Open a Tax-Free Savings Account! -- Part 3

Okay, in the previous posts we did a brief overview of TFSAs and the best Savings TFSAs out there. In this post, we're going to cover one of the methods of having an Investment TFSAs: Mutual Fund TFSA.

Mutual Fund TFSA:
If you want to invest in mutual funds, your bank will have a decent program, and you can use their bank-owned no-load funds. As they are no-load funds, you won't be charged going in, and it is key to keep your fees to a minimum as they'll be included in the $5000 limit.

Fees for TFSA SHOULD be none! Watch out for administrative and withdrawal fees. TD has such fees unless you sign up for eServices. If TD is your bank, sign up for eServices. Don't pay the fees. The only fee you can tolerate paying are transfer fees. With the exception of BMO, virtually all the shops charges a transfer fee if you're transfering accounts to another firm.

It is curious to note that CIBC will not have Investment TFSAs until April. This is a whopping delay considering everybody else has some sort of program.

The one thing to be stressed is do not let them charge you administrative or withdrawal fees of any sort. There is more likely to be such administrative fees on the bank's brokerage accounts, so verify if this is the case. Especially in the early years of the TFSA, your little bit in tax savings should not be offset paying such fees.