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complete guide to index investing
ETFs & Funds
Vanguard Drops the Gloves
It’s not easy to make a splash in the crowded ETF space these days. Many of the new ...
Tim Pickering on Managed Futures, Part 1
On Monday I wrote about managed futures, a strategy that can add a layer of diversification to a ...
TD e-Series Returns for 2021
In my last post I reviewed the returns of my model ETF portfolios in 2021. Now let's take ...
Currency Hedging in International Funds
Currency hedging can be confusing for investors who use index funds and ETFs that hold foreign stocks or ...
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 ...
ETF Risks in Perspective: Securities Lending
This is the final post in a series of three looking at the potential risks that ETFs may ...
Indexing Basics
Is Indexing Less Risky?
Tom Bradley of Steadyhand Investment Funds wrote an insightful blog post yesterday about a television commercial for ING ...
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 ...
Couch Potato Portfolio Returns for 2019
The numbers are in and no one is shooting the messenger this year. If 2018 was disappointment—returns were negative ...
A Reality Check for Couch Potatoes
The investment industry never misses an opportunity to take credit for outstanding performance. In fact, many mutual fund ...
Review: Rob Carrick’s Guide
Rob Carrick is one of a small number of journalists who stand up for individual investors in this ...
Confessions of an Investing Parasite
As index investing has gained popularity, it is also attracted its share of scorn. The latest example is ...
Financial Planning
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 ...
Why Plans Should Come Before Products
When I wrote the MoneySense Guide to the Perfect Portfolio [now out of print], I waited until Chapter ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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