What’s On Your ETF Wish List?
It seems like ETFs are appearing in Canada every month, but it’s been a while since I got genuinely excited about a new product. It was great to see both Vanguard and BMO create S&P 500 funds with [...]
Under the Hood: Vanguard FTSE Canadian Capped REIT (VRE)
This post is part of a series called Under the Hood, where l take a detailed look at specific Canadian ETFs or index funds. The fund: Vanguard FTSE Canadian Capped REIT (VRE) The index: The fund track [...]
Scary When They’re Down, Scary When They’re Up
It’s been barely a month since Alexander Green remarked that we’re currently enjoying “the most disrespected bull market in history.” Green described how investors who were shell-shocked by 2008 were [...]
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 case study would help readers see how they work. Our real-life example comes from [...]
Planning to Drive a Monte Carlo
One of the lessons I’ve tried to stress is that investing is not about choosing the right products. ETFs changed the game by giving the little guy sophisticated and low-cost investment tools—no doubt [...]
What Would Buffett Do?
When I set out to educate myself about investing, Larry Swedroe was one of the most influential authors I encountered. What I loved about his books (including The Only Guide to a Winning Investment St [...]
Does a 60/40 Portfolio Still Make Sense?
For as long as I can remember, the traditional balanced portfolio has been 60% equities and 40% bonds. Indeed, all of my own model portfolios use that overall asset mix as a starting point. But a lot [...]
Updated Couch Potato Report Card
Last week I announced the 2012 returns for my model portfolios. Now it’s time to present the updated longer-term returns of the portfolios, with data provided by Justin Bender. This information covers [...]
Couch Potato Portfolio Returns for 2012
I think we can safely say we are now almost four years into the most disrespected bull market in history, to borrow a phrase from Alexander Green. In a recent roundtable in The Wall Street Journal, th [...]
Calculating Foreign Returns in Canadian Dollars
Global diversification was a huge benefit to investors in 2012, as Canadian equities lagged well behind the rest of the world. Two core funds in the Complete Couch Potato are the Vanguard Total Stock [...]
