Remodelled Portfolios for 2014
Another new year is upon us, and it’s time review my model Couch Potato portfolios. I’ve been at pains to discourage investors from tinkering with their portfolios every time a new fund comes along, b [...]
A Touch of (Corporate) Class
ETFs are generally more tax-efficient than mutual funds, but there is one area where they’re at a disadvantage. Investors who use non-registered accounts can take advantage of corporate class mutual f [...]
Ask the Spud: Should I Fear Rising Interest Rates?
Q: Recently the bond market—and 40% of my Global Couch Potato portfolio—has dipped significantly. I understand swings like this occur from time to time, but with interest rates moving higher would it [...]
Deep Thoughts on Diversification
Just shy of two years ago—in October 2011—I wrote a post that laid out the year-to-date returns for the Complete Couch Potato portfolio. If you can remember that far back, the third quarter of 2011 wa [...]
Why Your Problem Is Not Your Funds
In Monday’s post I looked at “smart beta,” which promises to outperform cap-weighted indexing strategies. I’m frequently asked if I think Couch Potato investors should dump their traditional index fun [...]
Why Diversification is a Piece of Cake
After almost four years of false alarms, the bond bears are finally able to act smug. Broad-based Canadian bond index funds have fallen in price about 4% or so in since the beginning of May. Meanwhile [...]
Is One Index Really Better Than Another?
Couch Potato investors try to capture the returns of entire asset classes rather selecting individual securities. And we do that with passively managed funds designed to track indexes that represent e [...]
What’s Happening to My Bond ETF?
If your portfolio includes a broad-based bond index fund, you've probably noticed its value has fallen significantly over the past several weeks. Judging from recent e-mails I've received, the reasons [...]
Why Use a Strip Bond ETF?
Barry Gordon admits he was surprised when he first read Justin Bender’s entry in First Asset’s Search for Canada's Next Top ETF contest, which I introduced in my previous post. “It runs against the gr [...]
Ask the Spud: Should I Buy In Now?
I’ve just inherited a six-figure sum and am interested in investing using the Couch Potato approach. What is your opinion on entering the market now, given it’s at a record high? — C.T. This is the mo [...]
