1st time investor looking for the easiest lowest cost etf or index fund for TFSA

[Carson]

Hi all,
I have been a lurker on this forum for years and I am making my first post.

Here's the quick summary of my situation for the last 8 years I have been building a house and developing a homestead on a large rural property that I own two one eighth shares in.  I have been living a mustachian inspired lifestyle since before I discovered the blog but most of my investments have been in tangible things like solar panels, building materials, a saw mill and other infrastructure.  I just sold a one eighth share in the land to some good friends who were already living here as renters. This leaves me debt free and with 30 to 40 000 to put into index or etfs in a TFSA.

I have followed this blog and read the simple path to wealth and followed this blog which leaves me set on index or etf investing and I have approximately 95 000 in tfsa room.

My question is, what is the easiest and lowest fee platform for a canadian to have an etf or index fund?
Which platform do you use? Why do you like it? and what are the fees?
Also with online platforms, how easy is it to have the etf in a TFSA?

Thank you for your time

[Carson]

one more note, I currently have a bank account with td and have been considering their equity index etfs for simplicity, but I wonder if I can get lower fees elsewhere.

[erp]

I've been a pretty big fan of VGRO as a simple, one stop approach. There are definitely pathways for (somewhat) lower fees, especially if you're willing to work in USD. The simplicity wins for me, I buy one fund once a month and it's easy to automate.

I don't think the brokerage matters that much. A lot of people say good things about questrade, but I haven't seen much difference between brokerages.

[Dogastrophe]

When you say "lower fees" are you referring to annual admin fees (which some platforms have if the value of your investments and or mortgage total (for the banks) are less than a set amount); 'per trade' fees; something else?

I am with iTrade but only because my main banking is with Scotia and this was an easy one to set up and use. Whether I stay with iTrade long term remains to be seen.

For ETF's, I won't recommend anything except that you should look for a broad-based fund that fits your risk profile.

[Carson]

When I say lower fees I think what I am referring to is called MER but I could be mistaken. I want to know through which brokerage or platform it costs the least to hold an etf.

[GuitarStv]

The MER should be associated with the ETF itself.  The brokerage typically charges fees on trades or withdrawals that you make (I guess sometimes they also charge a yearly fee as overhead?).

[Freedomin5]

The Canadian Couch Potato model portfolios may provide helpful information. The Canadian Couch Potato website in general provides lots of good information on ETF and index investing for Canadians

Model Portfolios

[Carson]

I am also interested in who has the lowest trade or withdrawal fees, canadian couch potato does have a list of no charge brokerage from 2020.

Thanks for the info and the link!

[Lews Therin]

Wealthsimple for your brokerage,

VGRO as your ETF.

Done.

[FLBiker]

Wealthsimple for your brokerage,

VGRO as your ETF.

Done.

I've been a fan of Questrade, but it looks like Wealthsimple has $0 commission ETFs for both buying AND selling, which is great!

[sixwings]

Wealthsimple for your brokerage,

VGRO as your ETF.

Done.

I've been a fan of Questrade, but it looks like Wealthsimple has $0 commission ETFs for both buying AND selling, which is great!

I'm on questrade as well, it's very good. Been considering wealthsimple as they have nice perks but will wait for a better sign up bonus than an iphone (ie: I want the 1% bonus back).

I would say either VEQT or XEQT, or if the OP wants more aggressive growth, TEC.TO (although with Trump and some of his uhhh.... interesting... cabinet appointments, tech stocks may be more volatile than usual). VGRO is fine but for my TFSA I'm more aggressive with growth.

[Carson]

Thanks for your suggestions.