Canadian Capitalist

The following question is from JS:
The following I found at dividendgrowth.ca. What are your thoughts on this opinion?
“I do not buy ETFs because, essentially, I reckon you are buying an index. In the tech crash of 2000, indexes went down…some, way down. My dividend growth stocks went up. I’d rather pick my own assets…safer [...]

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The following question is from Charlie about in-kind RRSP contributions:
Let’s say I’ve bought a US dividend-paying security outside my RRSP with US dollars. Can I then transfer it to my RRSPs so that any subsequent dividends will not be taxed? If so, how does one track exactly how much RRSP room they have used [...]

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The following question from JS is about currency risk:
If I buy an ETF such as VEA (Vanguard Europe Pacific) through an American exchange and the US dollar falls, will my fund lose value on this basis even though the value of the Euro with respect to the US dollar might rise? In other words, [...]

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The following question is from Jonathan:
I want to start a couch-potato style portfolio using ETFs from iShares and Vanguard with new purchases every 3 or 6 months. I’ve been looking into various discount brokerages and Questrade seems to be the best bet because of its very low commissions.
But if I’m buying ETFs in US dollars [...]

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The following question is from Todd, who is in his early thirties and wonders how he should invest a lump sum amount:
I have a significant amount of money in an RRSP - $60K, but this is mostly in cash. Each pay cheque more money is being added (matched by employer). How would you go about [...]

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Alex from New Brunswick asks:
I have a few questions about matching contributions made to a group RRSP by my employer. I work for a small software company, which matches an employee’s RRSP contributions up to 2% of their base annual salary. In order to qualify for the match, we sign up for an RRSP using [...]

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The following question is from John:
Can stock newsletters like the Motley Fool really promise 20 plus percent returns? Is there some sort of catch?
First, a clarification: nowhere in the web page does the Motley Fool promise future returns of 20%. They are simply saying that their stock picks are up an annualized 23% and beaten [...]

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The following question (slightly edited) was a follow-up to yesterday’s post:
If I buy into the merits of passive investing, do you think it makes sense to sell the 40 or so stock holdings in my present portfolio and start over with ETFs? Should I instead keep the best Canadian and American equities in place [...]

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Reader C.G. asked the following question (slightly edited) on asset allocation:
I have recently taken over management of my investment portfolio and will convert it over time to an ETF-based portfolio. Can you direct me to sources that will provide me with a proper understanding of asset allocation, stocks-vs.-bonds etc.? Most books are very informative but [...]

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Reader LR wants to know whether he should be buying index mutual funds or ETFs for his portfolio:
I am in my late twenties and after years of studies (engineering and masters), I try to follow most financial advice and good sense. My problem is investing. I tried unsuccessfully to find a good financial adviser and [...]

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