Canadian Couch Potato is your
complete guide to index investing

ETFs & Funds

More Swap Talk With Horizons

Here's part two of my interview with Jaime Purvis, Executive Vice-President, National Accounts, for Horizons ETFs. (See part ...

Swap-Based ETFs: What Are the Risks?

Monday's post discussed the inner workings of the two swap-based ETFs launched by Horizons in late 2010. Many ...

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 ...

Why Do Index Funds Use Derivatives?

Earlier this week I described how several US and international equity index funds get their market exposure by ...

Understanding Swap-Based ETFs

Last fall, Horizons Exchange Traded Funds launched two innovative new ETFs. Rather than simply holding the stocks in ...

Dude, Where’s My Distribution?

Investors using the TD e-Series mutual funds may have noticed an unusual episode at year-end. The TD International ...
Read more

Indexing Basics

Review: The House That Bogle Built

In 1951, a Princeton University student wrote a thesis about the mutual fund industry. “Funds can make no ...

Debunking Dividend Myths: Part 6

This post is the sixth (and last) in a series exploring the myths and misunderstandings about dividend investing ...

Couch Potato Portfolio Returns for 2014

Here are the 2014 returns for my Model Portfolios. The data below are from the funds' websites whenever ...

How to Argue With a Couch Potato

Last week, Advisor.ca published a debate under the heading “Faceoff: Index, friend or foe?” The arguments against passive ...

Passive Investing: The Movie

There are countless books laying out the case for index investing, but as far as I know there ...

Ask the Spud: Can You Time the Markets?

Q. Have you ever done any calculations into the optimal time to purchase index funds or ETFs based ...
Read more

Financial Planning

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: Am I Vulnerable to US Estate Taxes?

Q: I am ready to follow the Couch Potato and would like to use the US-listed Vanguard ETFs ...

Why Plans Should Come Before Products

When I wrote the MoneySense Guide to the Perfect Portfolio [now out of print], I waited until Chapter ...
Read more

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...
Read more

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 ...
Read more

Popular Posts

Unveiling the 2020 Couch Potato Model Portfolios

As long-time readers will know, I review my model portfolios once a year and, …

TD e-Series Funds: The Next Generation

For almost 20 years, the TD e-Series mutual funds have been one of the …

How to Set Up a Hands-Off ETF Portfolio

For DIY investors, asset allocation ETFs may be the greatest gift to come along …

Asset Allocation ETF Showdown: Vanguard vs. iShares

In the brief time they’ve been around, asset allocation ETFs have transformed the way …

Recent comments