Investment Q&A

Q: Good evening,

Multi-part question.

Had just finished reading ‘The Little Book of common sense Investing’, decide to make the switch, and am beginning to plan my transition to CPD, ZAG, VFV, XEF, VCN, VEE, and XRE, when I come across the new Vanguard products, of which VBAL to me seems the most interesting.

I see the pros of this ETF as being straightforward and dropping from 7 commission fees (re-balancing myself), vs just one trade a year to add money (portfolio currently around $26,000).

Cons: no preferreds or real estate. Less control (e.g they decide the asset allocations).

Do you have an opinion on this ETF?

Not sure the yield on VBAL but am guessing 2.5-3% maybe? Any idea?

Also, If I go ahead with VBAL would you give it some time to settle down (trading looks a little erratic), or is that volatility purely a product of price changes of its holdings already?

Thanks!

Q: I have a 5 year old grandson and want to start a long term investment fund. Would an ETF be the best way to go, and if so, could you recommend a few. Thanks. All the best in the New Year. Thanks for all your help over the years.

Q: To establish a more passive approach for my Canadian holdings I am considering investment in the following ETFs. VCN 25% (core), MAW106 25% (core). MKC 30%, and HEW the remainder. Would you consider any changes to the above selections or allocations?

Thanks to a dedicated team
Merry Christmas to all.

Q: I am holding all of these ETFs in fairly equivalent amounts in both TFSA and Cash accounts. I will need to sell some to pay my 2017 tax bill, as the sale of an investment property has me realizing some significant capital gains.

Do you have a recommendation for which ones to sell over others, or would you maintain an equal weighting? These will be long-term investments.

Q: Awhile back you suggested for my daughter age. 27 the following ..50% VCN,30% VFV,15% XIN and VEE 5%. . IS this still recommended as she has some more funds to invest.and only wants ETF's .Happy Thanksgiving Paul

Q: During the Spring I liquidated my CDN Equity portfolio. I wanted to move away from managing indidual positions and move to a more passive approach. Then I read Ryan's excellent article, Why it's almost impossible to be a passive investor in Canada. I looked at HEW; but it is very small with only about $12m invested. Are there other ETFs that do an equal weight S&P 60? I also am considering VCN and CDZ. I also looked at Two mutual funds, Mawer Canadian Equity and Lester CDN Equity Fund. There are High Conviction funds available; but with very high MER's.
Would you please recommend a portfolio structure that would meet my needs, I am a conservative senior. Please have the suggestions add to 100%.
Thanks Guys for keeping us thinking outside the box.

Q: Hello 5i

My wife and I will retire in 6 years. We plan to take 15/yr out of our RRSP's at full retirement.

After pulling most of our investments from mutual funds we have the following:
- 250k RRSP to invest into non-CDN (most likely ZWE, VUN, EXC, and a few stocks or XAW)
- 100k RRSP Mutual funds in bonds (transfer to ETF's or stocks over time to reduce fees)
- 100k RRSP for CDN investment (VCN or portfolio stocks?)
- 25k for TFSA now + 20k/yr to add to TFSA

We are not sure if purchasing 100k of VCN is the right choice.
Would you recommend 100k into the balanced and/or income portfolio instead, or a combination of VCN and balanced portfolio?

If RRSP funds are allocated to portfolios, which stocks are best suited for an RRSP? We can purchase the remaining stocks through our TFSA (higher growth stocks).

Please take the appropriate number of credits for the question.

Thank you for your great service.

Jerry & Debbie

Q: Hello, I've just opened an RESP for my son and it has $2500 in it and should see $2500 added to it each year plus the gov't portion. Looking at a time frame of about 18-20 years, can you recommend an initial approach? Would a couple ETF's be best for now? or is it better to work toward the income model portfolio? or a few good dividend paying equities for the long term? Thank you.

Q: Hi,

I'm looking for an RRSP investment for my wife. What we have right now is a TD US INDEX fund. Chose this one because it has low MER and tracks the S&P 500. Can you give us other index funds that you can recommend be it US or Canadian with good performance?

Thanks,

Sunday

Q: my teenage daughter has just registered her tfsa. She has a small amount of $ (4000) to start. she is thinking for simplicity and risk sake at this point in her life to go with the global couch potato. Which 4 ETFs would you recommend for her. she needs a CAN equity, US equity, INTER equity and a bond ETF.
Do you think this is a good idea or would you recommend she stick to specific company stocks instead?
thanks
michele

Q: Hi 5i!

New member and I have found your wealth of knowledge very helpful in providing guidance for a relatively new do-it-myself “Core & Explore investor” and have prompted me to make some changes to my investment strategies and portfolio. My question is “Core Portfolio” management based and specifically regarding switching to Index ETFs from Index Mutual funds. I’ve been a regular monthly contributor to my RRSP built up and directing most of my funds towards a TD Canadian Index Fund TDB900 – e series and a lesser amount to the same e series TD International Index Fund TDB911 as they have very low MERs of 0.31% and 0.51% approximately. My strategy, since I dollar cost average into the indexes, is to continue to contribute to these TD mutual funds monthly but then funnel from them to ETF index funds so I can take advantage of the lower MERs of the ETF. Could you recommend ETFs to replace my current TD mutual funds? Would you also recommend adding a DOW Jones Index or another US index? What ratios would you consider appropriate for a portfolio? Any other thoughts are welcome and I’ll save my “Explore portfolio” questions for a later date.

Cheers!

Q: Hi,
My son is taking a break from active stock picking and has gone with this ETF model: VUS(15%), VBU(5%), VCN(22.5%), VAB(5%), VI(22.5%). His investing horizon is very long (10-20 years). Your thoughts on the individual ETFs? How about sector & geographic diversity? Any other concerns?
Thanks!

Q: Hi 5i,
Can you recommend one or two good broad market, low cost etfs? They will be held long term in a tfsa. I'm not really planning on holding individual stocks at all. I will be maxing out my tfsa and buying into the etf 2-3 times per year. I'm looking for good long term growth, and maybe some dividend. Any dividends will also be reinvested. Can 1-2 etfs cover all markets well enough or should a variety of etfs be held in the account?

Thanks!

Q: I am currently moving some of my portfolio from stocks to ETF's. I want only a plain vanilla flavoured portfolio. I have been going through your questions and answers regarding ETF's, and given the diversity of situations and dates, I am getting a little confused. i wonder if you could suggest the best for broad canada, broad U.S., and international?
thanks

Q: My son is in his mid-thirties and has very limited time available to actively follow/trade the markets. He is looking for a simple, passive investment portfolio with very broad exposure, a modest dividend focus, and that is rebalanced, ideally, once a year. Can you comment on the following proposed portfolio and allocations, assuming about $100k? Are there any alternatives he should consider? Should he modify his approach in a TSFA/RRSP? Thanks.

VAB - 20% (Canadian bonds)
VCN - 15% (Canadian equity)
VDY - 15% (Canadian dividend)
VXC - 50% (Global equity excluding Canada)

Q: Hi,
My brother is a Primerica agent (err..salesperson). Im not big on Primerica as a company at all. He keeps pushing though about this large cap fund ( http://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/en/public/products/mutual_funds/equity_funds/cdn_equity/bu) supposed to have great long term returns. One of the things I don't like about this is the management rate of 2.28%.
Im not an active investor, but have some exposure to real estate (through reits) and a little finance through CM.
I am young and have tfsa savings and want to invest in long term growth (etfs maybe?). Could you offer some recommendations on good long term low cost, passive investments?

Your website is awesome and Ill be signing up as a member tonight!

Thanks
Dave