim, "Buoy, oh buoy!"


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

fodder i see we pronounce buoy the same way. As in boy oh boy,

but there are canadians who'd say boo-ee oh boo-ee.

i guess it's a regional thing. It took me a while to learn to say rowter instead of rooter. But i still say root when talking about following a roadway.


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

English?


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## BRS9 (Feb 22, 2011)

Invested $15K, current market value of about $19,200

I have several different tiers of investments and trading accounts going on, and all I use my TFSA for is buying/selling short term puts and calls. It's my fun account that I play with daily


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