Investment Q&A

Q: My 28yr old son is looking to build a diversified ETF portfolio with 100% equity exposure with a bent towards growth given his long investment horizon.  These will be spread across his TFSA, RRSP and Non-Registered accounts.  Since he will be contributing smaller amounts on a regular basis a zero commission platform such as Wealthsimple is appealing.  However, they charge 1.5% fee for all currency conversions making it only practical to hold Canadian traded ETF's.  As a result he is considering the following:

ZSP 40%
XIC 25%
TEC 20%
VIU 10%
VEE 5%

ZSP + XIC + VIU + VEE together create a mix of ETFs that are globally diversified and very similar to the structure of XEQT/VEQT.  Versus XEQT/VEQT This portfolio has a slightly lower weighted-average MER at 0.16% and also has 20% in TEC (in place of something like QQQ) which is more growth oriented. Here are how the sectors would be weighted with this portfolio:

Info 31%
Financial 15%
Cons Disc 11%
Industrial 9%
Healthcare 8%
Communica 7%
Cons Staples 5%
Energy 5%
Materials 4%
Utilities 2%
Real Estate 2%

These would be the top 10 holdings with this portfolio and these top 10 would account for 24% of holdings in this portfolio:

AAPL5.1% MSFT4.9% AMZN3.2% GOOGL1.8% FB1.7% GOOG1.7% TSLA1.5% SHOP1.4% RY1.2% NVDA1.2%

If this was you at 28, can you please comment on
- are the 5 ETFs he has chosen ones you would go with given his objectives, if not, what changes/substitutes would you make along with recommended % allocations?
- is his % allocation across the 5 appropriate or would you make changes? For example I thought there might be too much overlap between ZSP and TEC as they are both highly invested in AAPL, MSFT, AMZ and FB and he is looking at 60% going into these 2 ETF's. That may well be what you want at his age but  I wonder if he is better served by reducing ZSP to 25% -30% and TEC to 15% and add  the remaining 15-20% to CDZ or VGG (or something else?)
- given he will be making contributions to his TFSA, RRSP and Non-registered, which ETF would be best in which account and why? 

Thanks for all your help, 
Scott

Q: I've been buying companies according to the funds I have in accounts and it has led to the situation where I have shares of one company in each account.

I would like to combine the shares in order to tracking them more easily.

I am hoping to, for example, shift my RRSP shares in Teledoc to combine with my TFSA shares in Teledoc and then, to balance it, move an equal value of shares in, say XSB, from the TFSA to the RRSP.

I am also trying to move my higher growth stocks into the TFSA this way, as the example (hopefully!) suggests.

Is there any tax implication I should be mindful of in doing this? I realize that withdrawing anything from an RRSP is taxable, but would depositing an equal amount counterbalance that?

Thanks!

Q: I'm in the process of divesting about half of my investment holdings (basically everything in my and my wife's TFSA) and using the cash towards a downpayment on a home. Everything in the RRSPs will remain. This leaves me with basically 1/2 of the investments I used to have (i.e. 10 positions instead of 20).

If not for the downpayment, I would have kept the money invested in the stocks I've purchased in the TFSA and am fairly diversified. But now that i'm selling everything in the TSFA, I'm really not diversified anymore.

What's the better play? Sell some of my existing positions in the RRSP and buy back into the positions I sold from the TSFA so I'm back to being fully diversified? Or slowly buy back the positions I sold in the TFSA and slowly get diversified again? I figure it will take at least 5 years to get my investable cash in the TSFA back to where they are now.

Q: Hi,
Can you tell me what type of account is generally best to hold US REITs, from a tax perspective?
I hold these 4 Canadian REITs (TCN, WIR.U, DIR.UN, SMU.UN) and am interested in several US REITS. I've been considering AMT, CCI, EQIX, DLR. Can you comment on these and suggest a few others.

Q: My Wife has a spousal RRSP that I open a long time ago.
She wants to contribute to RRSP do I need to open a new RRSP account or she can use a Spousal RRSP account.

Thank you for your great service! My Portfolio, Confidence, and Knowledge have improved a lot.

Thank Again

Q: Hi, we have TFSA’s, RRSP’s and non-registered accounts. Where is the best place to hold high dividend US stocks? Thanks, Bill

Q: DKAM’s latest newsletter mentions Nowvertival as one they are watching. May I have your thoughts on it?

Q: Hi. I have decided to add an equal position of each of the above to my portfolio. These companies will even out my exposure among sectors. I have room in both my tax free account and my rrsp account. (RRSP won't be accessed for 18 - 20 years) I guess what I'm asking is would it be more advantageous to put any of the above in a tax free account vs an rrsp account?

Q: Hi Peter/Ryan when buying a stock is there a general rule on where it's better to buy it, in an RRSP account or a TFSA and where would CAE fit in best. Thanks for all your insights.

Q: So what is up with the law firm going after Score? Are they just fishing for clients?

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210720006218/en/ScottScott-Attorneys-at-Law-LLP-Announces-Investigation-into-Score-Media-and-Gaming-Inc.-SCR

Q: Since NTR pays a 3% dividend, for tax efficiency, is it better to hold the stock in a RSP or a TFSA?

Q: Could you provide a few ideas for a long term RESP?
Thinking specific company over ETF at this point.
Thanks
Paul

Q: I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT WITH DRAWING FROM AN RRSP ACCOUNT. MY WIFE WANTS TO WITHDRAW $20,000 FROM HER RRSP ACCOUNT FROM AUGUST TO END OF YEAR. BY WITH DRAWING $5,000 AT A TIME SHE WILL PAY 10% OVER THE COUNTER FEES. BUT OUR BROKER TOLD US THAT HER SECOND WITHDRAW THEY WOULD TAKE 20% INSTEAD OF 10% I FIND IT LITTLE STRANGE BECAUSE IN THE PAST I WITH DREW $5,000 AT A TIME TO ONLY PAY 10%. OR HAS SOMETHING CHANGED IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.

Q: Hello 5i,
As I approach 70 years of age I am trying to prepare for my impending RRSP - RRIF conversion. One move I am considering is to move VIG over a period of years from my RRSP to my TFSA. The rationale is that it is a relatively low dividend stock but the capital appreciation is huge - I am currently up about 76% - and this means the increase in VIG value affects my minimum withdrawal required each year while contributing relatively little in the way of dividend income to cover the mandated minimum withdrawals.
One note - for the past several years we have been taking our TFSA contributions from our RRSP's but seem to always end up with a tax refund anyway, so we are not so concerned with the tax issue on that front.
So, to the question (finally): do you see any problems at all in such a move for VIG or any other U.S. ETF or Global ETF? The withholding tax on U.S. holdings in the TFSA is not an issue. Any other comments or suggestions?
Many thanks!!
Cheers,
Mike

Q: Hi Team, is there any drawback in owning US stocks in a TFSA or RSSP account. Thanks

Q: I will be converting my RSP to a RIF next year resulting in my income increasing some 50 % and with money I do not not need for my present lifestyle. The account is full of banks, reits, pipelines, infrastructure , utilities etc., as is my non registered account which is the same size as the RSP. Does it make sense to adjust the non registered account to more growth stocks , and hence less income ? I I have listed some prospective stocks. A crazy idea to reduce income and perhaps this is outside your.venue but any thoughts are appreciated. Derek

Q: The question is what ETF is the best match for me based on

1. my normal stock selection is large blue chip dividend paying companies
2. this ETF is in my RRSP, I am assuming it should be purchased in American funds. (unless you say otherwise.) US or Canadian ?
3. I am thinking a broad based ETF, possibly a "dividend aristocrat" or just whole market but not sure of what the difference would be.

thanks

Ernie

Q: I bought several inter-listed Canadian companies in the USD side of a tax-deferred account (RSP). I am thinking of selling some of these holdings and buy them back in a taxable account in order to have the benefit of the dividend tax credit. Is the dividend tax credit worth doing this? If yes, after selling on the US$ side of the RSP account , would you buy the same securities on the US$ side of the taxable account, or do you prefer to buy them back on the C$ side of the account?

Please excuse my smuggling in a question asking for your opinion on what the two currencies are likely to do in the next year or so.

Q: I was thinking of getting an RRSP Loan to top off my RRSP and then use the refund to pay down a portion of the loan. If I did this and had $50,000 to invest and ~20 years to retirement how would you allocate it and thoughts, if you can comment, on this strategy? Thanks as always.

Q: You answered Nick's question by saying it would be better to wait until the RRSP turned into a RRIF. So what's the tax rate for removing a stock from a RRIF? I am about to take some SHOP from my RRIF for annual withdrawal. The stock is up 394 per cent.