From my reading so far I’m looking at ETFs with WS, and that I should start with the TFSA. Am I on the right track and what do you recommend?
You’re on the right track
ETFs and Canadian banks are considered lower risk investments because it’s unlikely they will be gone tomorrow
If you want a 100% Canadian portfolio, I would do some mix of ZCN and ZAG. Both are 100% Canadian from BMO. If you want international diversification without the US you can use VIU. 60/20/20 ZCN/ZAG/VIU would be a portfolio that heavily prioritizes Canada with reasonable diversification without investing at all in the US. (Which, from the title and political climate, I assume you might be looking for.)
How deep do you want to go? A person with an intense desire to understand everything and use the best data to take sensible decisions will like The Rational Reminder podcast and it’s wide content. Recently it discussed a paper challenging the use of bonds in a portfolio and proposing 100% stock in a 1/3 domestic market - 2/3 international market split as the optimal portfolio in most situations. Don’t take my word for it, understand the underlying logic and if it’s right for you yourself. Bonus for the nerds: how is the current chaos supporting or contradicting the efficient market theory?
If you want a more condensed explanation: don’t invest money you will need within the next decade and focus on low cost (low MER) index etf. Some all in one etf exist or you can choose 2-4 etf and rebalance them yourself. You don’t have enough talent and ressources to do single stocks: most professionals gets results below the market average.
Thanks!
If you want a more condensed explanation: don’t invest money you will need within the next decade
Does this include ETFs? I have some money in one and more sitting in a bank account, figured I’d make a plan and set it up properly
Congrats for thinking like this when you’re young!(I wish I had!) Yes, make a plan! That’s the first step. Write down your goals (what you want in life and need the money for and when) Then do your risk profile. Then check that you have the basics of personal finance in place (no debts, emergency fund, etc) There are courses and online resources for this. McGill has just updated their personal finance and investing online course!
Yes ETF are the best tool to access low cost index fund.
Both stock and bond will see high variation in price : don’t put yourself in a situation where you divorce or loose your job during a downturn only to need the money and sell at a loss.
I don’t know but the market is very volatile right now. Whatever you invest now you might lose big in the short term.
But this all depends on your objective. What are you investing for? Short term gains? Retirement revenue? To buy your first property?
If you can answer that, we can give you better advice.
Long term gains, likely for a first property
RRSPs and FHSA is where it’s at. Now what to tie them to is another story.
Honestly a good adviser at your bank would probably be better suited to help you.
In these times I would probably go with something low risk with guaranteed capital so you don’t lose your initial investment at least. The interest will be lower though.
Edit: I forgot to mention to look up insurance companies as well, like Manulife or Sunlife. They have RRSPs and TFSAs as well with often more and better investment vehicles that bring more returns, but often with no guaranteed capital.
DO NOT take advice from financial advisors at banks in Canada. They are unregulated sales people paid to give advice that serves the interest of their employer.
The only people OP should consider taking professional advice from are flat-fee financial advisors. They will not find them at banks. And they must be flat fee.
If OP is not paying for the advice up front the advice is not going to be in OPs best interest.
Not necessarily. I mean they’ll present you with the various investments the bank offers, like mutual funds and ETFs and things like that. They’ll have different plans for you depending on how much you’re willing to invest and how much risk you want to take, like high risk and no guarantees on your capital to low risk and guaranteed capital.
An independant financial advisors will tell you just about the same thing,
I don’t see how one can benefit the bank more than another? If you can enlighten me I’d appreciate it.
And I also forgot to mention that insurance companies also offer TFSAs and RRSPs and often have more and better investment vehicles than banks with better returns.
Yes necessarily. If you have the ability to determine whether they’re pulling the wool over your eyes then you might as well just advise yourself at that point.
Even the internet is often a better place to get advice than an advisor at a Canadian bank who’s job performance is intimately tied with how efficiently he can scam you.
Also, I didn’t say independent financial advisor. You should also not go for advisors who are independent but charge some management fees in exchange for controlling your investments. I said flat fee financial advisor.
A flat fee financial advisor isn’t going to sell you a scam mutual fund with 2% MER or advise you to take out a large debt you will not benefit from. They are paid by you and accountable to you with no authority to skim off the top of your assets. Those mutual funds you say are fine often rob people of half their retirement savings over the course of decades due to compounding effects.
You want to get advice ideally from those who have a fiduciary duty to YOU such that their interests are aligned with yours. Failing that, you want someone who has no stake in your money.
Even the internet is often a better place to get advice than an advisor at a Canadian bank who’s job performance is intimately tied with how efficiently he can scam you.
That is terrible advice! Don’t listen to strangers on the internet! Not even anybody you know who isn’t a professional. That’s bad! They’re not liable for anything.
If a bank advisor gives you bad advice they are liable. They’re supposed to have a financial planner license which gives them the obligation to provide you with correct advice.
The title “financial planner” or its abbreviation “F.Pl.” may be used by a person holding a diploma issued by the Institute of Financial Planning (the “Institute”) who has obtained a certificate from the AMF authorizing them to act in financial planning or who belongs to a professional order that has entered into an agreement with the AMF, in which case the person must satisfy the requirements of their professional order (see “Exceptions”).
Those mutual funds you say are fine often rob people of half their retirement savings over the course of decades due to compounding effects.
How can they be robbed of their retirement savings? What compounding effects? It all depends what these mutual funds have in them. I really don’t see how a mutual fund can purposefully rob someone of their savings. And I especially don’t see how the bank benefits from that other than the broker fees.
It is terrible advice. And it’s less terrible than advising them to go to a bank.
I’m sorry but you’re misinformed. When you walk into a bank and ask for financial advice those employees are NOT liable in Canada nor are they required to have full certifications.
They have no fiduciary duty to you and in fact they are PUNISHED for not scamming effectively or often enough for the banks. They have performance quotas to meet that are misaligned with their customers interests.
Pay for someone who is actually qualified.
As for why 1-2% MER actively managed funds pushed by banks can drain roughly half of your retirement savings there’s tons of info out there on how compounding effects work and the downsides of active management.
I encourage you to go pay for a qualified financial planner. It sounds like you’ve been lead astray.
other than the broker fees
EXACTLY. Do you know what compound interest is?
