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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: Recently you answered my question regarding US dividend WHT on Canadian domiciled ETF issues (Vanguard Canada, RBC Ishares etc) and noted that withholding taxes are owing on distributions since the Canadian ETF is simply holding the US ETF and the taxes would be levied when distributions are paid by the US ETF to the Canadian ETF.

Some follow up questions:
- I am assuming that the WHT would apply even if the Canadian ETF is held within a registered account?
- Does the WHT explain part of the difference in yield when comparing the US ETF and the Canadian ETF? For example - VIG yields 1.69% while VGG yields 1.17%. Assuming also that the higher MER on VGG also explains part of the yield difference??
- Given these factors - the WHT and higher MER - why would anyone choose the Canadian version of the same ETF. Further to this - In another question posed by Jacques - you point out that the Canadian ETF ZSP would be preferable to VFV since it holds the stocks directly and not thru the US ETF VOO....thereby avoiding WHT's for registered accounts. However - when you look at VOO - the yield is about 26 bp's higher than either VFV and ZSP....again why would you not just buy VOO.

Many thanks
Read Answer Asked by Gary on December 20, 2024
Q: good morning:
if you were going to start buying a etf today that had low costs [mer] in canadian dollars and invested outside of canada and paid a decent dividend which 5 would you look at? can be small cap, european, etc
Read Answer Asked by hans on December 12, 2024
Q: Could you please provide a list of top US ETF’s that can be bought (low cost with great management)
a) using a US dollar acct
b) using a CDN dollar acct
3-5 for each.

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Darryl on November 26, 2024
Q: Hello Peter and Team. I am about to open a new TFSA account with almost 100K. Time frame of 5-8 years. Could you please recommend 4-6 growth/income stocks with 1or 2 ETF’s?

I was thinking BN, VFV, EIT.UN, TVK. Any other recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks for the amazing service. Brian
Read Answer Asked by Brian on October 18, 2024
Q: Can you recommend a list of safe dividend income ETFs with high steady monthly distributions? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Victor on August 07, 2024
Q: I look after a RESP for my grandchildren and I have IWO, VFV, VGG, at equal weight. XIC, XQQ at a lower weight and only 2 stocks BN and LMN. Is there any more ETF that you would recommend to go with the ones I currently own? What 2 stocks would you recommend as well? The funds are not needed for 10 years,

Thanks
Read Answer Asked on August 02, 2024
Q: I am looking for quality "dividend growth" focused ETF (not "high dividend" ETF) in CDA and US , with an optimal balance of sectors ( some of those ETF showing, in my vue,a disproportion of sectors, like an excess of financials (ex. 40-50%) etc..). Could you suggest your 2-3 choices in CDA and US ?
Read Answer Asked by Jean-Yves on April 29, 2024
Q: I have most of my US exposure 55,000 in VGG. Also own google and NVDA and google. in CDR. I am wondering if I should sell 1/2 of VGG and buy VFV for exposure to the SP 500 or is there another ETF I should consider Thanks Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on April 23, 2024
Q: Morning
Which etf would you recommend for US exposure and why. Please rate them from 1-4
ZSP
VFV
VGG
XUS
Also thoughts on XEQT for all round exposure
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Michael on April 09, 2024
Q: Good morning,


I am not crystal clear on the most tax efficient account to hold each of the above listed ETFs and before moving any of them to another type of account, I would very much appreciate your guidance on the most tax efficient type of account to hold each of the above listed ETFs.

The above listed ETFs are all held in our family Registered (RRSP/TFSA/RESP) and Non-Registered accounts.

Thank you and I'll await your sage advice.
Read Answer Asked by Francesco on March 11, 2024
Q: Good morning,

I currently hold VIG ETF in my Non Registered US$ account and VGG in my Non Registered Cdn$ account. Both of these ETFs have the same holdings but the VIG appears to be cheaper in terms of MER and perhaps more tax efficient if held in a RRSP.

Given that both VIG and VGG hold the same holdings and taxation not a consideration, I was thinking of selling the VGG ETF and purchasing some additional VIG ETF.

However, I just stumbled across another ETF (DGRW ETF) that I would appreciate your thoughts on as a potential replacement for VIG ETF. Although a bit more expensive in terms of MER, the annual performance over the last 10 years appears to be much better.


Thank you and I'll await your response.

Francesco
Read Answer Asked by Francesco on January 19, 2024
Q: I look after a RESP and have IWO, VGRO, VGG and BN. The weight is 16% for each. Would you be comfortable adding to the ETF'S to a 20% weight or should I buy a ETF like XIC? If you have any suggestions of what I could buy for this account I appreciate your input! It will be 12 years before needed.

Thanks
Read Answer Asked on January 16, 2024
Q: Hello
On Jan 4th, I asked a question about the best place to hold VGG for tax efficiency. I was told that a TFSA or RRSP would be best. However, I read an article by Moez Mahrez in Canadian Money saver and looked at the tax efficiency table posted on the same website. If I am correct in my interpretation, both of these sites seem to recommend holding an ETF that trades in CAD but is US listed in a RRSP first and then a non-registered account because the dividend that incurs US withholding tax is recoverable in the non-registered account. In a TFSA, the dividend incurs withholding tax but it is not recoverable. Am I correct in my interpretation?
thanks for your help
Read Answer Asked by Mary on January 09, 2024
Q: As grandparents, we are interested in making a long-term investment for our two grandchildren that will be held for the next 20 years. Could you please recommend the most suitable type of investment account to avoid personal investment and tax implications? Additionally, we would appreciate your suggestions for a few ETFs to consider for this extended investment period. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Ronnie on December 08, 2023
Q: Adding to a TFSA for a 20 year window.
Please advise 5 ETFs to buy and hold for the duration.
Read Answer Asked by Don on November 30, 2023