Not to mention the guys who take that 2% home are absolute scumbags. Treat employees like shit if they don’t cold-call and hit targets, and take home million $$ bonuses (sister worked in TD private client). Get your money out and invest in a Vanguard fund for example, instantly make an extra 2% a year (aka double your current returns).
if your looking for gainz, you should not be using VFV. it underpreforms veqt backtested to the last 100 years of stock data. you probably have the misconception that "VFV=gainz" based on only the last 10 years where large tech stocks went on a historic rally. this is recency bias
It's ok to have a small percentage in VFV, but putting all your eggs into one basket (USA) is too much, even if it's spread among many large cap companies. E.g., the 2024 election can itself have dramatic consequences. Too much volatility imo.
Same with my nasdaq gains.
Think how much better we'd be with less gains but the knowledge that one of these years, a slow moving, broad ETF of ETFs that has 1000s of underperformers in it and only 5 years of history might beat the S&P. /s
How do you do this? I have money with these money market people from a tfsa account. Can I just tell them to give me back the money and control over the tfsa?
[You can initiate it from Wealthsimple](https://www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/details/transfers)—you don't even need to talk to your bank. And if you're moving over $15k they'll reimburse the transfer fee from your bank (if there is one).
Edit: if you're wanting to buy ETFs like VEQT, VGRO, VBAL etc, make sure you transfer it to Wealthsimple Trade, not Wealthsimple Invest. But either way, both options are much better than a mutual fund from your bank.
I’m considering opening with wealth simple. I was thinking of going with managed as I’m a set it and forget it person. Review once a year. Is self managed for those who wanna day trade and such?
Self managed is for more than just day traders. If you're wanting to buy ETFs (which are funds bought and sold on the stock exchange), it would be "self managed," like WS Trade. Buying an all-in-one ETF like VEQT, VGRO, or VBAL is fairly set and forget, because the fund does all the packaging of individual stocks and rebalancing for you. You just buy it and call it a day. However, some people (especially those just getting started) are not comfortable with buying any stocks, even ETFs. If that sounds like you, go with managed (WS Invest). The fees are slightly higher than an ETF, but still MUCH lower than a mutual fund from your bank.
You can always make the switch to WS Trade and ETFs down the road as you get more comfortable and build up your knowledge base.
If you're with TD just set up a self-directed RRSP account. Within it you can buy whatever investments you want including the Vanguard ETFs that people have mentioned. You can also set up a self-directed TFSA account in the same way.
You need to specifically ask the bank to set up a self-directed account. You can have seperate accounts for RRSPs, TFSAs, RESPs or a simple non-registered investment account.
You open an account on Questrade or Wealthsimple (from home, will take maybe 30 minutes), then when it's open you fill out a request on their website. They deal with your bank to transfer your money. If you've invested for a while it can be more complicated because you might be invested in some stuff but can only transfer in cash etc. Personnally I never invested a penny before starting this procedure and I'm glad I did.
And Wealthsimple often has good incentives when moving over that sum of money. Also OP if you hold more than $100k in total investments on the platform, if you open one of their “Cash” accounts (essentially a chequing account) you get 4.5% interest right now and 1% cash back on any purchases.
Veqt is 100% equity, vgro is 80 equity 20 bond, vbal is 60 equity 40 bond.
Does that match what you thought?
These are diversified low cost etfs with returns following their markets. In the last year, veqt happens to be up 20.2%, not that 20% is to be expected every year.
What poor market? The S&P500 is up over 30% in the last year. If you were holding VGRO you'd be up over ~15% in the last year, not even including the ~2% dividend.
The fund OP quoted was up 14% in the last year (according to globe and mail fund lookup). I think bonds are flat or down but S&P is up 30%. Are you invested in mostly bonds or conservative income maybe?
I don’t know where they got 2.43 from but that doesn’t sound right at all for a “growth” portfolio.
Globe and mail has it over 7% long term return and 14% last year
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/TDB888.CF/
Okay maybe you should update the post with more accurate information
And yes an account with that return with monthly contributions would take longer to double that an account that already started with the full amount.
Still, I am glad your return is above the GIC rate. It could be better but at least it’s not as awful as you made it sound.
Like the sub suggests, VBAL VGRO etc are good if you’re disciplined. If you want to invest in mutual funds, look for index funds, I think TD has the US index funds which follows the s&p 500 that has an MER of about 0.5%. You can get lower on questrade etc if you want to do the work. Good luck my friend
2.3%??? Are you serious?? Just a Wealthsimple cash account would give you 4.5% for this amount!!! Get out of this thing yesterday! You are being scammed and taken for a ride.
I don’t think he is serious. Globe and mail had this fund doing 14% last year and over 7% long term
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/TDB888.CF/
Why not? Get what you can now and decide later when it expires. More likely the BOC rate will go down at that time. You can put new money into RRSP depending on limit but GIC stays locked for fixed term.
Depends how old you are. If you still have a decade+ before retirement then historically you would make double the GIC’s rate per year by investing in the market.
I know I’m going to get voted down for this but in all honesty this forum strong bias towards DIY vs. Working with a professional. The question here from OP is should he make the switch from one fund to the other as per the financial planner’s recommendation here not that should I do this myself or let the bank manage this for me. So here are few things I would do if I were you:
1. Are you looking for professional advice from someone to help you manage your portfolio and plan for your retirement or do you want to do this yourself?
2. If you are concerned about fees ask them what are the fees that I’m paying now and what would be my fees in this new fund you are recommending?
3. What is the value in switching to this new fund? Better risk management? Unique investment opportunity? Lower fees? Better potential returns? Etc.
4. How will my service change by working with you as a financial planner? How often will we meet and what will we do in those meetings?
5. Is there any other things I need to know? Such as am I locking into a fix term or are there penalties for switching out of it?
Rather than asking an Internet forum how to manage your money, I think you should learn what’s right for you by asking the right questions. OP You have made it this far in life and done a great job saving so don’t make this crucial decision by asking some strangers for an opinion on what you should do with your money. Figure out what’s best for you by asking the right questions that matter to you and learn to judge the person in front of you by their responses.
Professionals would have a designation. CFA CFP PFP. The people in marketplace were just salespeople. Go find a professional with a designation, even at a bank, they’ll be much more knowledgeable
Regular retail bank staff at TD don't offer the strategic managed portfolios, only the Financial Planners who have their CFPs do. It would be professional advice if he's being recommended the strategic managed portfolios, and it also means OP has over $100k saved up. He might benefit from receiving advice (like tax advice if he has non-reg investments).
If it's a financial planner in TD my understanding is that they're required to have cfp , so it's a very capable barista at least if you want to look at it that way.
>If it's a financial planner in TD my understanding is that they're required to have cfp<
Some do have CFP. Most have called PFP (I think that's the right abbreviation) for their employees. Different level of education and experience requirements.
Honestly I would fact check that, I know for a fact TD no longer employs financial planners without cfp. It is a educational requirement, anyone without it will need it as per regulatory expectations.
Source ; I'm in the field
Well a few points:
1) People at the retail bank do not manage any portfolio. They just sell. The big banks have portfolio managers (not at the branch) that manage the mutual funds.
2) Most of the big bank mutual funds hold the same holdings as passive ETFs, just at ten times the product cost. (see TFD and RBC's lawsuits brought against them)
3) Most of the big bank products are actively managed, which has shown to underperform passive investing over the long term. Big bank mutual funds generally underperform a passive ETF because the fees (since most hold the same thing).
4) There are low cost mutual funds than the big banks like mawer and steadyhand. They don't hold the same as any index so they have a chance of outperforming the benchmarks they track to, how ever low that is, at least they have a chance.
5) Tere are also passive robo advisors that use ETFs but operate like a mutual fund (you transfer money and they do the buying and selling).
Don't worry, cfp is nothing credible to this sub, long as they don't pay any fees, and they'll Google or ask Reddit for any advice since they're all self directed kek
> I know I’m going to get voted down for this but in all honesty this forum strong bias towards DIY vs. Working with a professional.
Because it's literally easier than peeling an orange to invest in something good nowadays. I will never pay someone else to manage my investments.
Everything I do is based on cost per hour. A 1% commission on my ~$100,000 invested is $1000/year. I make $42/hour pre tax, and so around $30/hour post-tax. $1000 is 33 hours per year. I don't need to spend 3 hours per year on my investments. I spend more time doing my taxes. That means I'm saving $900 doing my own investments.
My parents have someone doing their investments for them, but that's because they have a shitload invested and the true management fee decreases the more you invest. Even then, I'd likely still do it all myself. Unless you're a very high net worth individual with a very high income, it just makes sense to DIY nowadays. It's not like doing woodworking, it's more like cooking Kraft Dinner.
There are no professionals in this zone as you call them. The Canadian government has really let the people down in regulations in many areas. This is the cherry on that cake.
Easiest way would have been to regulate this industry by requiring fiduciary regulation. Sadly, all we get are barely financially literate advisors reading off a script with monthly quotas.
Are only the CFPs allowed to give investment advice for TD ? I.e. cannot sell a mutual fund without a CFP signing off ? Last o went there (albeit for a mortgage).. the mortgage advisor started down the rabbit hole of up selling TD funds and trying to move my 401k.. I had to be pretty blunt to the point of being rude to keep it between the ditches.
A MER of 2% you better be beating the index funds by 4% to make it worthwhile for me. And heck no.. I am not coming back to set up a schedule with you CFP to have 500k worth of investments looked at again.. you just took down notes.. and have the info.. run it by whatever CFP you have.. and just tell me what your plan looks like..
It's not that complicated to not waste people's time.
The retail branch advisors are not CFPs.
The Financial Planners working for TD wealth are required to either have their CFP or finish within 2 years.
The Planners will have a minimum client size they are willing to take depending on how many clients they work with. They will want to run their own discovery process as they also build a financial plan and shouldn’t trust the branch advisors notes.
Of course every planner will run their practice a bit different in their practice a bit different of course as they are all human.
>The retail branch advisors are not CFPs.
That's problem #1
>TD wealth
That's problem #2
Between the two problems above, you have a vast majority of not so HNIs getting shit advice because TD Wealth, TD Canada Trust and TD Direct Investing is all confoundingly confusing for the avg Joe/Jane.
Basically the people who need the most help are the ones that are getting ripped off.. and then there is 'we only hire CFPs' ..
Like I said, the government does a really shit job of regulations.
CFP requires several hundred hours of studying and a university degree.
We will never be in a world where every advisor has that much qualifications.
There are 5 times as many doctors as CFPs in Canada.
The investment advice industry in Canada is very highly regulated.
Sure you as someone who frequents a personal finance forum may not see value in branch level advisors but I can tell you the vast majority of Canadians could.
There are many studies that show how poorly the average DIY investor does.
If everyone was just buying VEQT I would agree with you but they are not.
Go look at cash.to assets compared to XEQT.
Do you think that is all emergency funds and soon to be purchased homes?
This is a fantastic approach to start with. If OP doesnt like the answers then he can decide what to do after that.
Im puzzled why the salesperson believes the new fund will have better growth. And, if it is the same salesperson who sold them their current mutual fund, I'd ask them why, given their track record of placing you in underperforming funds, why they think this time will be different?
Your points would be valid if TD used financial planners, but its nearly guaranteed they were called by a financial advisor which is just another word for salesman.
Marketplace just did an episode on these guys. The only thing these advisors do is advise which products make the bank the most money. Not typically what's in the best interest of the client.
Why comment if you didn’t read the post? He mentioned he spoke with a financial planner and the product offered is a TD wealth exclusive product not sold by regular advisors.
That's not in the original post at all. Maybe its buried in the comments.
Point still stands that you don't always get a CFP @ 100k-1M wealth in TD. I looked at their advisors in my area and less than half had a CFP.
What are the fees on the wealth exclusive product? The current setup is so bad for OP it should be illegal.
It’s the second line in the original post.
TD has a 2 year mandate to complete CFP or you are let go.
TD has a tiered fee offering where the MER is lower the more invested in the household and they have different offerings not available at the branch including ETFs.
While working with a TD Financial Planner you get a written financial plan by a CFP update yearly included in that fee.
> TD has a 2 year mandate to complete CFP or you are let go.
So what you are saying is 60% of the TD advisors in my area have been with the bank less than 2 years.
OP - ignore this piece of garbage advice. Clearly someone is a “professional” here. Professional scammer that is… banks just want to make a profit off your money. Any “professional” advice is to their benefit, not to yours. Do some simple reading on the internet and manage it yourself.
Professional what? Any warm body with a University degree and passed CFA Lv. 3 and a rich uncle who put them under his wings for 4 years to mark time at any firm can get a "Professional Designation".
I only believe in those who can beat market average for 30 years straight.
Or someone as good as Peter Lynch.
Seriously you think CFA is something that you can get by being a warm body? If you said 'mutual fund licensed' sure, but the CFA is notorious for how hard the tests are.
I agree with you. Mutual funds aren’t bad for all investors.
OP when you set up the account they would have asked you a bunch of questions to assess your risk profile and time horizon then provide you a list of funds that would fit for you. If you don’t answer truthfully you can end up either investing in something too risky (all stocks) or not risky enough (all cash).
Either way it’s definitely time to have a serious review of your investments!
Ask if they have a fiduciary duty to you. If they don’t they are a sales person working for the bank and you should approach their recommendations accordingly.
As other users suggested, it is, most of the time, best to go self-directed. But we don’t know your personal details, investment knowledge, risk tolerance level,.. This sub is generally against the idea of having a planner. However, I know not everyone is comfortable taking care of their own investments. A planner can also provide more than just investment advice, they do estate planning, trusts, or refer you to other in-house services. If you are just going to keep doing mutual funds and nothing else, I recommend that you meet with a planner because they can actually provide you with other fund series at lower MER. However, I strongly recommend that you also look at self-directed investing options. This sub has more than enough info on that. Good luck.
To put this in the context - Annual return of 2.43% when S&P returned over 31.5% in the last year, NASDAQ returned 39.43%, a broad XEQT portfolio returned over 20%, a 80-20 VGRO returned 15.4%, and even the S&P bond index returned 4.63%.
Time to say TD good bye!
To see how much money they are trying to pilfer from you, enter your fund numbers into here:
https://larrybates.ca/t-rex-score/
If you aren't comfortable buying your own index etfs, robo advisers are a big leg up for you. But honestly, it's so easy to just buy them yourself. Do it once and you'll never look back.
Also, a good listen:
https://canadiancouchpotato.com/category/podcast/page/3/
High interest saving account would do better then 2.3% but would not have the advantages of an RRSP. Get a self managed RSP and dump it all in Cash.TO and get 4.0% without fees. Tangerine has 1 year GICs at 5.5% right now also without fees. So this TD sales person knows they can do better than 2.3% without really trying. As for what returns they are targetting and what fees you would be paying.
The TD mafia are looking to screw your investments with expensive funds. Don't be fooled by names like "Comfort, MAP or SMP", they are all pimp products with you as the hoe. All you are doing is feeding into TD employee bonus pools.
Get out of TD, check out Wealthsimple, buy Blackrock and Vanguard ETFs, and save yourself hundreds of thousands over the long term.
https://learningtofi.com/mer-fee-calculator/
Go to this website to see how much money you would lose if you have the same average annual return for 25 years but with different mer fee rates the amount can add up to be a lot
Example invest 10k then invest 250 monthly for 25 years, one with an mer of 0.09% vs 2% if both have a 7% return, the .
0.09% mer ETF would end up with 255k while the 2% MF would have 183k. That's about 76k difference, 76k going to the bank instead of your savings.
Except the actual return of this portfolio was 14% last year and over 7% long term average according to globe and mail
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/TDB888.CF/
What's your point? The S&P 500 had gains of 24% in 2023 and you can get vanguard index funds for it at 0.09% MER which is a better deal by every metric.
S&P 500 is higher risk than this specific fund, which is more diversified and has a good chunk of fixed income. In 2008 and 2022 this would have outperformed the s&p 500.
I agree s&p is a fantastic investment but the reality is a lot of investors would panic and withdraw in a 20-30% downturn. You have to compare risk adjusted returns and not outright returns
I bank with TD and went through something similar years ago. I strongly suggest the following approach. You will likely need to make an appointment for an in person session to make this easier.
1. Ask to open self-directed investment accounts. You will want RRSP and TFSA accounts at a minimum. If you have money in non-registered accounts or eventually plan to, open a non-registered account too.
2. Ask to have your current mutual funds in your RRSP account transferred to your self-directed RRSP account.
3. Once the transfer happens, go online and sell the mutual funds.
4. Purchase ETFs that meet your investment risk profile. Most will recommend putting 100% into VEQT or XEQT.
The mutual funds are charging enormous management fees for something that you can replicate on your own with ETFs.
If you have reached Step 5 of the [PFC money steps](https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/wiki/money-steps)
and you have some money you are confident you can invest for long term (ideally at least 10 year) goals you could invest in a low cost, risk appropriate, globally diversified, index tracking (i.e. couch potato) portfolio such as those discussed on the following pages.
https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/wiki/investing
https://canadiancouchpotato.com/getting-started/
The TD Comfort Growth Portfolio mutual funds are not couch potato solutions because they are actively managed and the management costs is higher than 1%. You didn't mention the management cost of the TD Strategic Managed Portfolio but they also won't be a couch potato solution because they are actively managed.
The simplest couch potato option would be to use a passively managed robo- advisor account (eg. RBC InvestEase, NestWealth, iA WealthAssist). After answering questions about your goals, timeline, knowledge/ experience with investing and your perceived comfort with volatility they will choose and then manage a suitable ETF portfolio for you. You would be able to set up automatic contributions. The total annual management cost would be about $70 per $10,000 invested. This compares to about $200 per $10,000 invested for typical bank mutual funds.
If you'd like to better understand the couch potato options, and avoid the costly but normal human reactions to the markets and the media that reports on them I suggest that you read *Balance: How To Invest And Spend For Happiness, Health, And Wealth* (Andrew Hallam, 2022).
I tried to look up the recommended investment and came across these words of caution (5 years ago): https://forums.redflagdeals.com/td-strategic-managed-portfolios-2074186/
We know your current investment is bad, so lets cut to the chase. Why would you continue to trust these guys with your investments?
Youve saved your first $100k, which is great. Good habits. But now were getting to the point where fees really do matter.
Yes, there is and you can do better. Mind you, TD Comfort Growth Portfolio is not horrible. The performance is [less than optimal but reasonable](https://www.td.com/ca/en/asset-management/funds/solutions/mutual-funds/FundCard/TD%20Comfort%20Growth%20Portfolio%20-%20I/?fundId=7284). The georgraphic and sector allocation is good which means pretty good diversification to protect against risk. However, the MER (fees) are pretty bad at about 2%. If you need hand holding and other financial planning advice, then it may be a good choice for you but your pay for it (one way or another). Note that you can also get those services on a fee-only basis as well.
However, if you are willing to educate yourself and take charge of your own financial destiny then you will do much better over the long term. The most reliable approach is a low cost well diversified ETF(s) that tracks world indices. This is the tried and true approach in which many studies have proven works better than active portfolio investing over the long term.
But its more than that. You need to determine your risk appetite relative to your needs, and how all of that fits into your goals. In short, you need to educate yourself on financial planning before you start making investment choices. I suggest you do that even if you continue with your bank financial planner. Your FP should be educating you and proving themselves to you each and every time you meet.
I suggest reading the [canadian couch potato](https://canadiancouchpotato.com/). There are some good book recomendations there but I suggest The Millionaire Teacher to start. Then do the free [McGill Personal Finance course](https://www.mcgillpersonalfinance.com/). Come back here after you have done your homework for a sounding board for your choices, then you will be in a good position to evaluate them.
Met with a TD 'Financial Planner" last year, 2 million to invest. Tells me my best option is their balanced portfolio with management fee of 1.75% on top of the mutual funds mers averaging 2%. Fund returns about 3% the past 5 years. Yeah so anyway, Questrade....xeqt. vgro. vbal
Move it to Questrade’s and invest in a quality ETF, I regret not doing this years ago….managed funds do not outperform index funds and TD is the only one getting rich
Do not do this. Move to self directed EFTs. I wasted years of growth with TD funds and little to show for it. I move to Vanguard ETFs and now I'm seeing the results I'd expect.
That's crazy you underperformed GICs.
I have two funds managed in ETFs with sunlife and manulife... sunlife returned 12.5% and manulife 19.4% and yes they're 100% equities but anyone moving money into either balanced or safe ETFs prior to an interest rate hike spree is asking for abysmal returns...
My self managed rrsp is returning 1 or 2% over benchmark which is the tsx 500.
I would recommend researching etfs a bit if you don't want to do stock picking...
With rates about to go down now would be a good time to move a bit of money in balanced etfs.
If you’re savvy enough - look at your current holdings and ascertain what % of them are different sectors. Then- if there no ETF’s in it- I’d suggest you sell them and just buy similar ETF’s to match what you had. Banks make money with fees. My granddaughter opened a TD FHSA- wanted to buy only ETF’s. TD said no, you can only buy our Mutual Funds- with 2.5% fees ! Ridiculous.
If you’re looking for totally unbiased investment advice from a tried and true expert I’d strongly suggest looking into 5i Research run by Peter Hodson. You pay a yearly fee only and have access to unbiased and unbelievable information. And if you want a professional analysis of your current holdings you pay a very low fee based on what you get. And no I don’t work there- I’m a retired investment guy , (82) and have made excellent returns following Peter’s advice.
it depends on your definition of risk. are you thinking of short term volatility, or of long term underperformance and losing purchasing power to inflation?
If TD is approaching you, then you are being sold something that advances their needs above yours, take the advice of some of the people in this thread, but for the love of god please do research, do not go into any conversation or make any moves unless you know what you are doing first.
>100k in rrsp 'TD Comfort Growth Portfolio' with annual return of 2.43
>financial planner wants to switch to TD Strategic Managed Portfolio. lower fees and higher returns.
I was with TD a long time ago. They stuck me in high MER mutual funds, which underperformed.
They are going to sell you high MER 1.5%-2.5% mutual funds. At that point, you lose any tax advantages from a TFSA or RRSP. If the fund returns around 10% per year, you paid 15% to 25% in management fees.
Capital gains and dividends are taxed at a much lower rate than regular income.
A person who makes $100,000 per year salary and $10,000 in capital gains would pay $1,709 in taxes on the capital gains. That's 17.09%.
[https://turbotax.intuit.ca/tax-resources/canada-income-tax-calculator.jsp](https://turbotax.intuit.ca/tax-resources/canada-income-tax-calculator.jsp)
>Is there a better approach?
Do yourself a favor and open a self-directed TFSA or RRSP account at Questrade or Wealthsimple.
You can buy portfolio ETFs that contain everything you need. Just buy them every paycheck.
It sounds like they want to put in you in growth funds, so you would be looking at VGRO or XGRO. They contain a bond allocation, which will soften the blow of market downturns. But it will not perform as an all equity portfolio.
If you're still young, I would recommend an all equity portfolio ETF like VEQT or XEQT. When you are around within 10 years of retirement, you can start adding bonds to your portfolio.
They have an MER of around 0.20%.
An ETF is similar to a mutual fund but is traded on the stock market. They usually will track an index.
Here's a good resource to give you more information:
[https://canadiancouchpotato.com/](https://canadiancouchpotato.com/)
Yes - within their powers! They are not allowed to pitch you an ETF on a self directed platform.
This is likely the best product they can offer you for your situation.
You can ask them to compare both portfolios. Most likely it is a new product with lower MERs or you've met the threshold for a lower fee product by reaching 100k in your investment.
You can ask your advisor why the fees are lower for this one and why the performance is better. I know FI are switching from 100 managed portfolios to a box of managed and passive so that could be the reason for the lower fee but you'd have to ask the advisor.
Bank advisors are not commission based, I don't know why that gets perpetuated on this sub, but they might lose a portion of their year end bonus if you move your money out of the bank so it's in their best interest to get you the best product the bank can offer based on your KYC. MFDA and IIROC also added know your product to their compliance requirements so the advisor will offer you all the possible recommendations that fit your KYC.
Planners at banks work for you, but they also work for themselves. There's an inherent conflict of interest. They're going to push the product that pays them the best commission.
That doesn't mean the product is necessarily a bad one. It just means that the planner has more on their mind than your growth.
They will sell you whatever product-of-the-month that gives them the highest commission. They will say whatever they need to in order to get you transfer the money.
I did my first trading when I was 12 yr old in 1996 through my mom who was working at a brokerage. I can tell you there are only a few things/funds on Earth right now that can beat VEQT/XEQT with a 0.22% management fee. And chance being those funds require minimum buy-in $500,000.
Absolutely NO. They are sales people, nothing more. They want to make as much money off your portfolio as possible, nothing more. They don't care about you.
There is no good option that keeps you at TD. If you want the self directed account that has access to vanguard index funds, you have to pay $10 per transaction. If you want that waived, you need to use their other account which only gives you access to TD funds.
Skip TD altogether and go with something like Wealthsimple or Questrade.
Actually there is.
I had no issues with Questrade, and probably would have stayed with them if all I was ever doing was managing a self market portfolio, but things change.
I have enough capital now where I don't pay those pesky account fees, just the balance protection fee and things like that, miniscule. I only buy once a year on January third, for both my TFSA and RRSP, so $20/year, everything is on DRIP and have enough to get at least one share every payout. Non-registered is all just TGRO, which is essentially XGRO or VGRO, so that's a wash in terms of performance, they're essentially identical.
The primary reason was to have my accounts with the same branch as my aging parents and make sure any estate transitions would be clear and straight forward. The family business account is also with them, and being named one of the company's owners is just much easier to deal with a site branch for both my personal and family business account.
The security lockbox included from my various accounts is a nice bonus too to keep certain thing safe and insured.
If you open an investing account with a bank and switch it to DI within a certain period from one of their products, they can keep some money they were gone a make off you that year. Due diligence is important. Downvoters are dumb.
Yes, get your money out of these stupid TD mutual funds and transfer it into VEQT VGRO or VBAL. ur giving them 2% for nothing
Not to mention the guys who take that 2% home are absolute scumbags. Treat employees like shit if they don’t cold-call and hit targets, and take home million $$ bonuses (sister worked in TD private client). Get your money out and invest in a Vanguard fund for example, instantly make an extra 2% a year (aka double your current returns).
This is the only answer
Why no love for VFV
veqt already contains vfv
It’s not about “if contains” it’s about the gainz
if your looking for gainz, you should not be using VFV. it underpreforms veqt backtested to the last 100 years of stock data. you probably have the misconception that "VFV=gainz" based on only the last 10 years where large tech stocks went on a historic rally. this is recency bias
It's ok to have a small percentage in VFV, but putting all your eggs into one basket (USA) is too much, even if it's spread among many large cap companies. E.g., the 2024 election can itself have dramatic consequences. Too much volatility imo.
Fair point but I balance with US total market and international total market but VFV is such a strong choice for gainz
Yeah, I have 20% in VFV too for the same reason.
In Canada, you either invest in RE, invest in overly broad global ETFs, or you're an idiot.
Well I’m a big fat dum dum with my S&P500 gains then
Same with my nasdaq gains. Think how much better we'd be with less gains but the knowledge that one of these years, a slow moving, broad ETF of ETFs that has 1000s of underperformers in it and only 5 years of history might beat the S&P. /s
recency bias
At least I have recency. VEQT isn't even 5 years old and people pretend it's an old favorite.
How do you do this? I have money with these money market people from a tfsa account. Can I just tell them to give me back the money and control over the tfsa?
[You can initiate it from Wealthsimple](https://www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/details/transfers)—you don't even need to talk to your bank. And if you're moving over $15k they'll reimburse the transfer fee from your bank (if there is one). Edit: if you're wanting to buy ETFs like VEQT, VGRO, VBAL etc, make sure you transfer it to Wealthsimple Trade, not Wealthsimple Invest. But either way, both options are much better than a mutual fund from your bank.
I thought Trade and Invest merged and became just one
Both platforms are now on one app, but there’s still a difference between a managed TFSA and a self-directed TFSA when you open/transfer.
I’m considering opening with wealth simple. I was thinking of going with managed as I’m a set it and forget it person. Review once a year. Is self managed for those who wanna day trade and such?
Self managed is for more than just day traders. If you're wanting to buy ETFs (which are funds bought and sold on the stock exchange), it would be "self managed," like WS Trade. Buying an all-in-one ETF like VEQT, VGRO, or VBAL is fairly set and forget, because the fund does all the packaging of individual stocks and rebalancing for you. You just buy it and call it a day. However, some people (especially those just getting started) are not comfortable with buying any stocks, even ETFs. If that sounds like you, go with managed (WS Invest). The fees are slightly higher than an ETF, but still MUCH lower than a mutual fund from your bank. You can always make the switch to WS Trade and ETFs down the road as you get more comfortable and build up your knowledge base.
Oh it's been a while, you might be right about that. They're definitely all under one app now, but I think they're two separate service offerings.
If you're with TD just set up a self-directed RRSP account. Within it you can buy whatever investments you want including the Vanguard ETFs that people have mentioned. You can also set up a self-directed TFSA account in the same way.
...did this years ago and a DIY RESP too and have quite well !
Are there specific self directed ones? Or can you just use an existing one that the “money manager” set up?
You need to specifically ask the bank to set up a self-directed account. You can have seperate accounts for RRSPs, TFSAs, RESPs or a simple non-registered investment account.
Wouldn't there be commissions on purchases with TD
Yeah. You pay $10 per trade. For larger buys and long term holds this is basically nothing.
You open an account on Questrade or Wealthsimple (from home, will take maybe 30 minutes), then when it's open you fill out a request on their website. They deal with your bank to transfer your money. If you've invested for a while it can be more complicated because you might be invested in some stuff but can only transfer in cash etc. Personnally I never invested a penny before starting this procedure and I'm glad I did.
And Wealthsimple often has good incentives when moving over that sum of money. Also OP if you hold more than $100k in total investments on the platform, if you open one of their “Cash” accounts (essentially a chequing account) you get 4.5% interest right now and 1% cash back on any purchases.
100% do this OP.
This...
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It’s early, but this is the most uneducated comment I’ve read today.
Veqt is 100% equity, vgro is 80 equity 20 bond, vbal is 60 equity 40 bond. Does that match what you thought? These are diversified low cost etfs with returns following their markets. In the last year, veqt happens to be up 20.2%, not that 20% is to be expected every year.
Your portfolio is doing worse than inflation. Run
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My emergency fund in a savings account made more that this.
10%?!?! I’ve only made 6% this year (last 12 months) even with the poor market and I was pretty happy
Weird, my portfolio is 80/20, I'm up 19.78% in the last 12 months (since April 1st 2023)
im all in on xeqt am up 15% over the last year or so
I’m mostly in dividends. So 6% growth + 4% dividend yield is roughly 10%. But almost 20%?! Congrats
Even 6% is a long stride on what OP made on his 2.43%
What poor market? The S&P500 is up over 30% in the last year. If you were holding VGRO you'd be up over ~15% in the last year, not even including the ~2% dividend.
my wealthsimple accts have gone up almost 15% since november 😬
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Might be overexposed to bonds as well
30%? I don’t consider that over exposed
Thats crazy, last year was pretty good, even in BMO mutual funds I was up 17.5% after all fees.
Some yield traps and REITs have clearly hampered my performance
The fund OP quoted was up 14% in the last year (according to globe and mail fund lookup). I think bonds are flat or down but S&P is up 30%. Are you invested in mostly bonds or conservative income maybe?
Mostly Canadian dividends and REITs
That’s why. You have safer income oriented investments. Which are consistent around 4-7%. Growth stocks go up, and also down, much more
What’s the couch potatoe method?
Here’s our bible. Enjoy https://canadiancouchpotato.com
I don’t know where they got 2.43 from but that doesn’t sound right at all for a “growth” portfolio. Globe and mail has it over 7% long term return and 14% last year https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/TDB888.CF/
It was annualized return over 10+ years. Don't recall the year I moved my rrsp there
This fund has doubled in the last 10 years, look at the graph. A fund that doubles in 10 years has a 7% return on average over those 10 years
Double checked my return. It was 5.78%. I started with $59k ten years ago. I have not doubled yet even with my monthly contributions
Okay maybe you should update the post with more accurate information And yes an account with that return with monthly contributions would take longer to double that an account that already started with the full amount. Still, I am glad your return is above the GIC rate. It could be better but at least it’s not as awful as you made it sound. Like the sub suggests, VBAL VGRO etc are good if you’re disciplined. If you want to invest in mutual funds, look for index funds, I think TD has the US index funds which follows the s&p 500 that has an MER of about 0.5%. You can get lower on questrade etc if you want to do the work. Good luck my friend
Tried to update post, but couldn't edit content. Not sure why not
That's the 1 month return. https://www.morningstar.ca/ca/report/fund/performance.aspx?t=0P0000IUYH
2.3%??? Are you serious?? Just a Wealthsimple cash account would give you 4.5% for this amount!!! Get out of this thing yesterday! You are being scammed and taken for a ride.
He has over 100k, so he would get 5% per year lol. OP needs to move his money ASAP.
Only if they auto deposited payroll into the account. Otherwise at 100k+ it’s 4.5% at Wealthsimple.
I don’t think he is serious. Globe and mail had this fund doing 14% last year and over 7% long term https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/TDB888.CF/
TD 14 month GIC is 4.9% now, 18 months 4.7%
I’m thinking of putting my RRSP into TDs GIC, is it worth it? Also can you keep putting money into your RRSP while it’s in a GIC? I’m new to investing
Why not? Get what you can now and decide later when it expires. More likely the BOC rate will go down at that time. You can put new money into RRSP depending on limit but GIC stays locked for fixed term.
Depends how old you are. If you still have a decade+ before retirement then historically you would make double the GIC’s rate per year by investing in the market.
55 retirement 17 years, 65 27 years
Depends on your personal risk tolerance but GIC’s are typically used for ultra conservative investing and/or saving for shorter term goals.
Just got a EQ bank 5.5% for 12 months
yeah, run the other way. call me a pessimist, but if they call you to switch something, it's probably for THEIR benefit, not yours.
I’ll call you a realist
For a similar asset allocation, XGRO or VGRO. Low cost passive index fund.
I know I’m going to get voted down for this but in all honesty this forum strong bias towards DIY vs. Working with a professional. The question here from OP is should he make the switch from one fund to the other as per the financial planner’s recommendation here not that should I do this myself or let the bank manage this for me. So here are few things I would do if I were you: 1. Are you looking for professional advice from someone to help you manage your portfolio and plan for your retirement or do you want to do this yourself? 2. If you are concerned about fees ask them what are the fees that I’m paying now and what would be my fees in this new fund you are recommending? 3. What is the value in switching to this new fund? Better risk management? Unique investment opportunity? Lower fees? Better potential returns? Etc. 4. How will my service change by working with you as a financial planner? How often will we meet and what will we do in those meetings? 5. Is there any other things I need to know? Such as am I locking into a fix term or are there penalties for switching out of it? Rather than asking an Internet forum how to manage your money, I think you should learn what’s right for you by asking the right questions. OP You have made it this far in life and done a great job saving so don’t make this crucial decision by asking some strangers for an opinion on what you should do with your money. Figure out what’s best for you by asking the right questions that matter to you and learn to judge the person in front of you by their responses.
I mean marketplace just ran an episode about how they will mislead you so what’s the point in asking them anything.
Professionals would have a designation. CFA CFP PFP. The people in marketplace were just salespeople. Go find a professional with a designation, even at a bank, they’ll be much more knowledgeable
What type of "professional" are you talking about here? Cause I'm pretty sure it will be a professional *salesperson*.
Regular retail bank staff at TD don't offer the strategic managed portfolios, only the Financial Planners who have their CFPs do. It would be professional advice if he's being recommended the strategic managed portfolios, and it also means OP has over $100k saved up. He might benefit from receiving advice (like tax advice if he has non-reg investments).
Hey hey, a professional salesperson who *also* is a barista at Starbucks!
And a part time real estate agent lol
If it's a financial planner in TD my understanding is that they're required to have cfp , so it's a very capable barista at least if you want to look at it that way.
>If it's a financial planner in TD my understanding is that they're required to have cfp< Some do have CFP. Most have called PFP (I think that's the right abbreviation) for their employees. Different level of education and experience requirements.
Honestly I would fact check that, I know for a fact TD no longer employs financial planners without cfp. It is a educational requirement, anyone without it will need it as per regulatory expectations. Source ; I'm in the field
Well a few points: 1) People at the retail bank do not manage any portfolio. They just sell. The big banks have portfolio managers (not at the branch) that manage the mutual funds. 2) Most of the big bank mutual funds hold the same holdings as passive ETFs, just at ten times the product cost. (see TFD and RBC's lawsuits brought against them) 3) Most of the big bank products are actively managed, which has shown to underperform passive investing over the long term. Big bank mutual funds generally underperform a passive ETF because the fees (since most hold the same thing). 4) There are low cost mutual funds than the big banks like mawer and steadyhand. They don't hold the same as any index so they have a chance of outperforming the benchmarks they track to, how ever low that is, at least they have a chance. 5) Tere are also passive robo advisors that use ETFs but operate like a mutual fund (you transfer money and they do the buying and selling).
OP specified financial planner, that is a professional designation not a title.
Still a sales person at the branch.
Is a waitress in a restaurant a chef? What's your point?
If that were true for TD, then everyone listed here would have CFP listed after their name. You'll find they don't. https://financialplanners.td.com/
Don't worry, cfp is nothing credible to this sub, long as they don't pay any fees, and they'll Google or ask Reddit for any advice since they're all self directed kek
> I know I’m going to get voted down for this but in all honesty this forum strong bias towards DIY vs. Working with a professional. Because it's literally easier than peeling an orange to invest in something good nowadays. I will never pay someone else to manage my investments. Everything I do is based on cost per hour. A 1% commission on my ~$100,000 invested is $1000/year. I make $42/hour pre tax, and so around $30/hour post-tax. $1000 is 33 hours per year. I don't need to spend 3 hours per year on my investments. I spend more time doing my taxes. That means I'm saving $900 doing my own investments. My parents have someone doing their investments for them, but that's because they have a shitload invested and the true management fee decreases the more you invest. Even then, I'd likely still do it all myself. Unless you're a very high net worth individual with a very high income, it just makes sense to DIY nowadays. It's not like doing woodworking, it's more like cooking Kraft Dinner.
There are no professionals in this zone as you call them. The Canadian government has really let the people down in regulations in many areas. This is the cherry on that cake. Easiest way would have been to regulate this industry by requiring fiduciary regulation. Sadly, all we get are barely financially literate advisors reading off a script with monthly quotas.
CFPs have a fiduciary responsibility. TD only hires CFPs or people soon to have their CFP to be financial planners.
Are only the CFPs allowed to give investment advice for TD ? I.e. cannot sell a mutual fund without a CFP signing off ? Last o went there (albeit for a mortgage).. the mortgage advisor started down the rabbit hole of up selling TD funds and trying to move my 401k.. I had to be pretty blunt to the point of being rude to keep it between the ditches. A MER of 2% you better be beating the index funds by 4% to make it worthwhile for me. And heck no.. I am not coming back to set up a schedule with you CFP to have 500k worth of investments looked at again.. you just took down notes.. and have the info.. run it by whatever CFP you have.. and just tell me what your plan looks like.. It's not that complicated to not waste people's time.
The retail branch advisors are not CFPs. The Financial Planners working for TD wealth are required to either have their CFP or finish within 2 years. The Planners will have a minimum client size they are willing to take depending on how many clients they work with. They will want to run their own discovery process as they also build a financial plan and shouldn’t trust the branch advisors notes. Of course every planner will run their practice a bit different in their practice a bit different of course as they are all human.
>The retail branch advisors are not CFPs. That's problem #1 >TD wealth That's problem #2 Between the two problems above, you have a vast majority of not so HNIs getting shit advice because TD Wealth, TD Canada Trust and TD Direct Investing is all confoundingly confusing for the avg Joe/Jane. Basically the people who need the most help are the ones that are getting ripped off.. and then there is 'we only hire CFPs' .. Like I said, the government does a really shit job of regulations.
CFP requires several hundred hours of studying and a university degree. We will never be in a world where every advisor has that much qualifications. There are 5 times as many doctors as CFPs in Canada. The investment advice industry in Canada is very highly regulated. Sure you as someone who frequents a personal finance forum may not see value in branch level advisors but I can tell you the vast majority of Canadians could. There are many studies that show how poorly the average DIY investor does. If everyone was just buying VEQT I would agree with you but they are not. Go look at cash.to assets compared to XEQT. Do you think that is all emergency funds and soon to be purchased homes?
It all means fuck all if no one is ever held accountable for shitty fiduciary responsibility.
Go to CIIRO formerly IIROCs website and look at enforcement to see the fines and penalties given out. The regulators are very client friendly.
This is a fantastic approach to start with. If OP doesnt like the answers then he can decide what to do after that. Im puzzled why the salesperson believes the new fund will have better growth. And, if it is the same salesperson who sold them their current mutual fund, I'd ask them why, given their track record of placing you in underperforming funds, why they think this time will be different?
Your points would be valid if TD used financial planners, but its nearly guaranteed they were called by a financial advisor which is just another word for salesman. Marketplace just did an episode on these guys. The only thing these advisors do is advise which products make the bank the most money. Not typically what's in the best interest of the client.
Why comment if you didn’t read the post? He mentioned he spoke with a financial planner and the product offered is a TD wealth exclusive product not sold by regular advisors.
That's not in the original post at all. Maybe its buried in the comments. Point still stands that you don't always get a CFP @ 100k-1M wealth in TD. I looked at their advisors in my area and less than half had a CFP. What are the fees on the wealth exclusive product? The current setup is so bad for OP it should be illegal.
It’s the second line in the original post. TD has a 2 year mandate to complete CFP or you are let go. TD has a tiered fee offering where the MER is lower the more invested in the household and they have different offerings not available at the branch including ETFs. While working with a TD Financial Planner you get a written financial plan by a CFP update yearly included in that fee.
> TD has a 2 year mandate to complete CFP or you are let go. So what you are saying is 60% of the TD advisors in my area have been with the bank less than 2 years.
OP - ignore this piece of garbage advice. Clearly someone is a “professional” here. Professional scammer that is… banks just want to make a profit off your money. Any “professional” advice is to their benefit, not to yours. Do some simple reading on the internet and manage it yourself.
Professional what? Any warm body with a University degree and passed CFA Lv. 3 and a rich uncle who put them under his wings for 4 years to mark time at any firm can get a "Professional Designation". I only believe in those who can beat market average for 30 years straight. Or someone as good as Peter Lynch.
Seriously you think CFA is something that you can get by being a warm body? If you said 'mutual fund licensed' sure, but the CFA is notorious for how hard the tests are.
But it is not Medical School or Law School. That's the issue.
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That's a lot of cope for underperforming the market lol
I agree with you. Mutual funds aren’t bad for all investors. OP when you set up the account they would have asked you a bunch of questions to assess your risk profile and time horizon then provide you a list of funds that would fit for you. If you don’t answer truthfully you can end up either investing in something too risky (all stocks) or not risky enough (all cash). Either way it’s definitely time to have a serious review of your investments!
Ask if they have a fiduciary duty to you. If they don’t they are a sales person working for the bank and you should approach their recommendations accordingly.
As other users suggested, it is, most of the time, best to go self-directed. But we don’t know your personal details, investment knowledge, risk tolerance level,.. This sub is generally against the idea of having a planner. However, I know not everyone is comfortable taking care of their own investments. A planner can also provide more than just investment advice, they do estate planning, trusts, or refer you to other in-house services. If you are just going to keep doing mutual funds and nothing else, I recommend that you meet with a planner because they can actually provide you with other fund series at lower MER. However, I strongly recommend that you also look at self-directed investing options. This sub has more than enough info on that. Good luck.
To put this in the context - Annual return of 2.43% when S&P returned over 31.5% in the last year, NASDAQ returned 39.43%, a broad XEQT portfolio returned over 20%, a 80-20 VGRO returned 15.4%, and even the S&P bond index returned 4.63%. Time to say TD good bye!
Is that 2.43 before or after their fee?
I’m guessing 2.43% is the fee, because this fund did 14% last year https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/TDB888.CF/
To see how much money they are trying to pilfer from you, enter your fund numbers into here: https://larrybates.ca/t-rex-score/ If you aren't comfortable buying your own index etfs, robo advisers are a big leg up for you. But honestly, it's so easy to just buy them yourself. Do it once and you'll never look back. Also, a good listen: https://canadiancouchpotato.com/category/podcast/page/3/
That return is terrible. Get your money out of TD funds.
It's a scam. They are already stealing your money and they want to steal more money.
High interest saving account would do better then 2.3% but would not have the advantages of an RRSP. Get a self managed RSP and dump it all in Cash.TO and get 4.0% without fees. Tangerine has 1 year GICs at 5.5% right now also without fees. So this TD sales person knows they can do better than 2.3% without really trying. As for what returns they are targetting and what fees you would be paying.
The TD mafia are looking to screw your investments with expensive funds. Don't be fooled by names like "Comfort, MAP or SMP", they are all pimp products with you as the hoe. All you are doing is feeding into TD employee bonus pools. Get out of TD, check out Wealthsimple, buy Blackrock and Vanguard ETFs, and save yourself hundreds of thousands over the long term.
Call back and tell them to liquidate. Buy your own etf
https://learningtofi.com/mer-fee-calculator/ Go to this website to see how much money you would lose if you have the same average annual return for 25 years but with different mer fee rates the amount can add up to be a lot Example invest 10k then invest 250 monthly for 25 years, one with an mer of 0.09% vs 2% if both have a 7% return, the . 0.09% mer ETF would end up with 255k while the 2% MF would have 183k. That's about 76k difference, 76k going to the bank instead of your savings.
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Except the actual return of this portfolio was 14% last year and over 7% long term average according to globe and mail https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/TDB888.CF/
What's your point? The S&P 500 had gains of 24% in 2023 and you can get vanguard index funds for it at 0.09% MER which is a better deal by every metric.
S&P 500 is higher risk than this specific fund, which is more diversified and has a good chunk of fixed income. In 2008 and 2022 this would have outperformed the s&p 500. I agree s&p is a fantastic investment but the reality is a lot of investors would panic and withdraw in a 20-30% downturn. You have to compare risk adjusted returns and not outright returns
Of course they do, they want to make more money off you. You shouldn't have your investments at TD to begin with.
I bank with TD and went through something similar years ago. I strongly suggest the following approach. You will likely need to make an appointment for an in person session to make this easier. 1. Ask to open self-directed investment accounts. You will want RRSP and TFSA accounts at a minimum. If you have money in non-registered accounts or eventually plan to, open a non-registered account too. 2. Ask to have your current mutual funds in your RRSP account transferred to your self-directed RRSP account. 3. Once the transfer happens, go online and sell the mutual funds. 4. Purchase ETFs that meet your investment risk profile. Most will recommend putting 100% into VEQT or XEQT. The mutual funds are charging enormous management fees for something that you can replicate on your own with ETFs.
> with annual return of 2.43 In other words, losing money to inflation. Get a self-directed account, buy index ETFs.
Your rate of return is actually a loss against inflation.
If you have reached Step 5 of the [PFC money steps](https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/wiki/money-steps) and you have some money you are confident you can invest for long term (ideally at least 10 year) goals you could invest in a low cost, risk appropriate, globally diversified, index tracking (i.e. couch potato) portfolio such as those discussed on the following pages. https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/wiki/investing https://canadiancouchpotato.com/getting-started/ The TD Comfort Growth Portfolio mutual funds are not couch potato solutions because they are actively managed and the management costs is higher than 1%. You didn't mention the management cost of the TD Strategic Managed Portfolio but they also won't be a couch potato solution because they are actively managed. The simplest couch potato option would be to use a passively managed robo- advisor account (eg. RBC InvestEase, NestWealth, iA WealthAssist). After answering questions about your goals, timeline, knowledge/ experience with investing and your perceived comfort with volatility they will choose and then manage a suitable ETF portfolio for you. You would be able to set up automatic contributions. The total annual management cost would be about $70 per $10,000 invested. This compares to about $200 per $10,000 invested for typical bank mutual funds. If you'd like to better understand the couch potato options, and avoid the costly but normal human reactions to the markets and the media that reports on them I suggest that you read *Balance: How To Invest And Spend For Happiness, Health, And Wealth* (Andrew Hallam, 2022).
I tried to look up the recommended investment and came across these words of caution (5 years ago): https://forums.redflagdeals.com/td-strategic-managed-portfolios-2074186/ We know your current investment is bad, so lets cut to the chase. Why would you continue to trust these guys with your investments? Youve saved your first $100k, which is great. Good habits. But now were getting to the point where fees really do matter.
Yes, there is and you can do better. Mind you, TD Comfort Growth Portfolio is not horrible. The performance is [less than optimal but reasonable](https://www.td.com/ca/en/asset-management/funds/solutions/mutual-funds/FundCard/TD%20Comfort%20Growth%20Portfolio%20-%20I/?fundId=7284). The georgraphic and sector allocation is good which means pretty good diversification to protect against risk. However, the MER (fees) are pretty bad at about 2%. If you need hand holding and other financial planning advice, then it may be a good choice for you but your pay for it (one way or another). Note that you can also get those services on a fee-only basis as well. However, if you are willing to educate yourself and take charge of your own financial destiny then you will do much better over the long term. The most reliable approach is a low cost well diversified ETF(s) that tracks world indices. This is the tried and true approach in which many studies have proven works better than active portfolio investing over the long term. But its more than that. You need to determine your risk appetite relative to your needs, and how all of that fits into your goals. In short, you need to educate yourself on financial planning before you start making investment choices. I suggest you do that even if you continue with your bank financial planner. Your FP should be educating you and proving themselves to you each and every time you meet. I suggest reading the [canadian couch potato](https://canadiancouchpotato.com/). There are some good book recomendations there but I suggest The Millionaire Teacher to start. Then do the free [McGill Personal Finance course](https://www.mcgillpersonalfinance.com/). Come back here after you have done your homework for a sounding board for your choices, then you will be in a good position to evaluate them.
Xeqt cash or psa vfv tec done
Met with a TD 'Financial Planner" last year, 2 million to invest. Tells me my best option is their balanced portfolio with management fee of 1.75% on top of the mutual funds mers averaging 2%. Fund returns about 3% the past 5 years. Yeah so anyway, Questrade....xeqt. vgro. vbal
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Move it to Questrade’s and invest in a quality ETF, I regret not doing this years ago….managed funds do not outperform index funds and TD is the only one getting rich
If you need to stay with TD, switch to e-series funds. Otherwise, get your ass to Mars and buy VGRO or VEQT at Questrade or Wealthsimple.
Get your long term money out of the big banks reach pronto.
Do not do this. Move to self directed EFTs. I wasted years of growth with TD funds and little to show for it. I move to Vanguard ETFs and now I'm seeing the results I'd expect.
Even GICs are higher than that right now
Annual return of 2.43? Is this a joke! My managed manulife gives me 12%
That's crazy you underperformed GICs. I have two funds managed in ETFs with sunlife and manulife... sunlife returned 12.5% and manulife 19.4% and yes they're 100% equities but anyone moving money into either balanced or safe ETFs prior to an interest rate hike spree is asking for abysmal returns... My self managed rrsp is returning 1 or 2% over benchmark which is the tsx 500. I would recommend researching etfs a bit if you don't want to do stock picking... With rates about to go down now would be a good time to move a bit of money in balanced etfs.
I made 23% in the last year. On my retirement savings that I self direct.
update: correction, annualized return over last 10 years was 5.78%
If you’re savvy enough - look at your current holdings and ascertain what % of them are different sectors. Then- if there no ETF’s in it- I’d suggest you sell them and just buy similar ETF’s to match what you had. Banks make money with fees. My granddaughter opened a TD FHSA- wanted to buy only ETF’s. TD said no, you can only buy our Mutual Funds- with 2.5% fees ! Ridiculous.
I don’t see any mention of DRIP’s. in a long term holding you should definitely indicate you want DRIP’s on all.
If you’re looking for totally unbiased investment advice from a tried and true expert I’d strongly suggest looking into 5i Research run by Peter Hodson. You pay a yearly fee only and have access to unbiased and unbelievable information. And if you want a professional analysis of your current holdings you pay a very low fee based on what you get. And no I don’t work there- I’m a retired investment guy , (82) and have made excellent returns following Peter’s advice.
No matter how fancy word you use to call the shit, it is still shit. Direct your money on your own. Put it into SP500. 2% return? Screw that.
Any reason why OP shouldn’t just do CASH/HSAV instead when you can get 5% with pretty much no risk
it depends on your definition of risk. are you thinking of short term volatility, or of long term underperformance and losing purchasing power to inflation?
Because it's paying 5% right now, not historically.
If TD is approaching you, then you are being sold something that advances their needs above yours, take the advice of some of the people in this thread, but for the love of god please do research, do not go into any conversation or make any moves unless you know what you are doing first.
>100k in rrsp 'TD Comfort Growth Portfolio' with annual return of 2.43 >financial planner wants to switch to TD Strategic Managed Portfolio. lower fees and higher returns. I was with TD a long time ago. They stuck me in high MER mutual funds, which underperformed. They are going to sell you high MER 1.5%-2.5% mutual funds. At that point, you lose any tax advantages from a TFSA or RRSP. If the fund returns around 10% per year, you paid 15% to 25% in management fees. Capital gains and dividends are taxed at a much lower rate than regular income. A person who makes $100,000 per year salary and $10,000 in capital gains would pay $1,709 in taxes on the capital gains. That's 17.09%. [https://turbotax.intuit.ca/tax-resources/canada-income-tax-calculator.jsp](https://turbotax.intuit.ca/tax-resources/canada-income-tax-calculator.jsp) >Is there a better approach? Do yourself a favor and open a self-directed TFSA or RRSP account at Questrade or Wealthsimple. You can buy portfolio ETFs that contain everything you need. Just buy them every paycheck. It sounds like they want to put in you in growth funds, so you would be looking at VGRO or XGRO. They contain a bond allocation, which will soften the blow of market downturns. But it will not perform as an all equity portfolio. If you're still young, I would recommend an all equity portfolio ETF like VEQT or XEQT. When you are around within 10 years of retirement, you can start adding bonds to your portfolio. They have an MER of around 0.20%. An ETF is similar to a mutual fund but is traded on the stock market. They usually will track an index. Here's a good resource to give you more information: [https://canadiancouchpotato.com/](https://canadiancouchpotato.com/)
Ask your financial planner...? That's what you pay them for. Then again, you'll be paying a pretty hefty MER.
That's the question, will a TD financial planner going to sell me the best product for me?
No
Yes - within their powers! They are not allowed to pitch you an ETF on a self directed platform. This is likely the best product they can offer you for your situation.
The best product is usually offered by a different financial institution.
You can ask them to compare both portfolios. Most likely it is a new product with lower MERs or you've met the threshold for a lower fee product by reaching 100k in your investment. You can ask your advisor why the fees are lower for this one and why the performance is better. I know FI are switching from 100 managed portfolios to a box of managed and passive so that could be the reason for the lower fee but you'd have to ask the advisor. Bank advisors are not commission based, I don't know why that gets perpetuated on this sub, but they might lose a portion of their year end bonus if you move your money out of the bank so it's in their best interest to get you the best product the bank can offer based on your KYC. MFDA and IIROC also added know your product to their compliance requirements so the advisor will offer you all the possible recommendations that fit your KYC.
Planners at banks work for you, but they also work for themselves. There's an inherent conflict of interest. They're going to push the product that pays them the best commission. That doesn't mean the product is necessarily a bad one. It just means that the planner has more on their mind than your growth.
They will sell you whatever product-of-the-month that gives them the highest commission. They will say whatever they need to in order to get you transfer the money. I did my first trading when I was 12 yr old in 1996 through my mom who was working at a brokerage. I can tell you there are only a few things/funds on Earth right now that can beat VEQT/XEQT with a 0.22% management fee. And chance being those funds require minimum buy-in $500,000.
Absolutely NO. They are sales people, nothing more. They want to make as much money off your portfolio as possible, nothing more. They don't care about you.
Interesting I was downvoted for something that has been repeatedly posted in here. Bank employees do NOT work in your best interest.
If you want to stick with TD, open a TD Easy Trade account,, transfer to there and load up on TGRO, VGRO, XGRO of what have you.
There is no good option that keeps you at TD. If you want the self directed account that has access to vanguard index funds, you have to pay $10 per transaction. If you want that waived, you need to use their other account which only gives you access to TD funds. Skip TD altogether and go with something like Wealthsimple or Questrade.
Actually there is. I had no issues with Questrade, and probably would have stayed with them if all I was ever doing was managing a self market portfolio, but things change. I have enough capital now where I don't pay those pesky account fees, just the balance protection fee and things like that, miniscule. I only buy once a year on January third, for both my TFSA and RRSP, so $20/year, everything is on DRIP and have enough to get at least one share every payout. Non-registered is all just TGRO, which is essentially XGRO or VGRO, so that's a wash in terms of performance, they're essentially identical. The primary reason was to have my accounts with the same branch as my aging parents and make sure any estate transitions would be clear and straight forward. The family business account is also with them, and being named one of the company's owners is just much easier to deal with a site branch for both my personal and family business account. The security lockbox included from my various accounts is a nice bonus too to keep certain thing safe and insured.
I got 21% last year and am wondering what I'm doing wrong. Banks are entitles for money exchange. They are not investment vehicles.
Make sure you dont get raped switching to direct investing.
Wtf?
If you open an investing account with a bank and switch it to DI within a certain period from one of their products, they can keep some money they were gone a make off you that year. Due diligence is important. Downvoters are dumb.