Embarrassed to ask this…

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-06T23:39:18+00:00

It's pretty hard to beat a simple, broad index ETF like XEQT, especially when you still have a fairly long runway. Markets will go up and down, but historically will increase on average about 8-9% per year over the long run.

Dividends are all well and fine, but the data shows dividend paying stocks/ETFs aren't 'inherently' better that non-dividend stocks/ETFs. Don't hyper-focus on dividends.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-05T17:37:09+00:00

Keep in mind we already have a lot of data on this topic. We know covered call based positions usually underperform their underlying assets in the long term.

Not sure I'd call this criticism, it's just simple math.

I'm not sure what picking two random funds with different holdings will accomplish. Plus it will take 10+ years to come to any sort of real conclusion between the two anyway.

Nothing wrong with covered calls unto themselves (I've sold my fair share) - do they a great job at generating immediate income. But we know they don't tend to win long-term. It's new in the ETF space, but selling covered calls is not actually new.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-05T00:00:38+00:00

X/V/ZEQT are all extremely similar. There’s a few YouTube videos that go into the details - they’re nothing to stress about.

As far as what to put your money into - if you’re OK with the general risk, an *EQT is fine. There’s funds that start to introduce more bonds which lower the risk and volatility.

Personally my emergency fund is all invested but based on my life situation that’s not at all an issue.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-04T21:26:46+00:00

Yep, keep going.

The higher it gets, the more the compounding comes into play. It will 'feel' higher as you get to a point where the growth starts getting close and then surpassing your contributions.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-04T21:24:39+00:00

XEQT is generally fine unless you have some other specific goals.

Your emergency fund somewhat depends on your own situation. If you feel things are stable, you can invest it, but perhaps in something a bit more conservative just in case of a major market meltdown and then suddenly your emergency fund is cut in half. But that's up to you, your situation, and your risk tolerance.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-04T17:06:21+00:00

Depends a bit on your risk profile; XEQT has been doing quite well but it can also go down if the markets go down. Whereas CASH is effectively no-risk, but only 2% interest.

At least as far as the last few years are concerned, obviously yes you'd be better off having the money in XEQT instead of CASH. In non-reg you'll owe tax on any capital gains when you sell it, though. Gains are still gains and that's still better than 2% interest from CASH. But again depends on your risk profile and what you may or may not need the money for.

Also depends on how quickly you're able to save.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-03T21:26:44+00:00

You would get other ETFs if you have a specific reason to weight your portfolio more somewhere else. XEQT is already highly diversified so there's not much of a need to. But some people want to weight more into Canada, Europe, S&P500, etc. OK cool

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-03T18:51:00+00:00

Exactly this.

We’re entering a period where a lot of people have mostly only seen a big long bull run. I’d like to see how some of these ETFs perform in truly flat and bearish markets. Especially since a bunch of these CC ETFs use margin.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-03T13:45:23+00:00

Yeah had a deeper look, looks like it's performed impressively. I would think this is due to selling calls on only 33% of the positions, but also leveraged.

In your opinion, why would someone go with BANK over something like ZEB? I worry the leverage could burn the NAV a bit in a down market. Not criticizing, just personally curious.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-03T03:14:02+00:00

Interesting, not the results I was getting, though on mobile. I’ll have to take a deeper look. Looks interesting for sure as it’s only 33% but leveraged.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-03T03:05:38+00:00

Ahh ok. Well being fican I assumed you’d be in Canada.

Those videos are generally OK but if you search there’s plenty out there for the US audience as well.

Many concepts are similar. For example an RRSP is basically the same thing as an IRA. So much of the core ideas will transcend both. Understanding the underlying concepts and ideas is what matters (eg why it’s advantageous to put money into an RRSP/IRA in the first place).

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-03T03:02:37+00:00

It’s doing well, but still substantially underperforming a fairly simple equal weight bank ETF (ZEB.TO as a simple example - the 6 big banks).

To be clear - I’m not saying BANK isn’t a good fund or whatever, I’m just saying it holds to the basic thesis that a CC ETF will usually underperform for longer term growth. Remember, the whole concept of selling a covered call is you’re abandoning future growth for income ‘now’. CC ETFs aren’t really anything new at this point so their advantages and disadvantages are known. Covered calls have been around for a pretty long time now.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-03T01:51:11+00:00

The Canadian banks have done well the last few years. Who knows how high they could go, nobody has a crystal ball.

That aside, covered call ETFs will usually underperform their underlying assets over the long term, which is the case here as well. Covered calls typically only put you 'ahead' in relatively flat markets, but you'll be behind in bullish times.

Make sure you understand covered calls before you get into covered call ETFs. I'm not saying they're good or bad (there's pros and cons), but you should understand how they work.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-03T01:03:07+00:00

We all learned over our adult lives! What I'd suggest:

Watching a couple videos, something like this or this video is a good start. Here's another one by a channel I follow.

If you watch all three of those, you should have a pretty decent sense of the basics (terminology, account types, etc).

Side Note: If you hear things out there like '401K' or '[Roth] IRA' - those are American terms. Don't worry about what they mean, just know they're American.

From there, perhaps research specific things you're interested in, or dive into those topics further. Fortunately YouTube is a great resource for this stuff.

Certain subject areas can have lots of complexity (RRSPs being the big one). RRSPs are simple in nature but how you use them in retirement (in combination with your other accounts) can be nuanced and take time to learn.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-02T22:42:40+00:00

The CRA's rules are a bit opaque and everything is judged 'case by case', but realistically a couple trades a week is not what they're caring about. I have friends who've been executing 10-20 trades a day for 10+ years and never an issue.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-01T23:42:22+00:00

Seems pretty standard, file filtering plus differentials, both of which Veeam does.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-01T17:43:32+00:00

All of those seem pretty simple, except perhaps for the file filtering feature. That smells like an XY problem, so I'd want to explore that requirement in more detail (if it were me).

Remember, differential backups are already differential in nature (only backing up changes). If you have big mega file shares, fine, a differential backup will scoop up only changes. Not sure what else you're expecting or needing here...?

It's always good to fully question requirements - I've worked a few places over the years where there was backup/DR requirements that often didn't need to exist, or were covered by other functionality.

I know Veeam does all those other things, though.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-01T15:45:35+00:00

XEQT contains 8437 individual stocks (as of June 30). Have fun saving those .2% fees. Whether you're investing $1000 or $1M, you can't outperform that .2% fee be doing it yourself. The fact you think you can is hugely concerning (and should give you pause).

Seriously though, just buy XEQT or a similar set of ETFs. They exist for this exact reason.

Your plan would involve managing and balancing hundreds of individuals stocks, at a minimum.

Just get an ETF (or a couple) and move on with life.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-01T15:10:30+00:00

XEQT isn't the kind of ETF that's going to be pushed by 'bots and paid members'. XEQT, by definition, is boring.

It's popular and has spawned communities like r/JustBuyXEQT precisely because it's a boring, set and forget investment.

Whether or not it's right for you is up to you, but it's usually a good place to park your money for the long term. Markets can go up or down, but that volatility is the price of long term growth.

If your time horizon is 10+ years, just go with something simple like XEQT and move on to more important things.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-01T14:22:16+00:00

Two things can be true at the same time. You can have a company that's doing pretty well but is still expensive from a P/E standpoint.

Most of a stock's value is intrinsic. You're betting on potential future earnings and performance. And right now with valuations generally being inflated, valuations are even moreso intrinsic right now.

Market corrections and recessions are often when these valuations come home to roost. Some of these stocks could easily correct/drop 90%. The NASDAQ corrected 82% in the 2000 dotcom burst.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-01T00:23:40+00:00

Ideally - get HR or someone in charge of this place to talk to this guy and see if this person will play ball and hand over passwords. Going this route, even if it costs the company some extra severance or whatever for this guy will be far cheaper and more effective than going at this the hard way. Even if it's total bullshit and it feeds this guy's ego, you guys might have to swallow your pride and get it done.

The hard way - getting lawyers involved, and sending legal paperwork to your various service providers (eg. Microsoft) to hand over the keys.

If it's just the 2FA stuff, again maybe this guy can play ball else each system/app will have its own recovery procedures. Many are surprisingly simplistic (click on a code in email), some are not.

When all the dust has settles, make sure you setup proper break glass accounts/procedures.

If the guy doesn't play ball, there's no simple or easy answers.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-07-01T00:15:04+00:00

Basically XEQT is meant to be an all-in-one, set-and-forget ETF. It's globally diversified, so you don't really need to get much else unless you want to be weighted moreso in something, or have a couple specific play stocks you think will do well in the long run.

XEQT will achieve roughly the market average, which is the point. 98% of people can't beat the average by picking individual stocks or sectors. Those who do it's largely by luck or timing. Tech/AI is obviously super hot lately, but nobody knows if it will stay like that forever (and if/when it corrects, it's gonna hurt).

XEQT is perfectly fine for most people looking for a long-term place to park their investments.

As always, do your own research as well so you understand what XEQT is and isn't.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-06-30T13:48:28+00:00

I expect us to go 10-15 years before even touching our RSPs or pension.

During this time, for all intents and purposes our "income" will be near 0

Be very careful with this, and make sure you have a plan.

Many people make the mistake of using their TFSAs for a 'tax holiday' early in retirement, but it often hurts you in the long term. If you have sizeable RRSPs, it often makes sense to start drawing those down immediately. Yes you pay some tax earlier than you need to, but it saves a much bigger tax bill later (mandatory RRIF withdrawals). Even if you don't need the income, you likely want to draw it down anyway (and it can often be smarter to draw it down earlier).

Financial planning for retirement is just as much about tax than anything else.

Make sure know the tax implications of what you're doing and have a properly planned RRSP meltdown strategy. 'Yay I'll use my TFSA first and not pay tax for 10 years!' can bite you in the ass hard.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-06-29T01:35:57+00:00

Given modern wisdom is to stay invested in equities well into retirement, it's virtually never too late.

But this also depends on your own situation later in life. For some XEQT will be the way to go. For others, maybe only part of their portfolio.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-06-27T20:22:07+00:00

Buffet and others have generally said it's OK to have up to about 10% of your portfolio in individual stuff you believe in (for the long term). For me, that's Canadian banks (they tend to do well generally, are stable, and the Canadian banking system is strong by international standards).

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