Reading about investments always makes sense until I have to actually do it, than things becomes complicated and my brain short circuits. So I have decided to post my plan and see if all you smarties have any suggestion.
My investment plan is to follow the couch potato method of investing in ETFs. Even though I only have around $11k to invest in right now, I chose ETFs over TD e-series because Questrade offer free buys on ETFs, and since the idea is to buy and hold, I am not worried about commission. I would likely plan to sale when I would like to retire, by than I likely would have enough in there that I wouldn't be worried about commission vs. funds in e-series. Am I correct to assume this??
The allocation I think most appropriate for me at this stage is:
Bonds: 25%
Canadian equity: 25%
US equity: 25%
International stocks: 25%
Given the above, and knowing that for 2013 I'll have a contribution room of:
RRSP: $14k
TFSA: $16k
I know for 2013 I would likely be able to invest ~$40k. In my readings I feel it makes the most sense to put the bonds in TFSA, Canadian equity in taxable account, US and international stocks in RRSPs.
This is where my brain explodes, because it means $10k in each category, which doesn't reflect well into my contribution room. How do you all go about figuring this out?? And I could only imagine for 2014, things would shift and I'd be back to digging a hole trying to figure out what goes where.
Thanks for your advice in advance!