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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: Im 27 and Im looking to become financially independent VIA my investments by 35. I currently have $120,000 invested (90,000 in my TFSA, 20,000 in my RRSP, and $10,000 in cash) I also have $130,000 worth of equity in my rental property, which I intend to liquidate within the next few years to invest. I’ve got a mixture of investments including dividend stocks that’s are set up to DRIP, index funds, stocks that I researched, and some speculative plays. What do you recommend I focus on going forward? I’m looking at adding $2000/ month to my investment program. Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Danielle on November 12, 2019
Q: In response to Richards inquiry about US dividends. I deal with TD. I have an unregistered account. I opened a US unregistered account and journaled the shares over. I get paid Div’s in US funds for stocks like MG, CSU, MX, BAM and GIl. No fees at all. If I want to sell any sticks I journal the back and sell. Again no fees. I can do it myself or TD will do it for me.
Read Answer Asked by Kelly on November 11, 2019
Q: Hi Everyone at 5i ...me again. I have a non registered account with the following breakdown: 60% GICs ( because this is my retirement money and I am conservative and I know that GICs in a non registered account are a losing proposition as far a inflation etc. )..10% XHY/CPD.....and 30% stocks..BMO, ZUT, ZWE,BNS,BCE,BAM.A,BEP,UN,BPY.UN,CCL,CAR,ET,FTS,GSY,HR.UN,KXS ,NTR,OTEX,PEO,QSR,SLF,T,TD,VFV,WSP. Now to my question....I am generating $30,000. Combo dividend ( a larger percentage ) and interest income . I want to increase this but at a lower risk. .I would like to extract 150K from the GIC column and produce a higher level of dividend on these monies, but yet, keep things as conservative as possible ( this is called having your cake and eating it too.) What would you suggest?...I thought I might divide this between XBB, CPD or....your suggestion. Thank you for your help, Cheers, Tamara
Read Answer Asked by Tamara on October 30, 2019
Q: I just read Ryan's article on Direct Indexing and ETF's and basically that 0$ trade commissions with brokerage houses impact on this. I have never used a brokerage house and am not a frequent trader. What brokerage house(s) do you recommend?
What are the risks, disadvantages ( if any) compared to using a bank. How do they make their money then?
Regards
Kathy
Read Answer Asked by Kathy on October 22, 2019
Q: I am very pleased with the Portfolio Analytics, and have found it to be a quite useful tool. Thank you for building this product.

Broadly, I would like to better understand how you developed your recommended sector/geographic allocations in the Asset Allocator. In particular, I would like to understand:

1) Certain assets (e.g. gold, REITs) are missing or very low percentages. What is the basis for this recommendation in the Portfolio Analytics?

2) Most if not all broadly based core index funds have a greater allocation to financials than the 15% recommended in the Portfolio Analyzer. Why are you recommending a 15% allocation?

3) Are your recommended asset allocation percentages static, or are you planning on adjusting these percentages over time as markets change?

4) Given that markets typically revert to the mean, how do your recommended allocations compare to the mean sector percentages of major indexes, for example EAFE or the S&P500?

Any insights you can offer to help me better understand the basis for how these asset allocations were developed would be most helpful. Thank you for this excellent service!
Read Answer Asked by Dale on October 18, 2019
Q: Peter Shiff was recently on USA Watchdog.com. He basically recommends that investors switch to gold as he feels the US (fiat based) currency will become devalued as bond investors demand higher rates given the huge US deficits.

What is your opinion of gold, and gold stocks, as an investment? Should investors allocate a percentage of their portfolio to gold as protection to a possible collapse in the bond and equity markets?

Thank you again for your insightful advice.
Read Answer Asked by Dale on October 18, 2019
Q: Hi
I know you are NOT momentum investors!
But I know from your answers you watch for the trends and repeatedly point to the lack of traction in the Energy sector.

What are the momentum factors/ trend changing indicators that you do consider when you answer your subscribers' questions?
Are there any newsletters/blogs/that you respect/follow?

Thanks!
Mano
Read Answer Asked by Savalai on October 17, 2019
Q: A PSA for all. I finally achieved my first double as a member of the 5i fan club. The stock is...... drum roll.... CSU. Bought in 2017 at the low low price of $650.00.

My next double would seem to be BYD. Bought in at $96.00. So for those out there who think that stocks like the one mentioned are too expensive, take heed. Not all work out, but the doubles help.
Read Answer Asked by Kelly on October 16, 2019
Q: I currently have about 10% of my portfolio in money market funds or cash. For a while this seemed like a good idea and I have seen other portfolios with cash. but its over a year now and the cash just gets more and is earning very little. I see from some other questions-answers that you do not recommend holding much cash. what do you think I should do? Reduce the cash? and to what extent? I have no need for cash now and have a moderately sized line of credit if there were an emergency. thanks
Read Answer Asked by Stuart on October 11, 2019