Investment Q&A

Q: Do you think these 3 ETFs, provide a diversified enough portfolio? I plan to invest equal amounts in these ETFs and re-balance every year. They would be held in a RRSP, RESP and TFSA. Does it matter in which accounts I hold these ETFs? I plan to supplement my income I receive when I retire. I am basically looking to put together a portfolio that I know will be around long after I die. I'm only 30, but I've been listening to John Bogle and Warren Buffett speak about what they believe individual investors should do with their money.

Q: My question involves taxation of these two ETFs at death as a Canadian citizen. VSP holds the US domiciled Vanguard S&P 500 ETF whereas the BMO ZUE invests in the Canadian domiciled ZSP which holds the US equities directly. Once a Canadian individual crosses certain net worth thresholds they are subject to double taxation from both the US and Canada on their US holdings at death. Is the structure of VSP put an individual at more risk? Can you or any members comment?

Q: I am looking for some guidance regarding a retirement plan for someone who is mid 40's; doesn't work for various reasons and has been using an expensive investment advisor. She doesn't know or want to learn about investing for herself. She requires Canadian monthly income and what I think makes sense is to invest her funds in a CDN hedged fund that tracks the S&P 500 such as VSP. The average annual return for this fund is 13.9% since its inception date of Nov 2012 and it pays total dividends of 1.5% annually. I guess I could look at the US website to see the longer term investment returns for the S&P 500. I was thinking of suggesting an ETF REIT for monthly cash flow but the investment returns are much less than the S&P 500. So my thoughts are to invest fully in the S&P 500 and take out money when needed either on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Its a simple plan to understand and should work. Of course the S&P 500 will go down at some point in time in the future but with 40 years to be invested I don't think this should be a problem as long as the funds stay invested in the ETF. Your comments would be greatly appreciated.

Q: Hi Gang,

I have been holding the above for a while and I'm now underwater and I would like to buy the opposite side (bear) to turn it into a neutral market trade until things calm down a bit, I looked at HIU which is also non leveraged 1/1 but does not seem to match VSP, please advice as to what I can do to neutralize the trade, again thank you for your advice. Anthony

Q: I'm looking for recommendations on how best to invest USD 175k sitting in cash since last week. Though tempted by the US buying opportunities, I've been avoiding buying US shares directly due the hassles and costs of US tax exposure. I've only bought 50 shares of ZSP.U so far. Is this a good place to invest more? Can you recommend other good investment vehicles for a non-registered portfolio that will capture US growth/income without currency exchange or US tax?

Q: Would this be a good time to invest in VSP to hold for a couple of years?

Q: I have owned Aecon and Telus for some time now and they haven't moved much, what are your thoughts on selling those and putting the money in VSP

Thank you,
Jared

Q: Which ETF would be your preference? Vanguard VSP or VFV
With thanks, Bill

Q: Hello!

I am mirroring your model portfolios and I currently have 50% of my holdings invested in Balanced, 25% Income and 10% Growth. I also have 10% of my portfolio equally split between VEF and VSP.

I have the opportunity to increase my holdings by about 30% and I'd appreciate your help in deploying those additional dollars.

Should I allocate across the board based on the same percentages? Should I up my percentage in VEF/VSP? Or is there something other investment(s) you would recommend?

I foresee a 6-8 year horizon before needing to draw down on any of these investments.

Thank you for all that you do. I really appreciate all your effort.

Best regards
M

Q: Hello,

Over the past several years I have put together an adhoc portfolio with the following allocation:

ZEO (oil) %4
GIB.A %36
GILD %11
VOO %27
VSP %9
VIG %13

My goal overall is to build a long term growth portfolio (25-30 years) with some stocks mixed in. Any recommendations on how or if I should re-balance this? In your opinion is there anything I should move away from or that may be missing from this portfolio that I should add for long term growth? (ex. emerging markets or a global equity market index ETF).

If so, you could please provide a couple I should consider? I have a lump sum that I plan to contribute to the portfolio over the next 60 days.

Thank-you very much in advance!
Ryan

Q: I am interested in buying an ETF that would cover the S&P 500 index. From looking at previous questions, I see 2 that are talked about, namely VFV and VSP. I was planning on buying VSP but I find the volume is very low compared to VFV and also VSP is CAN hedged(which I don't quite understand).

Can you give me a brief idea of the difference between the 2 and which would be the best to purchase long term?

Or are there other S@P 500 ETFs that you would suggest with a pretty good dividend?

Thank You,
Andrew

Q: Hi,
Im a young, passive investor. Im looking for long term strong TFSA growth to eventually convert into TFSA retirement income. I am new to investing and don't really have a grasp on all the concepts yet.
Can you offer an opinion/advice/education on the pros and cons of investing in ETFs that are Canadian dollar hedged vs. non. Which you you recommend for long term consistent and strong growth.? The two listed are what Im thinking for gaining some US exposure, unless you are able to recommend something better?

Thanks!

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