Average Savings by Age in Canada: RRSP, TFSA and How Much by 30 or 40

Canadian families held an average of $153,800 in savings and investments outside pension plans and RRSPs/RRIFs in 2023, but the median was $26,000, so half of families held less than that. Retirement savings in RRSPs and RRIFs are counted separately, in their own table. The figures come from Statistics Canada’s Survey of Financial Security (SFS); 2023 is the latest. Here is how they vary with the age of the family’s main income earner:

Statistics Canada, Survey of Financial Security 2023 (Table 11-10-0016-01), 2023 dollars. “Families” are family units: Statistics Canada counts relatives who live together as one unit, and a person living alone or with non-relatives as a unit of one, grouped by the age of the major income earner. Savings and investments here means non-pension financial assets: bank deposits, TFSAs, mutual funds, stocks, bonds and other financial assets. Statistics Canada counts RRSPs, RRIFs and LIRAs as private pension assets, so they are not included (see the RRSP table below), nor are employer pension plans, homes or businesses. Averages and medians are for families holding them. Statistics Canada doesn’t publish these figures by single year of age.

The median rises with each age group and is highest at 65 and over. The gap between average and median at every age shows how unevenly savings are spread. For total wealth, including homes and debts, see net worth by age in Canada; for what Canadians earn at each age, see average income by age in Canada. More guides to household money in Canada are in the cost of living in Canada guides.

Money in the bank by age

Deposits are the cash part of savings: chequing and savings accounts and term deposits such as GICs held at banks, credit unions and other institutions.

Statistics Canada, Survey of Financial Security 2023 (Table 11-10-0016-01), deposits in financial institutions.

How big a cash cushion to keep for emergencies is covered on how much emergency fund do I need?. Statistics Canada’s survey in fall 2022 found that 26% of Canadians said their household would be unable to cover an unexpected expense of $500.

Retirement savings by age: RRSPs and RRIFs

Statistics Canada, Survey of Financial Security 2023 (Table 11-10-0016-01): RRSPs, RRIFs, LIRAs and other registered retirement accounts, per family holding them.

Average holdings are largest in the 55 to 64 group. In a single year, 6.35 million of 30.0 million tax filers (21%) contributed to an RRSP for 2023 (Statistics Canada Table 11-10-0044-01). More detail by age is on average RRSP balance by age, and how much you can put in is on RRSP contribution limit.

Average TFSA balance by age

Statistics Canada, Survey of Financial Security 2023 (Table 11-10-0016-01): a family’s TFSAs combined, per family holding one.

The annual TFSA dollar limit is the same for everyone eligible, but your room is specific to you: the annual limit is added from the year you turn 18 as a Canadian resident (2009 at the earliest), unused room carries forward, withdrawals are added back the following year, and no room is added for a year you were a non-resident the whole year; changes in the value of your investments don't affect it. How much TFSA room do I have? works out your total.

Where Canadians keep their savings

Statistics Canada, Survey of Financial Security (Table 11-10-0016-01); families can hold several types.

Savings benchmarks by age

Canada has no official savings target by age. One published benchmark comes from Fidelity Investments in the United States, whose guideline is to save at least these multiples of your salary:

The guideline assumes saving 15% of income a year (including any employer match) from age 25 and retiring at 67.

Source: Fidelity Investments, “How much do I need to retire?” and “How much should I save for retirement?”.

The guideline was built for US savers, so it doesn’t account for the CPP and OAS, and the SFS figures above leave out workplace pensions; both matter when comparing. Am I saving enough for retirement? works through a personal check.

How much should you have saved by 30?

Families whose major income earner is under 35 are the closest group to 30, and 35 to 44 the closest to 40.

Source: Statistics Canada, table 11-10-0016-01, 2023 dollars. RRSP and TFSA balances for both groups are in the retirement savings and TFSA tables above.

Whether a family owns a home makes a large difference at this age, since the home counts at what it would sell for; net worth by age shows the gap between young owners and young families with neither a home nor an employer pension. The salary-multiple guideline above suggests retirement savings of at least 1 times salary by 30. The decade’s other money questions are in the financial guide for your 30s.

How much should you have saved by 40?

Compared with families under 35, more families whose major income earner is 35 to 44 own a home, and those with an RRSP hold more in it: a median of $33,000 against $15,000. The same guideline suggests at least 3 times salary by 40. The guideline’s income-replacement figure assumes no pension income and was built around US Social Security, so for a Canadian with the CPP, OAS or a workplace pension the multiple works as a rough check rather than a target. How much do I need to retire? works out a personal number, and the financial guide for your 40s covers the decade.

Starting later

The longer money is invested, the more of the final balance comes from growth rather than contributions. The table below is an illustration, not a forecast: it assumes the same deposit every year and a constant return.

Returns are not constant in practice, and fees and taxes reduce them; the compound interest calculator lets you try other amounts and rates.

The guideline’s suggested savings rate rises the later saving starts:

For someone starting at 40 or later, a few things still change the result:

• Time. Money invested at 40 still has 25 years to grow before 65, as the table above shows.
• Contribution room. Room you haven’t used may be large; how much TFSA room do I have? and the RRSP contribution limit explain how to find yours.
• When CPP and OAS start. The trade-offs are covered in CPP at 60, 65 or 70 and OAS deferral.
• Retirement age. Each extra working year adds savings and shortens the time savings have to last.

How much Canadians save each year

Statistics Canada’s household accounts show how saving differs by income. Net saving is disposable income minus consumer spending, plus the change in pension entitlements; a negative figure means the group spent more than that, on average.

Statistics Canada, Distributions of household economic accounts (Table 36-10-0587-01), 2025. More on saving at different incomes is on savings rate by income in Canada; where incomes sit relative to the middle is on am I considered middle class in Canada?.

Related resources

• Average income by age in Canada
• Net worth by age in Canada
• Average household debt in Canada
• Am I considered low income in Canada?
• Average RRSP balance by age
• How much do I need to retire?
• Financial planning guides
• How much emergency fund do I need?
• Retirement calculator