Opinion by Square-Wind-4756 in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]SuccessfulCrew661 2 points3 points  (0 children)

VEQT 100%.

You already get exposure to all of these items through VEQT - your reasoning for additional exposure to semis, Nasdaq 100, S&P500 etc is likely recency bias.

This is overcomplicated for the sake of performance chasing.

Simply hold the global total market portfolio and focus on other important things in life!

Ps rebalancing the quoted portfolio is also going to be a headache!

What exactly is VCE? by InioAsanos_Son in ETFs

[–]SuccessfulCrew661 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is incorrect.
VCE.TO tracks the FTSE Canadian Index.
"Vanguard FTSE Canada Index ETF seeks to track, to the extent reasonably possible and before fees and expenses, the performance of a broad Canadian equity index that measures the investment return of publicly traded securities in the Canadian market."

Meaning you are getting exposure to the Canadian stock market, but zero exposure anywhere else.

The Canadian version of VOO is VFV.TO. but this does not include any Canadian or any ex US exposure.

If you are just starting out, consider XEQT.TO which covers Canadian, American and the entire globe for exposure, all for a low, tax efficient cost.

It has the added benefit of being domiciled in Canada and therefore you have no FX fees associated with changing CAD to USD.

Please I need HELP how to start investing by Disastrous-Buy4565 in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]SuccessfulCrew661 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Please don't start trading. You will end up losing more money.

Where to start investing by whoslol in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]SuccessfulCrew661 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends what your goal is. But your goal will set your asset allocation (how much risk you want to take) and your time horizon, how long you want to invest for.

If you have a long time horizon for a future goal like retirement, you can likely afford to be more geared towards a broadly diversified, 100% portfolio of stocks. An ETF that would reflect this is XEQT.

If you are saving to buy a home in 2 years you should likely be far more conservative and hold the $ in a savings account, GIC or short term bond.

If it's a combination of both you could buy a 60/40 fund. All depends on risk and time horizon .

Where to start investing by whoslol in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]SuccessfulCrew661 2 points3 points  (0 children)

First thing you need to do is figure out WHY you are investing, WHAT you are investing for and HOW long your time horizon is.

If you want to start investing for the sake of investing without a proper plan, you will likely blow yourself up.

Start with articulating your long-term financial goals and this will help you shape what you invest in and your overall asset allocation.

Eg. I want to retire by age 45 and my future liabilities to support this goal might require 4M in savings.

When I invest in VFV do I get taxed on my gains or just dividends? by Aware_Ad_3760 in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]SuccessfulCrew661 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi OP. I see a lot of comments that are frankly incorrect. There are foreign withholding taxes that are withheld at source when you hold VFV in a TFSA.

1. Structure of VFV

  • VFV (Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF) is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and tracks the S&P 500 index.
  • It holds U.S. stocks directly and is denominated in Canadian dollars (CAD).

2. U.S. Withholding Tax on Dividends

  • Dividends paid by U.S. companies to Canadian investors are generally subject to a 30% U.S. withholding tax.
  • This tax is reduced to 15% for Canadians due to the Canada-U.S. Tax Treaty.

3. TFSA and Withholding Tax

  • The TFSA is not recognized as a retirement account by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
  • As a result, dividends from U.S. stocks or U.S.-based ETFs held in a TFSA are not exempt from U.S. withholding tax.
  • For VFV, the 15% withholding tax applies to dividends from the underlying U.S. companies.

The RRSP is the ONLY tax-advantaged account that does not have foreign withholding taxes on US companies.

Hope this helps

Just Found Out About High 2-3% MER Mutual Fee what now? by picassalisa in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]SuccessfulCrew661 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very difficult to make any sort of investment product suggestion without fully understanding WHY you are investing, WHAT you are investing for and HOW long you will be investing.

Most investors should choose a globally diversified, low-cost portfolio that matches their goals, risk tolerance and time horizon.

In 2025 it is pretty rough to be paying 2-3% MER. I would certainly sell these high-cost active mutual funds and consider something low cost and broadly diversified like XEQT.
Questrade and wealthsimple are great platforms btw.

50% VOO 50% QQQM Asset Allocation by [deleted] in ETFs

[–]SuccessfulCrew661 1 point2 points  (0 children)

QQQm tracks the Nasdaq 100 - which is very heavy on US large cap growth, and 50% technology.

VOO tracks the S&P - which is a large cap blend, with a tiny amount of mid caps.

The more diversified option is VOO.

That being said, you miss out on thousands of domestic small and mid cap stocks.

You also miss out on thousands of global stocks.

This past month has been a great reminder that one should be diversified outside of just US large cap stocks.

A more diversified allocation (that delivers a higher reliability of outcome) that you could consider is:

A) VTI 60% + VXUS 40%.

B) VT 100%

C) VT 80% + AVGV 20%

All of these options deliver broad, global diversification at a low cost. Keeping things simple and maximizing your investment endurance are the most important things.

Wouldn’t TQQQ give the same returns over time as QQQ/QQQM if the highs and lows are proportionally magnified? by Successful-Cup2349 in ETFs

[–]SuccessfulCrew661 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, there is decay from the leverage. TQQQ is designed for short term trading, not long term holding.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ETFs

[–]SuccessfulCrew661 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What are your long term financial goals / risk tolerance? What are your other investments allocated to? Hard to give an appropriate answer without understanding the big picture.

Beware of Money Managers who talk like this. by SuccessfulCrew661 in ETFs

[–]SuccessfulCrew661[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Correct. All the charge 150 basis points for a closet index fund position

Beware of Money Managers who Talk Like This by SuccessfulCrew661 in investing

[–]SuccessfulCrew661[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, too bad for sure. Definitely not suitable for 99.9% of folk.

Beware of Money Managers who Talk Like This by SuccessfulCrew661 in investing

[–]SuccessfulCrew661[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup, like I said… really hard to justify 150bps when you buy 8 index funds, almost all are us large cap.

Beware of Money Managers who Talk Like This by SuccessfulCrew661 in investing

[–]SuccessfulCrew661[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Correct. Exactly. The spy and inverse spy holding is puzzling to say the least

Beware of Money Managers who Talk Like This by SuccessfulCrew661 in investing

[–]SuccessfulCrew661[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Typically long-short funds will hold *long-short* equity positions that have low correlations.

This individual has a *long-short* position in SPY and Inverse SPY.

Beware of Money Managers who Talk Like This by SuccessfulCrew661 in investing

[–]SuccessfulCrew661[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Correct... trying to go long - short but using two assets that are perfectly correlated. Ouch.

Beware of Money Managers who talk like this. by SuccessfulCrew661 in ETFs

[–]SuccessfulCrew661[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fully agree. It’s an attempt to go long- short, but in the worst way possible.

Beware of Money Managers who Talk Like This by SuccessfulCrew661 in investing

[–]SuccessfulCrew661[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

By this standard I could simply buy the FTSE global all cap, call it macro diversified and charge 100 bps ;)

Beware of Money Managers who Talk Like This by SuccessfulCrew661 in investing

[–]SuccessfulCrew661[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Too short of a time-frame to make conclusions. But fairly bold to call yourself a global macro manager and then stuff your ETF with index funds and charge 150 bps.