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I'm currently working towards a MSc in logistics and it's already worth the cost for getting me interested in business and finance. Right before finding this thread I literally had an hour long conversation with my dad about investing. He prettymuch told me to max out of TFSA and then explained why it was a really awesome idea. Like some other goons, I only thought it was a savings account with a fancy name. I do have one (with TD no less  ) but it's only had like 500 bucks in it since 2009.I live overseas but am a deemed resident of Canada since it's for work (I'm one of those aforementioned government parasites  ). 28, married, kid due in march. I was pretty good with money in that save > spend and I had enough discipline not to burn through the 20k+ sitting in accounts, but only recently realized that it's pretty stupid strategy. Today my wife and I actually made a budget so we could better plan for the future. We had some big purchases in the past couple years like paying off two (used) vehicles and a student loan and buying a bunch of baby poo poo, but are now at the point where we can really save again.I clear about 4000/month and living expenses are only $1500 out of pocket since housing and some other expenses are automatically deducted from my pay. I figure that right off the bat I can squirrel away 2k/month for the next 30 months or so. That will be used to max out TFSA for both myself and my wife and create e-trade accounts to buy into yet-to-be-determined funds. My goal is long term (retirement). Not completely sold on owning a house yet because I don't stay in one place long enough and have seen others lose tens of thousands when they had to move in volatile markets. Currently leaning against RRSPs because my non-working wife keeps my tax bracket fairly low and I'll have a pension to pad other investments. I have about 25k in savings between accounts on both sides of the border and can safely free up another 10-15k for investment (probably TFSA). I'm also expecting a severance payout of 12k (taxable) next year. I really want to save as much as I can while out of country because the cost of living is criminally low and I don't have to pay provincial taxes. On the whole I'm glad to see that I'm not totally money retarded. I've already bookmarked most of the links for further reading but would appreciate any pointers/critiques that my betters can provide in this arena. Thanks! Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 12:15 on Dec 3, 2013 |
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Dec 3, 2013 11:45
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Okay, here's a question for those who know better. I want to setup an investment TFSA for both myself and my wife. My look is long term to supplement a pension, so all I'll be doing is buying/re-balancing/forgetting. I currently have about 11k in a TFSA and am able to save 2k/month for the next couple years. At that rate I'll be able to max my TFSA out next year plus throw 10k into my wife's account. Per our budget, we'll be able to max contributions in 2016 and (hopefully) onward. I'm not sure if I should pursue ETFs or An investment TSFA with TD seems like the simplest to use, but getting an account open will be a huge pain because I need to physically travel to a TD location. Questrade seems more complicated to use but a lot easier to get started with. On one hand I have the opportunity cost of waiting to get a TD account versus the brokerage fees associated with making small transactions on a monthly basis. I don't know to even begin to model it or figure out which would be better. Any advice, goons? Are there other (reasonably priced) option I neglected to consider? I've called a couple different banks but they obviously pimp their own wares, and there aren't any Canadian-savvy financial advisers where I live.  e. terminology Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Jan 4, 2014 |
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Dec 28, 2013 03:00
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Thanks. Looks like I'll do the questrade thing over the next week or so. Gonna PM you some questions, tuyop. EDIT: Actually I'll just ask everyone since it's probably good information: what are all the fees associated with buying, owning, and selling ETFs with questrade? Their site talks about MER, ECN&SEC/ATS costs, administrative fees and 'standard commission rates' (but doesn't actually say what that standard commission rate is). Am I missing anything? Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 05:53 on Dec 28, 2013 |
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Dec 28, 2013 04:38
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I (think I) get the difference between the two Lexicon, it's just that for the low volume I'll be doing (TFSA investing almost exclusively for the next few years) I don't have a whole lot of flexibility while out of country. It'll probably be a while until I'll be able to do anything other than investing with a registered account since I'm saving for my wife as well as myself. I also didn't realize that MER and management fees were two separate entities, thanks for that link Kal Torak. As far as calculating total costs is concerned, is it standard to only consider the MER since the management fee is reflected in the price of the ETF? Or am I interpreting what you said horribly wrong? For those as ignorant as I am, I found a spreadsheet at CCP that'll gauge how much fees you'll spend on ETFs vs e-Series index funds vs RBC funds. I appreciate the info all around, thanks again.
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Dec 28, 2013 07:47
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Never used it myself but I know people who have and like it. As mentioned the burden of proof with CC companies is lower than with storefronts/manufacturers, and I'm told that they'll fix or replaced items stolen or neglected. I generally make larger purchases on credit to get the protection but never had to use it (yet). e. typo Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 06:20 on Jan 1, 2014 |
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Dec 31, 2013 21:09
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Gonna start the process to open up a questrade account tomorrow and direct transfer my TFSA. Only got 10k to work with but will be dumping about 2k/money til it's maxed and then buy buy buy. In the meanwhile I'll look into some ETFs to purchase and maybe bump the thread with updates every now and again as I learn what I'm doing . e. ^^^^ half the reason I'm going questrade is because there's no fee to buy so you don't get dinged for making frequent low volume trades. Lexicon mentioned on the last page that Index funds are more of a 'babby's first investment tool' too. I know that TD charges fees for buying and the lowest they go is $9.95 once you have 50k so ETFs might be better for you. But please keep in mind that I'm at home drinking to Dexter re-runs and don't know poo poo about poo poo. vvvv thanks
Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Jan 2, 2014 |
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Jan 2, 2014 05:28
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gently caress, tablet erased my post. Anyways...I'm looking to keep things simple and east, especially while starting out, so the couch potato strategy seems like a good starting point for me. CCP's model portfolios have a 60/40 equities/bond split (equities further broken down into 20%CAN/40%US). The bond percentage seems a bit high given the very low interest rates and my ability to accept a lot more risk in the long term. I was thinking something like 25-30% bonds would be more reasonable, in part based on some internet wizard's rule of thumb stating "Maximum tolerable Loss X 2 = maximum equity allocation". Is that total crazytalk? My biggest thought is that in the short term I'm better off investing rather than waiting for the perfect allocation (since there isn't one) and let compound interest do it's thing. Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 09:58 on Jan 2, 2014 |
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Jan 2, 2014 09:55
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It seems kinda douchey that he refers to himself as "Dr" and sells portfolios on a website that looks only a step removed from a geocities template. Thanks for that risk questionnaire as well; it turns out I straddle the moderately/very aggressive line EDIT: Also who wants to "refer" me to questrade? e2. vvvv Both you and tuyop hit me up at about the same time so I gave you both my info and whoever gets back to me first wins mine. My wife will be making an account too so you should each get one (eventually). Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Jan 2, 2014 |
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Jan 2, 2014 18:14
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It's been a couple years since I looked into it, but yes if you're willing to wait for a mailed copy after submitting a form. It was worth my 15 bucks or so to have it done on the spot.
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Jan 2, 2014 19:21
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Vehementi posted:Arg, Questrade doesn't accept my credit union when creating an account. Hopefully their support can help... Jesus christ this online application form is horrendous. It took an hour or so to create an account because the applet kept crashing halfway through. It can't accept my address so I have to use my parent's address which it doesn't like but will at least take. My job category is nothing close to any of the limited options that are presented. It doesn't like my employer's address. And I'm only partway through. 
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Jan 2, 2014 22:40
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Off the table until I get back to Canada unfortunately. Going through their  EDIT: Never heard of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund before but I'm glad it exists. e2: double gently caress this stupid bullshit loving verification poo poo I want to invest with someone else out of spite now. I have my loving credit report in front of me gently caress you for telling me who I have a loan with when the loving papers are on my desk gently caress fuckity poo poo gently caress. Urrgh. Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Jan 2, 2014 |
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Jan 2, 2014 23:13
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blah_blah posted:For US/international equities in your TFSA, you will be incurring foreign withholding taxes that you won't be able to recover. Does that include things iShares S&P 500 (XUS) and Vanguard US total market (VUN) or just ones traded in other currencies like VTI/VEA?
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Jan 4, 2014 04:01
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Lexicon posted:I'm almost certain it applies to both. Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Jan 8, 2014 |
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Jan 4, 2014 06:42
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Dick move by TD, but Rich_gettin_richer.txt So my Questrade account was finally approved today, now I'm in the process of transferring my  . CCP recently updated their model portfolios which is fairly close to what I was looking at anyways.How does a mix of the following sound? -30% Cdn Vanguard FTSE Canadian All Cap (VCN) -25% US Vanguard US Total Market (VUN) -20% Int'l iShares MSCI EAFE IMI (XEF) -25% Bonds Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond (VAB) or maybe DEX Short Term Bond Index Fund (XSB) Initial investment of at least 11k, maybe a few grand more if I there's a way to contribute from my US account without losing a bunch to fees in the process. On the fence about REITs, I'd like to get some but don't know if it's a good idea to spread myself too thin right now. vvvv - have you really sexed? is it true vagina simulates feel of fleshlight? Really though most of what you said is way beyond where I am right now
Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Jan 7, 2014 |
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Jan 7, 2014 03:43
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Yeah I've heard good things about VTI. Fortunately I set up the account to use whichever currency I transfer into it. As long as there aren't huge fees to send money from my local US credit union it might be worth it. Thanks for the reassurance, I guess BRB, gonna join the 1%.
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Jan 7, 2014 05:28
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Guest2553 posted:-30% Cdn Vanguard FTSE Canadian All Cap (VCN) Forgot to ask - is this breakdown still worth it in a TFSA considering foreign withholding tax, or is there a significantly better way to allocate? e. vvvv my hero  thanks
Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Jan 8, 2014 |
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Jan 8, 2014 05:29
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Speaking of advice, this article is the best one about investing I've seen. Not that it's necessarily helpful, but the advice is true and it's much better than some tripe FP published last week pimping a TOTALLY COOL ETF WITH A CHEAP CHEAP 0.8% MER! Also feeling the pain about the forever time frame it takes Questrade to do things, it's going into week 4 and I'm still waiting for the TFSA transfer to happen.
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Feb 3, 2014 01:05
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Been extremely busy with work/school/imminent babby so it's been on a list of things to do. IIRC the form said 15-20 business days so I'm still technically in the window. Wish I coulda jumped on some of that sweet bond action though 
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Feb 3, 2014 05:45
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I took mine as a full cash payout as well. Kinda hoped it would arrive this year for tax reasons (happened last week in Dec of course), but it's not a huge difference either way. Bagged something like 10K after tax which went straight to TFSA. Speaking of which, my funds finally got transferred to questrade just over a month after they got the paperwork. The market's gone nowhere but down anyways so maybe I'll be able to afford an extra tenth of a share, yay! Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 11:34 on Feb 16, 2014 |
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Feb 16, 2014 07:37
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OK so my wife went into labor the day my funds finally transferred over so I'm only just now getting around to tinkering with the IQ platform. After reading up on the larger ETFs out there it turns out the ones I'm leaning towards are exactly the same ones that CCP recommends, so my breakdown will look something like -30% Cdn Vanguard FTSE Canadian All Cap (VCN) -25% US Vanguard US Total Market (VUN) -20% Int'l iShares MSCI EAFE IMI (XEF) -25% Bonds Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond (VAB) I do have a quick question on monthly contributions: when buying additional shares would I want to buy so my overall allocation remains the same, or should I buy asset classes in the same ratio as my original investment? I'm thinking the difference would be insignificant, especially in the long term, but I'm not enough of an excel wizard to be able to prove it.
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Feb 21, 2014 23:14
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tuyop posted:In the short time I served, the pension plan was changed three times to make the benefits less generous. Other benefits like severance and injured veteran services were also cut and there's no guarantee that my pension will exist in 30 or 40 years. Five years ago I read only about 30% of vets get a full pension, and that number is probably lower now with increased burnout and minimum retirement age being raised to 25 years. I wonder how much such moves actually save. I signed a 25 year contract a couple years ago which was later ruled invalid over some arcane issue and won't get a chance to do so again until 2016/17. If anything major changes before then I'll be a little boned
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Feb 22, 2014 21:21
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Ok so I just dropped 11K on ETFs and am waiting for another 5k of transfers to go through so I can buy even more. It felt kinda good. No turning back now! 
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Feb 24, 2014 16:43
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tuyop posted:Nice. People are going to yell at you about dollar-cost averaging, though. Counterpoint: opportunity cost of not investing I don't know that there is ever a good time to heavily invest in anything (short of the trough of a bear market), and my time frame is long enough that it would be the negligiblest of negligibles 
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Feb 24, 2014 17:20
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I was hoping to buy a couple weeks ago when everything was down but oh well. I'm 28 now so if I don't touch it til retirement that's at least 37 years.
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Feb 24, 2014 18:02
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I asked this at the top of the page and was told that it is the former.Kal Torak posted:Do you believe in rebalancing? Most people recommend you rebalance once or twice a year (Questrade commissions may prevent this from being worthwhile). This would also mean that any new contributions should be in your original weighting allocation. I also lost about 18 bucks today. Great start! time to buy
Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Feb 25, 2014 |
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Feb 25, 2014 07:55
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Shazbot v2.0 posted:School stuff. I am in a very similar situation myself, but with the added twist of studying in the US. I'm thinking it will be easiest for me to just eat the loss of what works out to maybe a few hundred dollars instead of having my anus probed by the taxman if I did something wrong.
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Mar 2, 2014 00:55
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So I literally bought at the worst possible time when everything was within a few cents of the 52 week high but since everything's going down it just means it's time to buy more  I'm starting to sound like a gambling addict I used to work with...Anyways, my spending is pretty controlled so I think I might be able to max out my TFSA in the next couple of months (I started the year with 500 in it ) I'm now crunching the numbers on whether I should start to contribute to an RRSP or max out my wife's TFSA. I'm half considering retiring early (between 40-45) and living simply so RRSP contributions might be worth it again.Decisions! fakedit: also pimco is forecasting a 20% correction in housing guess that might be a realistic option for me in the next decade.
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Mar 4, 2014 00:49
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What sort of brokerage are you working through to not be getting destroyed by transaction fees? re: early retirement - it really depends on if the defined benefit pension still exists by the time I sign the contract. If so, between that and investments and other pet projects I should be alright. If not, I'll need to start selling a lot of bodily fluids to make up the difference!
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Mar 4, 2014 01:26
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Kal Torak posted:Well if you can do it, good for you. But to go 50 years...wow...you'd need a couple mil at least I think. With my spending it could be done on half to 3/4 of a million. I'll run some numbers and throw it in the FI megathread to keep derails to a minimum here.
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Mar 4, 2014 02:06
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e. The interest on that amount over less than a year is fairly negligible considering the effort that would need to be spent to optimize it, IMO. I'd lean towards keeping it liquid, but if you have any extra throw it in the RRSP. Starting next year, since the employer is matching 40%, max it out since you can always invest the return in your TFSA. So after digging out all my letters of assessment it seems like pension adjustments eat up most of my deduction limit so I haven't been missing out on a whole lot. Napkin math says in the near term it will be roughly equal to a TFSA in terms of contribution size which isn't terrible, I guess. Might still be worth making some contributions to if I have the extra cash, but not before contributing to my wife's TFSA. e. vvv I read the question wrong but my stupid loving internet is making GBS threads itself every 30 loving seconds so I was stuck with my wrong answer. Edited to answer the question
Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 06:39 on Mar 4, 2014 |
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Mar 4, 2014 06:15
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Because the opportunity cost of a possible 7% return this year is more than overruled by the guaranteed (barring termination) employer matched 40% next year, if I'm reading it right. I also fixed my last post me posted:e. The interest on that amount over less than a year is fairly negligible considering the effort that would need to be spent to optimize it, IMO. I'd lean towards keeping it liquid, but if you have any extra throw it in the RRSP. Starting next year, since the employer is matching 40%, max it out since you can always invest the return in your TFSA.
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Mar 4, 2014 06:43
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FrozenVent posted:Now you've done it. You've summoned the FI spergs. x-post from FI thread because Kal Torak summoned the demons Re: retire at 45 given the following conservative assumptions: -My career bottoms out, I never get promoted, and can only ever save half my net salary (2000/month for a total of 432K plus 65K I will have by year's end) -TFSAs ( ) are maxed out yearly for both myself and my wife, with the contribution limit increasing by 500 every 4 years-My defined benefit pension disappears and my superannuation contributions evaporate -No tax shelters or other registered accounts are used -Investments compound at 4%, which is a bit less than the worst 15-year S&P 500 index minus MER and transaction fees -My evil twin steals any inheritance I may have Given all of these things, I'd have $673,331.63 - $238,165.82 in each TFSA and $197,000 cash. Not a huge amount, sure, but enough to live off interest for decades. With 7% interest (still significantly less than the 100-year average of 9.4% or the worst 25-year average of 8%), it jumps to $886,102.91 - $344.551.45 in each TFSA and the same 197k in cash. Enough to live on for longer, maybe even buy a house It is more realistic to assume that I have another promotion or two left in me and could pull in a 50k pension, and there is no way I'd hang on to 200k in cash. There's no way to account for market volatility but in the long term it should be a sufficient wag, especially given my very conservative estimates. I think.
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Mar 5, 2014 05:08
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Not really, I think. My wife and I are quite comfortable, we just don't spend a whole lot of money to begin with. There's still a few thousand in our budget each year for discretionary stuff like travel/gadgets/whatever. Saving 24k on 80k salary (gross, ~60k after tax) salary really isn't all that hard. Most of what didn't spend up til now was used to pay off things like student loans/two vehicles/baby stuff/etc, so we have zero debt. Now we can actually use the money we save to make more money until we completely avoid the trap of needing to work altogether. Interest on the amount saved will range from about 27k (4% of 673k) to 62k (7% of 886k). Most if it would come from untaxed growth in a TFSA, and dividends on the remainder wouldn't make enough to pay taxes on. And this is all before even considering promotion potential/superannuation/pension or any of the other things I was ignoring. I don't know how hard of a challenge it will be living the way I normally do :?: e. also yeah, frugally is totes a word. e2. Also not having to work full time doesn't mean my wife and I become allergic to making money altogether and can't use skills we already have for extra pay if/when we feel like it And don't forget this is just a thought exercise for now, if the literal worst case happens and I only have 600 K, I'm not going to walk away from what will probably be a low six figure job by then on principle. Even if I had two million dollars, I might want to stay anyways because I like my job. Having options is not a bad thing. Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 08:04 on Mar 5, 2014 |
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Mar 5, 2014 07:28
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Saltin posted:Are you figuring on letting them incur piles of student debt or just going straight to flipping burgers? It's a bit disingenuous to suggest I'll be all 'gently caress you got mine' with my own son. Why the assumption that I don't plan to help my kid out? If an extra 30-50 grand (adjusted for inflation blah blah) was gonna break my plan, it was probably a lovely plan to begin with. Also, Guest2553 posted:given the following conservative assumptions: I assumed a minimum constant rate of savings and some other extremely unrealistic unfavourable circumstances. There's nothing saying that I can't (or won't) throw a couple grand a year into an RESP. And if a quarter million of superannuation deductions just vanishes overnight then civilization is probably about to end and the only useful currency will be tinned food and medicine. I would also be done with full time work by the time he's starting high school (as long as he's not Dougie Houser, but I don't have to worry about that with my genes ) and being around to do poo poo with him is valuable to me.Saltin posted:Like what sort of things? Going on a week long kayak/camping trip or mountain biking for a day is really awesome and doesn't cost much more than the food it takes to live and the gas money it takes to get there. Hobby gardening or woodworking projects fill time and can reduce the amount of stuff you need to buy to begin with. Shooting the poo poo with neighbors drinking homebrew in the driveway is a fun passtime in many locales. Or just plain old shooting with a .22, some paper targets and a bulk box of ammo. I also have negative interest in living anywhere near Toronto so the exorbitant cost of living there isn't an excuse to not save. Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Mar 6, 2014 |
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Mar 6, 2014 00:16
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tuyop posted:You could experiment with gardening or carpentry or soap making. Guest2553 posted:Hobby gardening or woodworking projects  Wanna go on a camping date in 20 years?
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Mar 6, 2014 00:47
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tuyop posted:
The same thing...? I think we got a wire crossed somewhere.
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Mar 6, 2014 01:08
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Saltin posted:To be eligible for any grant you need to have opened the RESP before the end of the calendar year in which they turn 15. The maximum grant money available is $7200 lifetime. It does carry over year to year. So if you put in 5k the first 2500 would attract the usuall $500 grant, and the remaining $2500 could attract another $500 in unused grant from previous years where the RESP was open but no grant was given. That's good to know. I had my kid out of country so he's probably not in any book as a Canadian citizen yet. e. My First Dividend hit my account this week from VAB.TO. Only about $6.50 but I feel all grown up now
Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Mar 8, 2014 |
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Mar 7, 2014 02:51
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http://business.financialpost.com/2...nefit-pensions/ This article on FP provided me with a novel way to visualize my investments, maybe someone else here will like it. The quality of their financial articles seems to have improved from when last I visited, but that might just be a result of them jumping on the ETF bandwagon.
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Apr 2, 2014 23:28
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cowofwar posted:What? Flaherty peddled garbage financial policy for years at the behest of the CPC until reality forced him to change his policies. His measured fiscal policy is mostly undoing the dumb poo poo he implemented earlier on. His legacy is that he had enough integrity to follow reasonable advice and actual data instead of just doubling down on dumb ideological driven financial policy. Which, coming from a politician, is on the upper end of the bell curve.
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Apr 11, 2014 23:50
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Better check on your residency status throughout all this, though. Nonresidents cannot accrue TSFA contribution room.
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Apr 13, 2014 07:36
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