Not sure what average MER is.
These are the MERs for the 4 ETFS in my TFSA:
- 0.05%
- 0.15%
- 0.18%
- 0.19%
So ya I wouldn't pay 1% or more you are throwing away 0.81% - 0.95% of your returns away at 1%.
Say you invest $100K in two identical funds one with a 0.05% MER and one with a 1% MER. You get a return of 5% after inflation for 20yrs.
- 0.05% MER fund will end up with = ~$263K
- 0.1% MER fund will end up with = ~$219K or cost you $44K more to own than the 0.05% fund
FWIW - using a brokerage like Questrade is not hard if you are just buying ETFs. When you look at the $$ you will save it's worth spending an hour or two to figure it out.