The following question is from Tony, the blogger behind Pharma Daddy: I’ve been looking into the Manulife ONE concept over the last little while and it really intrigues me as we are very responsible spenders and savers and think that we could certainly accelerate paying off our loans with this sort of account. What do [...]
The following question is from Jamie: My portfolio is quite similar to your Sleepy Mini Portfolio with a few variations in asset allocation. However, I’ve come across the currency neutral versions of the US and International funds. I’m not sure what the advantages and disadvantages of the three options ($CAD, $USD, Neutral) are and how [...]
Michael wants to know if foreign exchange fees wipe out some of the advantages of holding ETFs inside a RRSP: I am looking at putting part of our RRSPs into indexing (similar to your Sleepy Portfolio) but I am wondering about the effects of the ability to DRIP back the dividends versus buying a low [...]
Reader Kevin sent the following question on restricted stock units: I work for a Canadian branch of a U.S. company. As incentives, we receive both stock option grants and restricted stock units. Since tax season is drawing near, I’m trying to gain a full understanding of the tax implications of both of these awards. I [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
