1.)allocation (how much you put into each fund). (simple rule of thumb is your age as a % in bonds, rest in US/INTL).
​
2.) Cost Averaging (Buy a fixed amount each month)
​
3.) Rebalancing (Once a year look at your allocation, sell/buy between funds to return to your proper allocation).
​
4.) DON'T TOUCH IT. Just fucking leave it. Don't look at the markets, don't fucking sell and buy bitcoin. Don't listen to any of your idiot friends about a hot stock. Don't touch it.
​
5.) Read this book : https://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Teacher-Wealth-Should-Learned/dp/0470830069 It explains everything I've just said in a bit more detail.
by cannuckpp 2019-11-17
>-Any other advice?
Yes, I don't think you're ready to retire.
This has absolutely nothing to do with your age, your comments indicated a complete lack of even basic investment discipline.
Without discipline to stick to your investment plan your long retirement could easily be cut short by a few bad years of returns and bad decisions compounding your losses.
You need more then an investment strategy, you need a strategy that you can believe in, one that you won't waiver from the first time the market goes down 5%, 10%, 30%.
My personal recommendation, read The Millionaire Teacher. I fell the author does an excellent job of logically walking the reader through why a low cost ETF portfolio will work. His explanation is what finally gave me the confidence to take control of my own portfolio.
by elbyron 2017-08-19
It really depends what you want to save for. Are you planning to buy a new car soon or go on a nice vacation? Saving up for a downpayment on a house? Saving for retirement? Some combination of these?
For any portion that is shorter term (car, vacation, house) you're probably good with just keeping it in savings accounts, though you might want to check out some high-interest TFSA accounts that probably pay a much better rate than what you're currently earning.
For retirement savings, you should invest in stock markets and bonds, though not directly. Mutual funds or exchange-traded funds are your best bet, ideally sticking with low-cost "index funds". There's a lot to be learned before you begin this journey, and so I suggest you start out by reading these great personal finance books:
The Wealthy Barber Returns, by David Chilton. You can still get a free copy here even though it says the free eBook offer expired Dec 31.
Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School, by Andrew Hallam. Check your local library, or buy it on Amazon in paperback or Kindle.
Both of these provide solid coverage of all the basics of personal finance, and a good intro into investing. They are somewhat lacking in the actual implementation of the investment strategies they discuss, so for that I recommend an eBook called The Value of Simple, which you can get from Chapters , or from the author's website.
by bman2017 2017-08-19
You have a few things going for you:
1) you acknowledge you made a mistake
2) you asked for help
3) your ready willing and able to learn.
Give some poor advice (like buying whole life insurance :p ) and you will see just how unpolite this sub can be!
It isnt just about finding a low cost option but a fundamentally different investment approach called indexed investing. The average canadian who pays 2.5% MER is invested in an actively managed approach (they try and beat the market average, but after fees a vast majority are unable to). The indexed approach can range in cost from 1.07%mer to as low as 0.15% mer depending on how hands on you want to get (and there is nothing wrong with paying a slightly higher mer to keep things simple). The indexed approach: own every stock in the market and guarantee the average return of the stock market. No expensive research into which stock will outperform = low fees. After fees, over a 10 year period, indexed investing consistantly beat 85% of investors. So for 1/7 people, paying the high fee pays off. Obviously there is no way of picking the fund that will do this in advance, otherwise everyone would.
I recommend you start reading the wealthy barber returns. Tangerine bank was giving it away for free until december 31st 2016 but it looks like it isnstill free on their website. It is a book more on basics of personal finance.
Other than that, questions asked on Reddit and the CCP have been helpful. Other books often recommended on this sub that I have read are often on personal finance in general, and what I like about Andrew Hallam's books is they are more on simple investing.
Once I found out how to view ETFs names and see what they meant, I googled ETF-A vs ETF-B. This helped me learn the difference.
The 3 largest ETF creators:
1) Vanguard (all ETFs start with a V)
2) ishares by blackrock (all ETFs start with an X)
3) BMO (All ETFs start with a Z)
I ended up just going with Vanguard. There is no reason you cant mix an match (BMO bond, Vanguard Canadian Equities, etc.) but you need to be aware of the different holdings of different ETFs.
Example: iShares has south korea listed as a developed nation, where vanguard has south korea as developing. So if you buy the vanguard developed and the ishares developing nation ETFs, you would not own any south korea and you would lose exposure to companies like Samsung, LG, etc. You could also go with an ETF for all contries excluding canada (example: VXC - Vanguard excluding canada). You pay slightly higher MER but it keeps things simple. So you would hold VXC, A bond Fund (VAB for Vanguard), and a Canadian equities ETF (VCN for vanguard). If you wanted to break up VXC into 3 new etfs (you would have to manage 5 ETFS at that point), you would need to buy a US equities ETF (VUN), a Developed country ETF (VIU), and a developing nations etf (VEE). Or you can just keep it simple and manage 3 ETFs. CCP talks about transaction costs in some of the links i posted below, so there could be potential savings by paying a higher MER for the 3 ETF portfolio instead of managing the 5 etf portfolio.
I would recommend the following posts on the CCP website:
VXC (Vanguard Equities excluding canada) contains USA, Developed, and Developing - but these are not weighed equally in the index. So if you break it down into 3 ETFS - you should have a lot more of the USA ETF than the Emerging market. 56% of VXC is USA.
But once you finish your research and determine what ETFs, and the portfolio %s it is easy (2 hours/year to buy ETFs and rebalance).
If you have concerns, or would like your portfolio reviewed - you can post it on this website. Personally, my breakdown is as follows:
5% VAB (Vanguard Bond Fund)
30% VCN (Vanguard Canadian Equities)
The next 3 funds can be replaced by VXC - Vanguard equities excluding canada - but i opted for the cheaper more complex approach:
40% VUN (Vanguard USA equities index fund)
20% VIU (Vanguard Developed Nations equities indexed fund)
5% VEE (Vanguard Developing nations equities indexed fund)
DIY.
​
Vanguard Index funds:
​
VTSAX
​
VBTLX
VTIAX
​
Learn about:
​
1.)allocation (how much you put into each fund). (simple rule of thumb is your age as a % in bonds, rest in US/INTL).
​
2.) Cost Averaging (Buy a fixed amount each month)
​
3.) Rebalancing (Once a year look at your allocation, sell/buy between funds to return to your proper allocation).
​
4.) DON'T TOUCH IT. Just fucking leave it. Don't look at the markets, don't fucking sell and buy bitcoin. Don't listen to any of your idiot friends about a hot stock. Don't touch it.
​
5.) Read this book : https://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Teacher-Wealth-Should-Learned/dp/0470830069 It explains everything I've just said in a bit more detail.
>-Any other advice?
Yes, I don't think you're ready to retire.
This has absolutely nothing to do with your age, your comments indicated a complete lack of even basic investment discipline.
Without discipline to stick to your investment plan your long retirement could easily be cut short by a few bad years of returns and bad decisions compounding your losses.
You need more then an investment strategy, you need a strategy that you can believe in, one that you won't waiver from the first time the market goes down 5%, 10%, 30%.
My personal recommendation, read The Millionaire Teacher. I fell the author does an excellent job of logically walking the reader through why a low cost ETF portfolio will work. His explanation is what finally gave me the confidence to take control of my own portfolio.
It really depends what you want to save for. Are you planning to buy a new car soon or go on a nice vacation? Saving up for a downpayment on a house? Saving for retirement? Some combination of these?
For any portion that is shorter term (car, vacation, house) you're probably good with just keeping it in savings accounts, though you might want to check out some high-interest TFSA accounts that probably pay a much better rate than what you're currently earning.
For retirement savings, you should invest in stock markets and bonds, though not directly. Mutual funds or exchange-traded funds are your best bet, ideally sticking with low-cost "index funds". There's a lot to be learned before you begin this journey, and so I suggest you start out by reading these great personal finance books:
Both of these provide solid coverage of all the basics of personal finance, and a good intro into investing. They are somewhat lacking in the actual implementation of the investment strategies they discuss, so for that I recommend an eBook called The Value of Simple, which you can get from Chapters , or from the author's website.
You have a few things going for you:
1) you acknowledge you made a mistake
2) you asked for help
3) your ready willing and able to learn.
Give some poor advice (like buying whole life insurance :p ) and you will see just how unpolite this sub can be!
It isnt just about finding a low cost option but a fundamentally different investment approach called indexed investing. The average canadian who pays 2.5% MER is invested in an actively managed approach (they try and beat the market average, but after fees a vast majority are unable to). The indexed approach can range in cost from 1.07%mer to as low as 0.15% mer depending on how hands on you want to get (and there is nothing wrong with paying a slightly higher mer to keep things simple). The indexed approach: own every stock in the market and guarantee the average return of the stock market. No expensive research into which stock will outperform = low fees. After fees, over a 10 year period, indexed investing consistantly beat 85% of investors. So for 1/7 people, paying the high fee pays off. Obviously there is no way of picking the fund that will do this in advance, otherwise everyone would.
I recommend you start reading the wealthy barber returns. Tangerine bank was giving it away for free until december 31st 2016 but it looks like it isnstill free on their website. It is a book more on basics of personal finance.
https://www.tangerine.ca/en/landing-page/wealthybarberreturns/index.html
The canadian couch potato blog is like the bible of this subreddit.
http://canadiancouchpotato.com/
If your looking for another more advanced book (more on the investing side), try the millionaire teacher
https://toptalkedbooks.com/amzn/0470830069
Highly recommended books.
There are a few books by Andrew Hallam that I found useful.
https://toptalkedbooks.com/amzn/0470830069
https://toptalkedbooks.com/amzn/B00N99IK74
Other than that, questions asked on Reddit and the CCP have been helpful. Other books often recommended on this sub that I have read are often on personal finance in general, and what I like about Andrew Hallam's books is they are more on simple investing.
Once I found out how to view ETFs names and see what they meant, I googled ETF-A vs ETF-B. This helped me learn the difference.
The 3 largest ETF creators:
1) Vanguard (all ETFs start with a V)
2) ishares by blackrock (all ETFs start with an X)
3) BMO (All ETFs start with a Z)
I ended up just going with Vanguard. There is no reason you cant mix an match (BMO bond, Vanguard Canadian Equities, etc.) but you need to be aware of the different holdings of different ETFs.
Example: iShares has south korea listed as a developed nation, where vanguard has south korea as developing. So if you buy the vanguard developed and the ishares developing nation ETFs, you would not own any south korea and you would lose exposure to companies like Samsung, LG, etc. You could also go with an ETF for all contries excluding canada (example: VXC - Vanguard excluding canada). You pay slightly higher MER but it keeps things simple. So you would hold VXC, A bond Fund (VAB for Vanguard), and a Canadian equities ETF (VCN for vanguard). If you wanted to break up VXC into 3 new etfs (you would have to manage 5 ETFS at that point), you would need to buy a US equities ETF (VUN), a Developed country ETF (VIU), and a developing nations etf (VEE). Or you can just keep it simple and manage 3 ETFs. CCP talks about transaction costs in some of the links i posted below, so there could be potential savings by paying a higher MER for the 3 ETF portfolio instead of managing the 5 etf portfolio.
I would recommend the following posts on the CCP website:
Posts on rebalancing:
http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2011/02/22/why-rebalance-your-portfolio/
http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2011/02/24/how-often-should-you-rebalance/
http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2014/06/23/rebalancing-with-cash-flows/
On ETFS:
http://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios-2/
http://canadiancouchpotato.com/recommended-funds/
On Asset Allocation:
http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2011/08/09/do-you-have-the-right-asset-allocation/
http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2010/03/09/how-much-risk-do-you-need-to-take/
http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2010/11/10/ready-willing-and-able-to-take-risk/
How much canadian, US, Developed, or Developing equities should you have (no right answer, you will need to decide yourself):
http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2012/05/22/ask-the-spud-does-home-bias-ever-make-sense/
VXC (Vanguard Equities excluding canada) contains USA, Developed, and Developing - but these are not weighed equally in the index. So if you break it down into 3 ETFS - you should have a lot more of the USA ETF than the Emerging market. 56% of VXC is USA.
https://www.vanguardcanada.ca/advisors/mvc/detail/etf/overview?portId=9548&assetCode=EQUITY##overview
But once you finish your research and determine what ETFs, and the portfolio %s it is easy (2 hours/year to buy ETFs and rebalance).
If you have concerns, or would like your portfolio reviewed - you can post it on this website. Personally, my breakdown is as follows:
5% VAB (Vanguard Bond Fund)
30% VCN (Vanguard Canadian Equities)
The next 3 funds can be replaced by VXC - Vanguard equities excluding canada - but i opted for the cheaper more complex approach:
40% VUN (Vanguard USA equities index fund)
20% VIU (Vanguard Developed Nations equities indexed fund)
5% VEE (Vanguard Developing nations equities indexed fund)