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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Hello I was wondering your opinion on this little alt meat company out of Victoria BC. They have only been trading since June 17 publicly before that the founders were on Dragons den and they did a crowd source on Frontfundr for 600k. Yesterday they did a new bought deal through Canacord for 5million. These funds are apparently earmarked for expansion in the US. I have personally tried a couple of their products and found it to be quite good even tastier than BYND (side note I still enjoy a good real burger and steak). Lastly this company has inked a few new distribution deals with grocers like Sobeys and increased their online "meat" club subs. My questions is with this new focus on the US market would it be time to take a chance or start a position.? To my understanding they are in the process of completing a new manufacturing plant in Vancouver to help meet their growing demand. Thanks as always.
Read Answer Asked by Kolbi on July 16, 2020
Q: Hello 5i Team.
Point of clarification on your reply to Leonard yesterday regarding ZPAY. My understanding is that any dividends from this ETF will be subject to the with holding tax, which is then recoverable upon tax filing. If this is the case, then does it matter if this ETF is held in a RRSP or cash account, if the tax is recoverable?

Due to the options strategy of the ETF, what tax implications are there on any capital gains the ETF may incur?

Please deduct as required. Many tx for the continued help.

Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on July 16, 2020
Q: i wish to withdraw dividends from my cdn holdings.
based on type of account, in what order should the withdrawals be made?
1 - tfsa
2 - registered or cash?
i will have losses to apply to the withdrawn income
Read Answer Asked by john on July 16, 2020
Q: Hi 5i team,
I’ve recently sold some of my SHOP position in a taxable account (the share price has risen ~15-fold since purchase about 2-1/2 years ago, and even after this partial disposition, SHOP remains my biggest overall position—thank you for this excellent recommendation!). Now, I want to reduce the tax hit, and so I am planning to sell positions in BMO, BNS, and SU, with aim to rebuy after 31 days (to avoid superficial loss), as these 3 securities are core holdings in my portfolio. In general, when I do tax loss selling, I try to maintain an economic position in the types of companies I am selling, because I’m always anxious the shares will rise during the 30-day waiting period (indeed, frustrating increases in stock prices during the 30-day waiting period seem to happen quite often, at least in my experience). So, my question is: Can you recommend a security (or securities) to maintain economic exposure to BMO/BNS, as well as to SU, for the 30-day waiting period? (For perspective, I’m planning to sell ~$185,000 worth of BMO/BNS, as well as ~$72,000 worth of SU; when I rebuy BMO/BNS/SU, I would then sell the temporary holdings I bought to maintain the economic position.). Would you buy a Canadian bank ETF and Canadian oil sector ETF, to maintain these economic positions (and please recommend some appropriate securities), or rather other individual Canadian banks or individual oil companies (and please recommend some appropriate securities)? Also interested in your philosophical thoughts about how to handle the situation of tax loss selling, which arises every so often, especially now during pandemic, when there is wide variety of individual security performance (some big winners, but also some high-quality stocks that are—hopefully temporarily—depressed in price) as well as higher-than-usual volatility.
Ted
Read Answer Asked by Ted on July 14, 2020
Q: Hi 5iTeam,
my question is a follow-up on a recent question raised by Ted regarding potential US estate tax liability on US situs investment. I remember a few years ago when Gordon Reid was on Market Call, he commented that even if one's US situs investment exceeds threshold of forty some US$ (I forgot the exact threshold amount) when one passes away, there will be no US estate tax payable unless the total value of the deceased's estate is over the exemption amount of US$11.4M. Would you please confirm if this is still the case.
Cheers,
Read Answer Asked by Harry on July 14, 2020
Q: I am thinking of purchases of these 6 ETFs (or some of them). Would you see ZPAY, FCIQ, and FCUQ as being defensive? And back to the "where should I hold" issue: where would these 6 best be held for tax or other efficiencies: Cash account? RRSP? TFSA? Corporate account? Many thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Leonard on July 13, 2020
Q: I have these three in my TFSA. I just read that holding QCOM in it is a potential problem due to the withholding tax. Is that also the case for MSFT and V. Can you explain the problem further and if it is an issue should I be transferring these stocks out of the TFSA and into a registered or open account? Thnks.
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on July 06, 2020
Q: Good Day 5I Team,
Your answer scared me. "We are not experts on US estate law, but we know the hit on death can be ridiculous, and the estate tax applies prior to Canadian capital gains taxes. Owning the Canadian fund will help with this"
Does that means all US ETF & US stocks owned by a Canadian resident are subject to a US taxes on his death ?
I uderstand your are not a Tax specialiste, but you please give me a link to learn more on this subject. Thanks. Best Regards
Read Answer Asked by Djamel on July 06, 2020
Q: Hi 5i team,
I would like to have emerging markets equity exposure within my RRSP. Currently, my RRSP holds mostly US situs securities in a U.S. dollar brokerage account (TD-Waterhouse). I am debating between buying VWO (trades in US$) or ZEM (trades in CAD$). I use Norbert’s gambit to convert between currencies, so doesn’t matter so much if I make conversion now (from US$ to CAD$, if I buy ZEM now) or later when I need to withdraw the funds (if I buy VWO now, raising US$ from sale of US$ securities already held, and later converting to CAD$ when funds required for RSP withdrawal). Any emerging markets ETF(s) purchased now would likely be held at least 10 years (potentially, much longer, depending on longevity—spouse and I are both aged 60). One other consideration; we are HNW situation, so US estate tax considerations potentially in play, too (depending on U.S. laws at time of our demise, and specific holdings owned at that time; this consideration would favor ZEM). My question—given the above considerations (currencies, fees within RSP, estate)--which one of these two ETFs would you recommend for long-term emerging markets exposure within an RSP (or, if there is another ETF you would recommend for long-term RSP holding for emerging markets, which would it be, given the above situation?).
Read Answer Asked by Ted on July 03, 2020
Q: I am retired. To help me better appreciate what types of stocks to hold in my TFSA, RRSP/RRIF, and unregistered accounts, could you give me a few Canadian and US suggestions for each. Thanks again for your great service.
Read Answer Asked by bill on July 03, 2020
Q: Hi, my wife has some cash sitting in a Corporate account and we are looking to invest the funds in stocks. I know you can invest in ETF's, stocks, bonds, etc. but can you tell me what kinds of stocks are best to invest in, considering taxes, withholding taxes, etc. Is it better to invest in growth stocks or dividend stocks, US or CDN stocks? What are some other factors to consider? We are well diversified in our personal accounts and looking for long term growth. Thanks for all your help!
Read Answer Asked by Keith on June 30, 2020
Q: Hi 5i Team,
I do not have any international exposure and I am wondering if you would recommend a dividend ETF with some upside potential. What account would it be best held in? Do you think this is a good time to enter? Thanks so much.
Read Answer Asked by Pat on June 22, 2020
Q: Within the context of tax loss harvesting, what would be good proxies for the following stocks: NFI, SIS, and VET. And can you assign an estimated "beta score" for the proxies. i.e. 1.0 should have very similar performance.
Also, with a year like this, should we expect heavy tax loss selling towards the end of the year?
Read Answer Asked by Mike on June 19, 2020
Q: Hello, in the June issue of Canadian Money Saver, there is a section of an article on “pooled funds” by B. Stewart that says: “Depending on the prevailing tax law and your level of wealth, you would be subject to paying (possibly sizeable!) US estate tax if you were holding individual US securities at the time of death.” I know you are not tax experts, but what is the level of wealth she is referring to? Does that apply to all Canadian investors who hold individual US stocks in their cash account at the time of death? Thanks, Gervais
Read Answer Asked by Gervais on June 18, 2020
Q: Hi Peter, Ryan and Team,

I have a question about TFSA accounts. Are the maximum limits to the TFSA cumulative? For illustration purposes, say if the limit were $5,000 per year for 5 year period, the maximum to contribute is $25,000. But if during that 5 year period, I only contributed $10,000, am I able to make up the $15,000 difference in year 6?

Throughout year 6, would I be able to contribute $20,000 ($15,000+$5000) and does it have to be one lumpsum? I am a bit confused, because every time I make a contribution to the TFSA, the bank has a statement that warns about overcontributing for the year.

Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Marvin on June 16, 2020
Q: I often see people make the following comment on your site, saying to the effect that they cannot realize a loss on a stock because it’s in their RSP/RIF. They really can, and usually to a much greater benefit than in a non-registered account. It’s how you look at the issue.

Withdrawals from RSP/RIF are taxed at your marginal tax rate. The taxman is sharing in your loss, should you decide to sell, they’re just not sharing in the same tax year when you sell. Their ‘sharing’ comes when you withdraw funds.

To give an example of this:

At a $50,000 income level, the combined Provincial (Ontario in this case, but all are similar) and Federal income tax rate is 30%, and the capital gains tax rate is 15%. If you took a $20,000 loss in an RSP/RIF, upon eventual withdrawal, you’ll be paying $6,000 less in tax (because you won’t be withdrawing what isn’t there - because you would have sold already). Had the sale been in a non-registered account - and you suffered the same $20,000 loss - you would only be saving $3,000 in taxes, because the capital gain rate at $50,000 income is only 15%.

At $93,000 income, tax rate is 38%, and capital gains tax is 19%. Using the same example, a $20,000 loss would mean that, upon withdrawal, $7,600 less will be paid in tax versus had the loss been realized in a non-registered account, the capital gains tax saved would only have been $3,800. The higher the income, the more this scenario plays out to the individual’s advantage.

It’s a different way of thinking about it, and I realize that one doesn’t want to see a loss in a registered account because the funds cannot be replaced, but putting that aside, the taxman most definitely shares in your loss in an RSP/RIF, to an even larger extent than they do with capital gains. it’s just that you can’t ‘see’ it, you have to think about it. But it is the long game.

At any rate, just another idea, and please publish if you feel it is worthwhile for your subscribers.
Read Answer Asked by Warren on June 03, 2020