Mustachian Investment Platforms in Canada

[Kruizey]

What are mustachians using to manage their investments in Canada? I have my banking with Scotiabank and have set up an Itrade account with them. Is that an efficient move? I can trade in a selection of ETFs for free but equity trades have ridiculous commission ($24.99) given my balance and trades. Would something like Questrade work better or are there other better options out there?

For context I am a new investor looking to get the basics sorted with my first $10,000 in savings, within the next year my SO will complete medical school and I am likely to get a more stable better paying job as well so hopefully our saving will take off and we will be on our way to FI.

[daverobev]

Questrade for small accounts, or TD eseries, or Tangerine.

That's from most to least effort, and Questrade is little effort.

The one thing missing from QT (and itrade) is automatic withdrawal and investment. But it is free to buy ETFs with them.

[Heckler]

If you are under the 50k limit, I would stay away from iTrade.  $25 to buy an ETF is likely a huge percentage of your contributions plan.  Set up a low fee index mutual fund instead. 

$9.95 is my trading fee, and I limit myself to buy at least $2500 in equities or $5000 in bonds, so that the first distribution will typically cover the trading costs.

[Heckler]

Or go with Questtrade for free ETF buys, but be away of thier fees to sell or withdraw funds

[Heckler]

http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2012/07/30/comparing-the-costs-of-index-funds-and-etfs/

[Kruizey]

Thanks for the feedback. I will see if I can negotiate better terms with scotiabank and if not I will look into questtrade.

[powersuitrecall]

We use TD Waterhouse because we have (only) bank account with TD.  It's nice having everything in one place so that on payday we can transfer funds and immediately invest. 

Since TD Doesn't have free ETF purchases, here's our strategy.

Accounts with ~zero activity (RRSP, for example)
- Hold ETFs only
- Dividends/interest go to cash
- Once or twice a year, invest dividends/interest into ETFs following Asset Allocation (AA) ($10 a trade)

Accounts with little activity (RESP, for example):
- Same as above, but each year add $5000 (+$1000 grant) and buy ETFs following AA ($10 a trade)

Account with lots of activity (Taxable, for example)
- Invest weekly/monthly/whenever into e-series mutual funds following AA (free)
- Once a year, sell all e-series funds and buy ETFs following AA ($10 a trade)

[meghan88]

We use TD Waterhouse because we have (only) bank account with TD.  It's nice having everything in one place so that on payday we can transfer funds and immediately invest. 

Since TD Doesn't have free ETF purchases, here's our strategy.

Accounts with ~zero activity (RRSP, for example)
- Hold ETFs only
- Dividends/interest go to cash
- Once or twice a year, invest dividends/interest into ETFs following Asset Allocation (AA) ($10 a trade)

Accounts with little activity (RESP, for example):
- Same as above, but each year add $5000 (+$1000 grant) and buy ETFs following AA ($10 a trade)

Account with lots of activity (Taxable, for example)
- Invest weekly/monthly/whenever into e-series mutual funds following AA (free)
- Once a year, sell all e-series funds and buy ETFs following AA ($10 a trade)

I like it!!  Quite brilliant indeed.  May I ask what TD e-series and ETFs you're buying?

[powersuitrecall]

We use TD Waterhouse because we have (only) bank account with TD.  It's nice having everything in one place so that on payday we can transfer funds and immediately invest. 

Since TD Doesn't have free ETF purchases, here's our strategy.

Accounts with ~zero activity (RRSP, for example)
- Hold ETFs only
- Dividends/interest go to cash
- Once or twice a year, invest dividends/interest into ETFs following Asset Allocation (AA) ($10 a trade)

Accounts with little activity (RESP, for example):
- Same as above, but each year add $5000 (+$1000 grant) and buy ETFs following AA ($10 a trade)

Account with lots of activity (Taxable, for example)
- Invest weekly/monthly/whenever into e-series mutual funds following AA (free)
- Once a year, sell all e-series funds and buy ETFs following AA ($10 a trade)

I like it!!  Quite brilliant indeed.  May I ask what TD e-series and ETFs you're buying?

Sure - It's literally the recommended ones from Canadian Couch Potato:

E-Series:
TDB909 Canadian Bond Index
TDB900 Canadian Index Fund
TDB902 US Index Fund
TDB911 International Fun

ETFs:
VAB Canadian Bond
VCN Canadian Index
VXC All-World Ex-Canada

Details: http://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios-2/

[Joan-eh?]

Hee hee! Please sign me up for international fun!!!!😄

[powersuitrecall]

Hee hee! Please sign me up for international fun!!!!😄

Haha. Freudian slip. Of course we'll travel a lot in Canada when we retire too :)

[SaskyStache]

Hee hee! Please sign me up for international fun!!!!😄

Haha. Freudian slip. Of course we'll travel a lot in Canada when we retire too :)

Can confirm that an investment in international fun provides great and consistent ROI. Also recession proof.

[Cowtown2011]

I'd recommend Qtrade, you don't have to worry about administration fees and can buy ETF's for free. I have two accounts, one with TD from 18 years ago and they continue to charge my son an annual admin fee for his RESP account which is still below $25k. My other account is with Qtrade, all my new deposits go into there and I've been really happy with them so far. You can even get a Portfolio IQ account through Qtrade which will allocate your asset to a series of ETF's for low cost, just depends on how much you want to do on your own.

 

I'm a new retiree, www.thepermanentweekend.com for more info.

[Mmm_Donuts]

We use TD Waterhouse because we have (only) bank account with TD.  It's nice having everything in one place so that on payday we can transfer funds and immediately invest. 

Since TD Doesn't have free ETF purchases, here's our strategy.

Accounts with ~zero activity (RRSP, for example)
- Hold ETFs only
- Dividends/interest go to cash
- Once or twice a year, invest dividends/interest into ETFs following Asset Allocation (AA) ($10 a trade)

Accounts with little activity (RESP, for example):
- Same as above, but each year add $5000 (+$1000 grant) and buy ETFs following AA ($10 a trade)

Account with lots of activity (Taxable, for example)
- Invest weekly/monthly/whenever into e-series mutual funds following AA (free)
- Once a year, sell all e-series funds and buy ETFs following AA ($10 a trade)

I like it!!  Quite brilliant indeed.  May I ask what TD e-series and ETFs you're buying?

Sure - It's literally the recommended ones from Canadian Couch Potato:

E-Series:
TDB909 Canadian Bond Index
TDB900 Canadian Index Fund
TDB902 US Index Fund
TDB911 International Fun

ETFs:
VAB Canadian Bond
VCN Canadian Index
VXC All-World Ex-Canada

Details: http://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios-2/

This sounds like such a good idea, but don't you have to deal with capital gains or losses once a year when you sell the mutual funds to buy etfs?

[powersuitrecall]

We use TD Waterhouse because we have (only) bank account with TD.  It's nice having everything in one place so that on payday we can transfer funds and immediately invest. 

Since TD Doesn't have free ETF purchases, here's our strategy.

Accounts with ~zero activity (RRSP, for example)
- Hold ETFs only
- Dividends/interest go to cash
- Once or twice a year, invest dividends/interest into ETFs following Asset Allocation (AA) ($10 a trade)

Accounts with little activity (RESP, for example):
- Same as above, but each year add $5000 (+$1000 grant) and buy ETFs following AA ($10 a trade)

Account with lots of activity (Taxable, for example)
- Invest weekly/monthly/whenever into e-series mutual funds following AA (free)
- Once a year, sell all e-series funds and buy ETFs following AA ($10 a trade)

I like it!!  Quite brilliant indeed.  May I ask what TD e-series and ETFs you're buying?

Sure - It's literally the recommended ones from Canadian Couch Potato:

E-Series:
TDB909 Canadian Bond Index
TDB900 Canadian Index Fund
TDB902 US Index Fund
TDB911 International Fun

ETFs:
VAB Canadian Bond
VCN Canadian Index
VXC All-World Ex-Canada

Details: http://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios-2/

This sounds like such a good idea, but don't you have to deal with capital gains or losses once a year when you sell the mutual funds to buy etfs?

Yes, but only on the amount that has been accumulated during the year.

It's a fair point and one I hadn't considered because all of our accounts are sheltered right now.

Another negative is that when selling efunds or any mutual fund, it's done at the end of the day, so you are forced to buy back in the next day.

[Mmm_Donuts]

True. Not even the next day, but three days later. I've used TD e series funds before and as I recall, a sale usually takes three days to settle before you have access to your cash.

If you're making buys weekly it might be worth the risk of the 3 day wait, and the hassle of the capital gains and loss tracking, as that would cost about $520 a year... But I buy about once a month, so it seems a little too risky for me. I'll just pay the $120 :)

Interesting idea, though...