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complete guide to index investing
ETFs & Funds
Currency Hedging in International Funds
Currency hedging can be confusing for investors who use index funds and ETFs that hold foreign stocks or ...
Are ETFs Growing for the Wrong Reasons?
On the day his company announced it was acquiring Claymore, BlackRock’s CEO Bill Chinery called ETFs “electric cars ...
ETF Risks in Perspective: Synthetic ETFs
Not so long ago, ETFs were simple and transparent. But with the tremendous growth in the industry, ETFs ...
International Tracking Error: Part 1
Many international equity ETFs showed large tracking errors in 2009. For example, the iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund ...
Trading ETFs Near Dividend Dates
In my most recent podcast, I addressed an excellent question from Philip, who asked, “Are there days when ...
Tips for Trading ETFs
I happened to have Google Finance open on my computer last week when the “flash crash” happened. While ...
Indexing basics
Scott Burns Interview: Part 2
Here is part two of my interview with Scott Burns, the newspaper columnist and Chief Investment Strategist at ...
Letting You In On a Big Secret
Joel Greenblatt has a sense of humour—I’ll grant him that. In The Big Secret for the Small Investor ...
Debunking Dividend Myths: Part 1
This post is the first in a series exploring common myths and misunderstandings about dividend investing. The goal ...
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 ...
Where Do Returns Come From?
You don’t need a lot of mathematical horsepower to be a Couch Potato investor. Indeed, simplicity is one ...
Some Advice for New Potatoes
One of the most gratifying things about writing this blog is getting emails from young people who are ...
Financial Planing
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 ...
Why Plans Should Come Before Products
When I wrote the MoneySense Guide to the Perfect Portfolio [now out of print], I waited until Chapter ...
Blog for Financial Literacy: A Simple Plan
Today’s post is part of the Blog for Financial Literacy campaign spearheaded by Glenn Cooke of Life Insurance ...
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 ...
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 ...
What Is the Advisor’s Role?
John Lawrence Reynolds' newest book, The Skeptical Investor, argues that Canadians were badly served by their advisors during ...
Behavioural Finance
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Three Reasons to Ignore Market Downturns
“Long-term investors shouldn’t worry about daily or weekly blips in the markets.” How many times have you heard ...
Portfolio Management
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 ...
Beyond One-Stop ETF Shopping
The new asset allocation ETFs launched by Vanguard and iShares in 2018 have made it easier than ever ...
Why Rebalance Your Portfolio?
An important part of the indexing strategy is that you occasionally rebalance your portfolio back to its target ...
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 ...
Put Your Assets in Their Place
Couch Potato investors hear a lot about asset allocation, but asset location is also an important consideration. Asset ...
The Limits of Limit Orders
For some time now I’ve been suggesting that ETF investors use limit orders—never market orders—when placing trades in ...
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