Canadian Couch Potato is your
complete guide to index investing
ETFs & Funds
Inside the iShares ESG Asset Allocation ETFs
Two of the biggest trends in investing these days are the popularity of one-fund portfolios and the focus ...
Inside the BMO Asset Allocation ETFs
In our last blog and video, Justin and I compared the popular Vanguard and iShares asset allocation ETFs, ...
Inside Tangerine’s Global ETF Portfolios
Asset allocation ETFs were revolutionary when they appeared in 2018, but they were hardly the first products that ...
Where Does VRIF’s 4% Payout Come From?
In my last post, I introduced the new Vanguard Retirement Income ETF Portfolio (VRIF), an asset allocation ETF ...
Trading ETFs Near Dividend Dates
In my most recent podcast, I addressed an excellent question from Philip, who asked, “Are there days when ...
ETF Risks in Perspective: Leveraged ETFs
This post is the second of three that will look at the potential risks that ETFs may pose ...
Indexing Basics
Can Your Funds Outperform Over a Lifetime?
Advocates of active management admit that only a minority of mutual funds will outperform their benchmarks, but they ...
Beating the Market Is a New Idea
Today we take it for granted that virtually all mutual funds and stock pickers are trying to earn ...
The Making of a Couch Potato
I know very few people who began their investing lives as Couch Potatoes. Most started out in mutual ...
A Spreadsheet to Manage Multiple Accounts
You’ve got an RRSP with your employer, another with a discount brokerage, and your spouse has a couple ...
Passive Investing: The Movie
There are countless books laying out the case for index investing, but as far as I know there ...
Where Do Returns Come From?
You don’t need a lot of mathematical horsepower to be a Couch Potato investor. Indeed, simplicity is one ...
Financial Planning
Why Plans Should Come Before Products
When I wrote the MoneySense Guide to the Perfect Portfolio [now out of print], I waited until Chapter ...
Dividends: Not As Tax-Friendly As You May Think
If your investments include RRSPs, TFSAs and taxable accounts, asset location is an important consideration. The returns of ...
A Monte Carlo Case Study: Can I Retire Early?
Last week’s post about Monte Carlo simulations in financial planning sparked some interesting comments, so I thought a ...
What Is the Advisor’s Role?
John Lawrence Reynolds' newest book, The Skeptical Investor, argues that Canadians were badly served by their advisors during ...
It’s Time to Ban Advisor Commissions
Should financial advisors be banned from collecting commissions on mutual funds? That’s been hotly debated for years, and ...
Ask the Spud: Is My Pension Like a Bond?
Q: My wife and I have been using the Couch Potato strategy for a few years now, but ...
Behavioural Finance
Why RESPs Should Be Kept Simple
In the last couple of weeks I’ve received two questions from readers who were trying to figure out ...
Cost Versus Convenience in “ex Canada” ETFs
I used to own one of those one-piece cutlery tools designed for hiking and camping—the kind with a ...
Why Simple Is Still a Hard Sell
Last January, I overhauled my model portfolios to make them simpler. Some of the older options included small-cap ...
Podcast 20: One-Stop ETF Shopping
I’ve always tried to stress that successful investing is about the right process, not the right products. But ...
Should You Buy Stocks For Your Kids?
If you’re a parent, how can you set your child on the road to investing success? One popular ...
Podcast 25: Dr. Steve Wendel on Investor Success
The latest episode of the Canadian Couch Potato podcast features an interview with Dr. Stephen Wendel, Head of ...
Portfolio Management
How to Set Up a Hands-Off ETF Portfolio
For DIY investors, asset allocation ETFs may be the greatest gift to come along in decades. It’s never ...
It’s Time to Reboot Your Portfolio
It’s been a while since the last new article appeared on the Canadian Couch Potato blog, and over ...
A New Rebalancing Spreadsheet for ETFs
It’s easy enough to build an index fund portfolio with your desired mix of stocks and bonds. But ...
TD e-Series Returns for 2020
The TD e-Series index mutual funds remain a useful alternative to the asset allocation ETFs that take centre ...
Ask the Spud: Can I Make Taxable Investing Easier?
In Episode 4 of the Canadian Couch Potato podcast, I answered the following question from a listener named ...
Is VRIF Right for Your Portfolio?
In my last few posts, I introduced the newly launched Vanguard Retirement Income ETF Portfolio (VRIF), explained where ...
Recent comments