Need advice on what to do with about 150K$ (fill RRSP, put in mortgage or invest, etc.)

If it were me personally, I'm dumping the entire $150k in the mortgage. Interest rates are low, but there's something to be said about paying off the mortgage as quick as you can, and in your specific situation, the opportunity cost doesn't necessarily make you that much better off. You're in your early 30's, have a good paying job and already have >200k in TFSA/RRSP. Pay off the mortgage(s) and ride off into the sunset.

Hi OP.

What you do will really depend on your risk tolerance and what you feel comfortable doing. The fact you are placing money in your TFSA and RRSP with that income level to me sounds like you are generally maxed on your tax accounts. If your TFSA and RRSP are not maxed, first things first, max these especially as saving taxes anywhere is going to be important especially being based in Quebec with that kind of income level. At your age with 69k TFSA, do you have more room in your TFSA that you havent added yet by chance? If so, add definitely!

Now, paying off your mortgage can be a great move especially if all you are doing is placing your money in a savings account. At 1.95% and 55% tax rate, to have the same return in a non-registered account, you need a return of about 4.33% (1.95% divided by (1-0.55) ).This is guaranteed so is a decent option. That being said though, seeing that you are still young, your spending discipline is obviously not a problem and I am assuming you are looking at long term returns, there may be better places to place your money considering interest rates in the next while will probably stay level or go down, and not up.

Non-registered equity investments with dividends might be something you want to build especially with eligible dividends with Canadian corporations. Dividend tax credits make it such that you could build a tax-free or low tax income source that could aid you during retirement. Here is a describing how it works. Keep in mind equity investments do come with risk and your RRSP will trigger future taxable income
https://business.financialpost.com/pers ... have-a-job

Another consideration I would give you is using a Universal LIfe insurance product to build a tax-deferred investment. Universal Life plans can get returns of equity funds, and the value built can be withdrawn tax free later on or used as collateral for a tax-free cash source. Upon your death, the value of the investments and death benefit would pay for your debt. It is similar to a reverse mortgage but the life insurance and cash value pays for it. You do need to be careful though as some life insurance plans have expensive management fees. Should you need a good broker, ask on the Life Insurance Q&A. I would not recommend this route if your income is severely lower than now, when you said it is lower. I can give you my experiences doing this on my own insurance plan.

If you are more conservative though,, paying off your mortgage isn't a bad option. I would however consider that you place your bond alocation in your TFSA and RRSP as payment toward your mortgage and you make your investments equity heavy considering your age and income level.

For more information, could you disclose your investment choices for your TFSA and RRSP?

You're right, I'm really just looking to maximize the expected yield until my retirement in 30 years +. This is not money I need at all at the moment.
So maybe paying off the mortgage isn't optimal since as you said the mortage rates should remain low for some time and I don't expect my income to remain at this level. My marginal tax rate will drop making it more interesting to invest the money instead.


Here are the details of my investments:

TFSA
https://ibb.co/YQSxHz0

RRSP
https://ibb.co/Fh2H1hC

Do you think they're too conservative? Also, what do you think about those management fees?

I have a meeting with my Desjardins advisor on Monday so I will be able to make changes.

Thanks!

Malkavian wrote: ↑ Hey guys!

So I have about 150k$ sitting in my savings account right now.

Based on my situation, what would be the best way to invest this money?

Some details on my financial situation:

I have ~40k free space for my RRSP.

My salary in 2020 will be around 230k.

I’m in Quebec, so my marginal combined tax rate is about 55%.

I’m 32 years old.

I have 2 mortgages.
122k left on a 215k condo I’m renting (I’m the landlord). Interest rate of 1.95% variable.
306k left on a 500k house. Interest rate of 1.95% variable.

My current investments are:
~69k in a TSFA maximum growth account
~150k is RRSP maximum growth account

So I know I should definitely dump as much as I can in my RRSP since I don’t expect to make as much in the next few years.
I’m not too sure what the optimal way to use the extra ~110k however.
Should I simply put them in a maximum growth account? Or put as much as I can in my mortgage? Any other creative ideas?
Thanks!

What role do you have for that salary?

Malkavian wrote: ↑ You're right, I'm really just looking to maximize the expected yield until my retirement in 30 years +. This is not money I need at all at the moment.
So maybe paying off the mortgage isn't optimal since as you said the mortage rates should remain low for some time and I don't expect my income to remain at this level. My marginal tax rate will drop making it more interesting to invest the money instead.


Here are the details of my investments:

TFSA
https://ibb.co/YQSxHz0

RRSP
https://ibb.co/Fh2H1hC

Do you think they're too conservative? Also, what do you think about those management fees?

I have a meeting with my Desjardins advisor on Monday so I will be able to make changes.

Thanks!

Yikes at those MERs!!!

If you're comfortable managing your own money, go DIY. You can follow Canadian Couch Potato model or just do what I do in my signature.

Otherwise, hire a fee-only planner. They will charge you $1K per year (tax-deductible) but will save you considerable amount of money over and above what you're currently paying.

Malkavian wrote: ↑You're right, I'm really just looking to maximize the expected yield until my retirement in 30 years +. This is not money I need at all at the moment.
So maybe paying off the mortgage isn't optimal since as you said the mortage rates should remain low for some time and I don't expect my income to remain at this level. My marginal tax rate will drop making it more interesting to invest the money instead.


Here are the details of my investments:

TFSA
https://ibb.co/YQSxHz0

RRSP
https://ibb.co/Fh2H1hC

Do you think they're too conservative? Also, what do you think about those management fees?

I have a meeting with my Desjardins advisor on Monday so I will be able to make changes.

Thanks!

Oof, terrible funds. By Desjardins advisor, you are,going directly to the bank/Desjardins branch correct? If so, you are not getting the right kind of advice considering your income level and all they are doIng is sticking your funds in expensive all-in-one funds like this. If you were to be going with an advisor and with your income level, a fee-only advisor would likely be better suited. These Melodia portfolios are in one word terrible. for example compare the balanced fund to the Sask Pension fund I have In my signature. Sask Pension isn't even the cheapest investment out there (approx 1% MER), but the difference is stark....

Melodia Balanced
2014 7.2%
2015 3.5%
2016 3.4%
2017 9.9%
2018 -4.4%
2019 13.7%

Sask Pension (**keep in mind, I am not saying go with sask pension. This is merely an illustration)
2014 9.10%
2015 6.25%
2016 6.53%
2017 9.70%
2018 -2.05%
2019 13.99%

Notice the performance difference is almost around the difference in fee (Once averaged out)?

Now fees on their own aren't necessarily the issue. For me, if you are getting financial advice, estate planning or even general ideas of your financial future, it would be fine. Guaranteed though, I bet you are not getting anything like that from your Desjardins branch. I could be wrong, but I would assume you wouldn't be here if so

The funds are on the conservative side, but that in itself isn't so much the issue. What I am worried is you are paying high fees with little to no investment and financial planning. Any bank employee can set you with this portfolio. Did they say or explain to you why they put your RRSP with a higher equity portfolio and made your TFSA portfolio more conservative? To me, with the amount of cash you accumulate in cash savings alone, this is wasted opportunity on your TFSA.

Also, a lower marginal tax rate shouldn't determine whether investing is more attractive. if anythIng, a higher marginal tax rate could push you to invest as capital gaIns and dividends become more tax efficient.

First things first, do you want to consider self-direct your investments? This singlehandedly can save you significant fees especially with your income and investment level.

Second, what are your financial goals. Obviously you have good income, and are thinking long term. But framing your mid and end goals, even if vague is necessary as it shapes your investment choices and habits. Saving in random fund is better than nothing, but it doesn't tell you whether you are investing enough or allow you to decide when you can comfortably retire etc. Keep in mind things such as career moves, possible future children, marriage etc.

Third, while you have a chunk of cash now, you mention a drop in future income. It would be unwise for anyone to mention what to do if we don't know what this drop is. Based on the fact it is high now, and the fact you seem long term oriented, I am assuming your income will still be high enough for you to save, cover your cists and be comfortable. But again, if this income drop is severe, a more conservative approach may be more appropriate.

Fourth, if you do want to seek professional advice irregardless of whether you want investments done for you or self-direct your investments, spending a couple thousand dollars on a fee-only advisor might really be worth it especially if you think your income will be generally high. I believe you will be faced with some future estate planning issues that might be better off having some of these issues framed and sorted so you are going into investing with an idea how to approach your money and plan accordingly. Unfortunately, here on an internet forum, you can only get so much information because we only know what you have disclosed and you are fully reliant on the advice of totaL strangers.

If none of this sounds attractive to you, and you wont do this, at the very least consider...

-switch your investments to a lower cost platform either roboadvisor, brokerage and purchase lower cost mutual funds (this can be through Desjardins Disnat), Sask Pension, purchasing all-in-one ETF via brokerage etc.
-Consider upping the portfolio risk on the TFSA. 80equity and 20 fixed income similar to the RRSP is fine if you wont touch the caah for a while

and with the cash you have
-keep some contingency cash (say $10k for example)

and either
-invest non-registered
- as @jackrabbit000 states pay the mortgage
or if not sure, split the money in half and do both. Obviously doing either is still beneficial so splitting is never a bad plan.

And finally, if you want myself or anyone to suggest a financial plan, can you provide further details? Knowing your age, marital status, debts (other than mortgages), kids, short, mid, long term goals, income status, pension benefits (at work, if any) would all help and we could create a general plan that may be something to consider. Please post details if you'd like to do ao

Thank you so much for the help!

I would definitely love to get more advice from you if you don't mind.

Here are some additional details:

I'm 32.

Not married.
I have a girlfriend (9 years) with no income (University student).

We might be getting a kid in 3-4 years.

I don't have a pension plan.

No debts. Car is paid in full.

Oh and my TFSA is full.

My main goal in to have my savings grow as much as possible to allow a comfortable retirement at 60 or maybe a few years prior.

I expect to earn ~150k/years on average in the next few years.

I really prefer an investment solution where I can invest my money and forget about it. So, I don't think I would like to "self-direct" my investment much.
I just want the best (expected yield - management fees) without having to do much myself after the money is invested.

Do you think a mutual fund could get a similar expected yield and lower management fees? Can it be diversified to mitigate the risks in a similar way my Melodia fund is?
Can I have my Desjardins advisor make the investment for me or is investing in a mutual fund something I must do on my own somehow?
Do you think I can rely on my Desjardins advisor to be objective or does he have an interest in having my put as much money as possible in their own funds?
And do you think he is likely to tell me paying off my mortgage is a bad as it would "cancel out" my Desjardins products (less money to invest and less mortgage with them).

Oh and I know it's purely speculative but is the time right invest ~110k?

Thanks again!

Malkavian wrote: ↑ Thank you so much for the help!

I would definitely love to get more advice from you if you don't mind.

Here are some additional details:

I'm 32.

Not married.
I have a girlfriend (9 years) with no income (University student).

We might be getting a kid in 3-4 years.

I don't have a pension plan.

No debts. Car is paid in full.

Oh and my TFSA is full.

My main goal in to have my savings grow as much as possible to allow a confortable retirement at 60 or maybe a few years prior.

I expect to earn ~150k/years on average in the next few years.

I really prefer an investment solution where I can invest my money and forget about it. So I don't like to "self-direct" my investment.
I just want the best (expected yield - management fees) without having to do much myself after the money is invested.

Do you think a mutual fund could get a similar expected yield and lower management fees? Can it be diversified to mitigate the risks in a similar way my Melodia fund is?
Can I have my Desjardins advisor make the investment for me or is investing in a mutual fund something I must do on my own somehow?
Do you think I can rely on my Desjardins advisor to be objective or does he have an interest in having my put as much money as possible in their own funds?
And do you think he is likely to tell me paying off my mortgage is a bad as it would "cancel" Desjardins products (less money to invest and less mortgage with them).

Oh and I know it's purely speculative but is the time right invest ~110k?

Thanks again!

Sounds like one of the All-in-one ETFs that's globally diversifed is good for you. Depending on your risk tolerance but something like VGRO/VBAL or XGRO/XBAL might be worth a look, the fund rebalances itself so you just add any extra income whenever you want to it. Higher risk tolerance you could go for the 20% bonds/80% equities VGRO/XGRO, if you want less risk, can go for the VBAL, XBAL.

Malkavian wrote: ↑ Thank you so much for the help!

I would definitely love to get more advice from you if you don't mind.

Here are some additional details:

I'm 32.

Not married.
I have a girlfriend (9 years) with no income (University student).

We might be getting a kid in 3-4 years.

I don't have a pension plan.

No debts. Car is paid in full.

Oh and my TFSA is full.

My main goal in to have my savings grow as much as possible to allow a confortable retirement at 60 or maybe a few years prior.

I expect to earn ~150k/years on average in the next few years.

I really prefer an investment solution where I can invest my money and forget about it. So I don't think I would like to "self-direct" my investment much.
I just want the best (expected yield - management fees) without having to do much myself after the money is invested.

Do you think a mutual fund could get a similar expected yield and lower management fees? Can it be diversified to mitigate the risks in a similar way my Melodia fund is?
Can I have my Desjardins advisor make the investment for me or is investing in a mutual fund something I must do on my own somehow?
Do you think I can rely on my Desjardins advisor to be objective or does he have an interest in having my put as much money as possible in their own funds?
And do you think he is likely to tell me paying off my mortgage is a bad as it would "cancel out" my Desjardins products (less money to invest and less mortgage with them).

Oh and I know it's purely speculative but is the time right invest ~110k?

Thanks again!

How much money do you think you'll need in retirement? Just on the ~220k you currently have invested in your TFSA/RRSP, that could grow to $1.5 - $2 million by the time you turn 60. That's if you don't invest another dollar, which of course, won't be the case. You're going to continue to invest part of your income. Without knowing more details, you're probably going to retire with far more than you really need. Even $2 million will likely be enough to fund a pretty comfortable retirement. That's why I would suggest putting the $150k in the mortgage. Get out of mortgage debt quicker and live worry-free

jeffyjaixx wrote: ↑ Sounds like one of the All-in-one ETFs that's globally diversifed is good for you. Depending on your risk tolerance but something like VGRO/VBAL or XGRO/XBAL might be worth a look, the fund rebalances itself so you just add any extra income whenever you want to it. Higher risk tolerance you could go for the 20% bonds/80% equities VGRO/XGRO, if you want less risk, can go for the VBAL, XBAL.

I personally like the Mawer balanced funds if looking for conservative for RSP and non-registered. https://www.mawer.com/learn/investor-ed ... nced-fund/

Dude take out a line of credit and get another mortgage. Borrow as much as you can right now

OK OP.
So there is a lot of unknowns in your writeup which makes it really hard to suggest anything. You asking and specifically wanting the Desjardins advisor to do your investing is completely unnecessary. When buying mutual funds through the bank, they will generally stick with and likely only have access to Series A bank-branded funds which is severely limiting your potential. It would be one thing if you were actually receiving good financial planning and advice, but there seems to be a lack of any of that meaning you are paying fees for pretty much nothing. I recommend ditching Desjardins completely. You are getting nothing additional from going with Desjardins.

For investments, since you are looking long term, a more aggressive approach should be looked at considering you have no debt other than mortgages. I would recommend a growth-oriented portfolio of about 70-80% equity and 20-30% fixed income, provided you are paying down your mortgage as well. To me, long term bond investments at the moment with how low interest rates are means that there is very little long term growth in bonds at the moment. Yes, bonds can play an important role in a portfolio, however paying down your debts with the money you would have invested in bonds would be a likely safer and possibly better return at the moment. If interest rates were to go up, your mortgage rate would go up meaning you need to pay higher interest, and your bond investments would lose value. With interest rates so low, even if interest rates were to fall further, being so close to zero, it is hard to see where these could fall lower.

I am going to base your investment rate on a flat 18% of your income for RRSP and the $6000 for your TFSA. On $150k income, that is approximately $33k in savings per year. You may be able to save more than this, and if you can, great, and you should place these monies non-registered, toward the mortgage, RESPs for the children, UL insurance plan etc. etc. many options to choose from. But at this junction, you have said very vague goals which makes it harder to account for.

The investments I choose below are merely an idea for you do. This is made to be a simplistic as possible and made a roboadvisor and an easy brokerage version.
The below assumes you deposit $21k a year into your RRSP with the Wealthsimple Trade/Roboadvisor RRSP, $6k into the Wealthsimple Trade/Roboadvisor TFSA and $6k into Saskatchewan Pension Plan.
Brokerage
-Open a Wealthsimple Trade RRSP and TFSA account
-Open a Saskatchewan Pension Plan
After opening these accounts, you are going to have Wealthsimple transfer the Desjardins accounts to Wealthsimple.
In your RRSP account you are going to take $21000 and buy XGRO the ETF. This all-in-one portfolio is similar in risk to your RRSP fund at Desjardins but almost 90% cheaper in fees. It isn’t hard. You can access your account on your smartphone. When putting a buy, you calculate a rough number of shares you can buy with the money with the quote and enter. That’s it. You will do the same for the TFSA.
For Sask Pension, you will go on to their website, stick your credit card with rewards and merely fund the account this way. The credit card rewards is nice, and now you have a future pension option so you can take advantage of the pension tax credit and have an annuity vehicle at the same time. If you don’ want an annuity, you can transfer the funds to your bank in the future.
If you were to go with this plan assuming a 6.5% return on the wealthsimple trade, and 6% on Sask Pension, your investments in 30 years could look like
Wealthsimple trade XGRO RRSP- $2.98 million
Sask Pension RRSP $502k
Wealthsimple trade XGRO TFSA-$1.05 million
Simple and you will have probably more than enough money saved.

Roboadvisor
You could use a roboadvisor instead. If you wanted to use a roboadvisor, I would set your investments with a growth portfolio. I would recommend in your case Nestwealth. Their fees are based on flat amounts at specific tiers so this will limit your roboadvisor fees. After about $250k in investments, Nestwealth beats out most if not all roboadvisors in Canada on fees since Nestwealth charges a flat fee.
https://www.savvynewcanadians.com/nest-wealth-review/
If using a roboadvisor, you need to downgauge your return expectations a fraction because of the fees. While Nestwealth will reduce those fees, if we were to have a similar investment but with returns of 6.2% because of the fees, your returns would become…
Roboadvisor RRSP $2.79million
Sask Pension RRSP $502k
Roboadvisor TFSA $963k
Notice how those fees add up? This is why where you can reduce fees, this becomes very important.
That being said, fees are sometimes necessary to get good advice where needed. I see a problem in your financial future where you will likely have some large tax implications. When withdrawing from your RRSP, this is triggered as income because your are deferring taxes. If you were to withdraw $200k from your RRSP in retirement, you are paying taxes as if you earned that income and as you have witnessed in Quebec, paying income taxes on $200k is not fun. That can be very problematic as this can set you up for more taxes you didn’t intend. This is why merely saving and investing without prudent financial management can be dangerous. Spending a few thousand dollars on a fee-only financial advisor now can help you to plan for your retirement and help structure your assets to reduce your tax burden. This will be important for you if you continue to save and accumulate assets like this. In fact, at some point, adding to your RRSP might hurt you. Here, a fee-only advisor could advise and calculate targets on how much to save where and come with a withdraw/deregistration strategy. Additionally they can help to set up other ways to invest/save such as using life insurance (see below for an illustration on how this can work), building up dividend paying equities non-registered to take advantage of tax-favourable dividend and capital gains.

For the next few years, you could accumulate assets and focus on that, but do not ignore getting financial planning done. If you are going to be having children, or getting married, things will change. For instance, if your girlfriend/future wife were to make a much lower income, you may want to consider using spousal RRSPs to even out your income and possibly reduce taxes. Placing money in RESPs to take advantage of matching grants will be important for your children. The above is merely demonstrating what you can build, but is not a full financial plan.

Anyway, for the next few years, accumulate in lower cost funds, pay your mortgages and enjoy life. You are in a very fortunate position, but you do need to pay attention to these tax issues later on, hence my recommendation to get professional advice (and you will not get this as a Desjardins branch!).

Bonus (skip this if the above is already too much)- - How a Universal Life Insurance plan could help you.
You are in a financial position where a life insurance plan can work very well as an investment vehicle. Most Canadians are not in such a position. Regardless which way you put it, most people will be better off with a TFSA and RRSP. Since you are maxing these out, a Universal Life plan may be an option to consider.
Life Insurance should never be considered an investment in most cases. Permanent Life Insurance investments are generally structured so that the investments accumulate to pay for the insurance coverage, not so much growing your money. However, the structure of these plans can make it worthwhile.
Sticking your age, healthy and in Montreal quotes permanent insurance on $250000 at around $140-150 per month. How these plans work is that you generally deposit more money than this per month. The extra money after insurance tax (in Quebec 3.48%), is then invested in accounts set by insurance companies. Normally, these investments are not the greatest choice as they are as expensive as the bank mutual funds you are invested in. However, their growth is tax-deferred and possibly free upon an insurable event (ie. Death). So how this can work is you invest way more money than the insurance premium so that overtime, you accumulate way more money in the investment and it is growing tax-free within the insurance policy.

Now you may be asking how this helps you if the only way it is tax-free is upon death. What you can do during retirement is borrow against the value of the insurance policy. Banks will lend against the cash value of the insurance policy and death benefit. By doing this, you don’t have to pay off the loan as the insurance policy will pay them upon your death. By doing so, you have a way of accessing the cash without paying taxes. Compare this to paying 30-50% income tax on your RRSP withdraw. Depending on the rate you get and if secured by your house, doing this means you may pay 2-3% annually if interest rates are this low from the mortgage without having to worry about payments as it will be covered by the life insurance.

If you decide to consider this route, again, seek a fee-only advisor and when approaching an insurance agent, have them compare insurance companies. Many companies have extremely expensive plans I am not a fan of. Unfortunately, Quebec is home to some very expensive insurance companies so caution is very much needed! It is also important to seek a plan with level cost of insurance and accumulation of cash value, not buying additional insurance with gains.

xgbsSS... you have no idea how much I appreciate all these infos!

I just spent 1 hour watching videos on Robo-Advisors, ETFs and brokerage. Just yesterday I knew nothing about all these.

I think I found 1 ETF that appeas to be exactly what I need : VTSAX (Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund).
What do you think about this one? Or maybe this one is a US ETF and I should use a Canadian version?
I will research those you suggested tomorrow.
I also just started reading https://canadiancouchpotato.com/getting-started/

Edit: Ok so it doesn't seem like VTSAX is an option in Canada. What I need is either VGRO or XGRO. You suggested XGRO - is it because it has performed better in the past?

I know your telling me to ditch Desjardins but I just want to check if it's possible at all to invest in this ETF with them.

From Vanguard website's it says you can invest in their ETFs in 2 ways:

(1) With the help of a third-party financial advisor
(2) Through an online brokerage account

Do you think I could instruct my Desjardins financial advisor to put all of my RRSP and TFSA in Vanguard ETFs? Or do you think even if he does there would be additional fees?

Desjardins has a online brokerage platform called "Disnat"
https://www.disnat.com/en/

Maybe I could use that platform to do it myself? Or are the fees higher than the platform you suggested?
https://www.disnat.com/en/platforms-and-fees/pricing

I'm really sorry to insist with Desjardins it's just that for all my life, 100% of my financial products, insurances, etc. as been with them so I see an added value in the simplicity of keeping everything at the same place.


Thanks again!

Lol op has $200k salary and $500k nw and asking randoms on the internet for advice.hint: Most people giving advice don't even have 1/10 of that nw.

garmium wrote: ↑ Lol op has $200k salary and $500k nw and asking randoms on the internet for advice.hint: Most people giving advice don't even have 1/10 of that nw.

That is not unusual to have high net worth but lack of market investment knowledge. Some people may just have built their net worth through savings or real-estate and now started to look into stock market

Malkavian wrote: ↑xgbsSS... you have no idea how much I appreciate all these infos!

I just spent 1 hour watching videos on Robo-Advisors, ETFs and brokerage. Just yesterday I knew nothing about all these.

I think I found 1 ETF that appeas to be exactly what I need : VTSAX (Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund).
What do you think about this one? Or maybe this one is a US ETF and I should use a Canadian version?
I will research those you suggested tomorrow.
I also just started reading https://canadiancouchpotato.com/getting-started/

Edit: Ok so it doesn't seem like VTSAX is an option in Canada. What I need is either VGRO or XGRO. You suggested XGRO - is it because it has performed better in the past?

I know your telling me to ditch Desjardins but I just want to check if it's possible at all to invest in this ETF with them.

From Vanguard website's it says you can invest in their ETFs in 2 ways:

(1) With the help of a third-party financial advisor
(2) Through an online brokerage account

Do you think I could instruct my Desjardins financial advisor to put all of my RRSP and TFSA in Vanguard ETFs? Or do you think even if he does there would be additional fees?

Desjardins has a online brokerage platform called "Disnat"
https://www.disnat.com/en/

Maybe I could use that platform to do it myself? Or are the fees higher than the platform you suggested?
https://www.disnat.com/en/platforms-and-fees/pricing

I'm really sorry to insist with Desjardins it's just that for all my life, 100% of my financial products, insurances, etc. as been with them so I see an added value in the simplicity of keeping everything at the same place.


Thanks again!

XGRO/VGRO/ZGRO/HGRO.... etc. etc.

There are many options. Honestly, if you were to pick one over the other, you would't have huge differences. XGRO and VGRO are the most popular so have the best liquidity. There is slight differences in how XGRO and VGRO weight their areas, but the difference is slight.
Besides, if you really want truly different performance, you need to pick individual ETFs or stocks to accomplish this.

You can use Disnat. It isn't the worst. You pay $6.95 per transaction. That is still $7 each time you buy and sell stock which can add up. Wealthsimple Trade is free. If you decide to buy different ETFs later on, that $7 each time can add up significantly.

And while Desjardins can do this, please don't. You would be referred to an Aviso Wealth advisor with Desjardins to get full on service and honestly please don't do this unless you go to them for financial and estate planning. Buying ETFs on your own takes a couple minutes a month. A fee-only advisor would be better as they don't make money on commission and would be solely focused on your financial needs, not products they can sell you. Going through a Desjardins person to buy ETFs means you will pay a percentage of your assets and that defeats the whole purpose of going ETFs. Additionally, it is in your best interest to understand your financial assets yourself.

Man, your Desjardins dude is gonna be devastated when he finds out you're moving your funds lol Also your TFSA and RRSP should be flipped if anything. You want more risk in your TFSA because the gains are tax-free so the downside/upside is more favourable. RRSP should be less risk also less volatile. As it stands now, your TFSA is 60% equities and 40% bonds while your RRSP is 80/20 so ya, I'd flip that when you transfer to Questrade or other discount brokerage. I'd say just go with a handful of ETFs that you like but if you're not confident, go with robo-advisor.

Malkavian wrote: ↑You're right, I'm really just looking to maximize the expected yield until my retirement in 30 years +. This is not money I need at all at the moment.
So maybe paying off the mortgage isn't optimal since as you said the mortage rates should remain low for some time and I don't expect my income to remain at this level. My marginal tax rate will drop making it more interesting to invest the money instead.


Here are the details of my investments:

TFSA
https://ibb.co/YQSxHz0

RRSP
https://ibb.co/Fh2H1hC

Do you think they're too conservative? Also, what do you think about those management fees?

I have a meeting with my Desjardins advisor on Monday so I will be able to make changes.

Thanks!

No offense but your investments are terrible . High fees and poor performance. Look into self directed ETF investing.

@Malkavian While I agree with @xgbsSS that the Melodia funds recommended to you underperformed lower cost options and don't think you should go with those funds, I disagree, vehemently, that Desjardins isn't a good financial institution for you. It may be just that you're not matched to the right advisor or division within Desjardins. If you love Desjardins, you could still look into some of @xgbsSS' investment ideas, but do so within the Desjardins "ecosystem." For example, if you deal with a Desjardins advisor at a credit union branch, you could ask for a referral to an investment adviser in one of Desjardins investment advisory businesses. Alternatively, @xgbsSS did recommend a discount brokerage DIY option and a robo-advisor to you—Desjardins has both of those. I have actually considered the revamped Disnat Online Brokerage with their lower, competitive commissions and administration fees. Their platform is robust, and their e-Statements look to be both aesthetically pleasing and sufficiently detailed. You could also consider Qtrade Investor, which, while not wholly owned by Desjardins as with Disnat, is roughly 50-51% owned by Desjardins through its equity investment in Aviso Wealth. In terms of a robo-advisor, you could consider VirtualWealth, which, while not as low cost as Questwealth Portfolios, is competitive on price with most of the other robo-advisors (within 10-20 bps on the low end and, with your investable assets, within 0-5 bps). Saskatchewan Pension Plan as well as the Mawer Balanced Fund (MAW104) or Mawer Tax Efficient Balanced Fund (MAW105) are also options.

Nevertheless, I vehemently disagree with, and am surprised by, the recommendation by @xgbsSS of purchasing a universal life insurance policy just as a tax sheltering vehicle. While the withdrawal is tax free, the investment gains are not. Moreover, they come with them high management expense ratios and sales commissions and I will almost never recommend purchasing life insurance.

Ultimately, with RRSPs, the tax has to be paid, including in the year of your death. I used to be a fan, but honestly, I think you are better off maximizing your TFSA for your investments, maximizing the TFSA of your spouse (if applicable), and investing the balance in non-registered investments.

Cheers,
Doug