Reducing the Cost of Currency Exchange
Yesterday’s post looked at whether US-listed ETFs are really a good deal for RRSP investors. Although ETFs from Vanguard and other American providers have dramatically lower annual fees, Canadians may [...]
Are US-listed ETFs Really Cheaper?
Last week reader W.B. asked why I recommend US-listed ETFs from Vanguard for the US and international equity components. His brokerage charges a 1.5% currency conversion fee, and W.B. argued that this [...]
Parking Cash in Your Portfolio
[Note: This post was updated in October 2020.] Many investors like to keep at least a small part of their portfolio in cash. If you want to keep this cash in your online brokerage account (alongside y [...]
High-Yield Bonds and Your Portfolio: Part 2
In Monday's post, I discussed the growing popularity of high-yield bonds: four Canadian ETFs covering this asset class have appeared in the last 12 months. I explained how investment gurus Larry Swedr [...]
High-Yield Bonds and Your Portfolio: Part 1
With income trusts facing new rules in 2011, investors are looking for other income-producing securities to fill the gap. Many are looking for a one-two punch of dividend-paying stocks and high-yield [...]
Is Indexing Less Risky?
Tom Bradley of Steadyhand Investment Funds wrote an insightful blog post yesterday about a television commercial for ING Direct’s Streetwise Funds. The woman in the ad dismisses active management as “ [...]
Why Every Portfolio Needs Bonds
Back on March 25, I wrote a post called The Bond Dilemma that described how nervous fixed-income investors were in early 2010. The Bank of Canada had strongly suggested that it would raise interest ra [...]
Investing Lessons From the Poker Table
This week I beat a group of seniors and took $200 from them. No, I’m not a purse-snatching hooligan who preys on the elderly. I’m just a guy who loves to play poker, and on Tuesday I took a day off to [...]
More Promises of High Yield Without Risk
I have long argued that savings accounts and GICs are still the best vehicles for short-term savings, because higher yield comes with higher risk. I thought that was an obvious point, but it seems tha [...]
Will the Real S&P 500 Please Stand Up?
I received an email recently from Scott, a reader with a great question about index funds and ETFs that track the S&P 500. He agreed to let me share his letter and my response. “I’ve been using in [...]
