Married? How to Earn Over $10,000 in Tax-Free Income per Year!

If you’re married and trying to build Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) passive income, the biggest thing to remember is that you’re running two separate tax shelters, not one shared account. Each spouse has their own contribution room, their own limits, and their own responsibility to avoid over contributing. But when you coordinate, you can double the compounding, double the income streams, and keep every dollar of eligible income tax-free, which is exactly the point.

Getting started

Start with the math, not the fantasy. Earning over $10,000 per year tax-free means you either need a lot of capital, a high yield, or a mix of both. A realistic path for most couples looks like this: keep adding new TFSA room every January, reinvest dividends early on, and let the portfolio grow until the income becomes meaningful enough to skim. In 2026, that new $7,000 of room shows up on January 1, and that annual habit adds up faster than people think.

Next, treat “income” like a system, not a single stock. Blend dependable dividend payers with companies that can grow earnings. Dividend growth often matters more than starting yield over a decade. If you only chase yield, you can end up holding businesses that cut payouts the first time the economy sneezes. If you only chase growth, you might wait years before you feel any cash flow. The sweet spot for beginners and couples is steady dividends plus steady business quality.

Finally, use marriage the smart way. If one spouse has unused TFSA room and the other has cash, you can fund the spouse’s TFSA with an outright gift so the money gets invested under that spouse’s room. You don’t “share” room, but you can share goals. Keep clean records, respect the contribution limits, and make it boring. That’s how you keep it tax-free and drama-free.

Consider SLF

Sun Life Financial (TSX:SLF) makes sense in this conversation as it’s a classic Canadian dividend payer with a business that people rely on in every market. It operates in insurance, wealth, and asset management, with meaningful operations in Canada, the U.S., and Asia. It earns money from premiums, fees, and investment-related results, which gives it more than one engine. That matters when you’re building income you want to trust.

The dividend story is the hook for couples. Sun Life raised its common share dividend to $0.92 per share for its Q4 2025 payment, up from $0.88 previously, and its dividend history shows that increase clearly. The forward annual dividend is $3.68, which works out to a forward yield around 4.26% at the time of writing.

Now the earnings, as income only feels “passive” when the business keeps producing. In Q3 2025, Sun Life reported underlying net income of $1 billion, up 3% year over year, with underlying return on equity of 18.3%. It also reported reported net income of $414 million in the quarter. Those numbers show a company that still generates serious profit power, even when some segments wobble.

The near-term outlook has one obvious timing note: Sun Life’s Q4 2025 results were not out yet as of late January 2026, with the company scheduling its Q4 release for February 11, 2026 after markets close. Investors will be watching whether U.S. group benefits signals stabilize and whether Asia continues to carry growth. Recent reporting also shows the U.S. dental business has faced Medicaid-related uncertainty at points, which can create volatility around guidance.

Bottom line

Sun Life is a great tool for couples aiming for over $10,000 in tax-free income because it’s simple, liquid, and built around a dividend that has recently been rising. On a rough math check, a 4.3% yield means you’d need about $235,000 invested to generate $10,000 a year from Sun Life alone.

COMPANYRECENT PRICENUMBER OF SHARESANNUAL DIVIDENDANNUAL TOTAL PAYOUTFREQUENCYTOTAL INVESTMENTSLF$86.372,717$3.68$9,998.56Quarterly$234,667.29

So most couples will use it as a core income anchor while they add other dividend holdings and keep topping up TFSA room every year. If you want a straightforward stock that helps you compound steadily without needing to trade or micromanage, SLF fits the job.

The post Married? How to Earn Over $10,000 in Tax-Free Income per Year! appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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Fool contributor Amy Legate-Wolfe has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.