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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Hi Guys

I am about to receive about 500k inheritance . I would like to invest it for income. I was thinking of just buying CDZ or would you recommend a basket of equities. My wife and I are both in our early 60s.I have a self directed account with Action direct. Thanks in advance

Mike
Read Answer Asked by Michael on February 22, 2019
Q: What’s your view of this ETF for dividend income and stability. Or would you recommend a different one. Also is this best to hold in a non registered account.
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by HEATH on February 22, 2019
Q: Hi 5i,

A portfolio construction question. I've selected a mix of XTR (36%), XSB (7%), CDZ (17%), XAW (19%), and then a mix of laddered GIC options (17%) and a small cash holding (4%). This is for a family member's portfolio, retired, needing income, security, and modest growth (in that order).

This ends with an allocation of approx. 55% equities and 45% fixed income/cash, and 69% Canada, 22% USA, and 9% Global.

This mix also generates distributions/dividends almost dead on 4%/year, so following the 4% withdrawal rule more or less allows for not needing to sell anything to cover cash flow needs.

Wondering if you could comment on the ETF selections and overall structure with the understanding of course that its always a highly personal decision. More just want to know if you have better ETF or security selections for this scenario...

Thank you so much!
Ryan
Read Answer Asked by Ryan on February 19, 2019
Q: Hi 5i team,

I have 817k in a LIRA to invest. This is a portion of my retirement money that I will rely on for income. I still however would like some growth too. I was thinking 50% in VFV and the balance in a high yield dividend paying etf. Your thoughts and could you please recommend a high yield dividend paying etf. Thanks for your amazing insight!

Glen
Read Answer Asked by glen on February 14, 2019
Q: my wife currently has unregistered money invested in this mutal fund and continues to put money in it every month. I would like to know if there are etfs that are just as good or better with much lower fees. Thanks for your help.
Read Answer Asked by jim on February 03, 2019
Q: I am close to retirement and am interested in purchasing a conservative, safer, ETF to be held for the forseeable future in an investment (not registered) account. I am looking for a non-Canadian equity investment, and do not necessarily seek high dividends. What is your opinion of the "dividend aristocrats" investment strategy and of the DGRO-N ETF? Is there a better ETF which suits my investment goals which you would recommend?

Thank you for all of the excellent advice which your service offers!
Read Answer Asked by Dale on February 03, 2019
Q: I am a new retiree and interested in income, with some growth. What ETF or ETFs would you recommend for a non-registered account? Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Maureen on January 11, 2019
Q: Investing in companies who have been paying dividends for a long time and regularly increase dividends is a good idea.
Where can I find such information about a company?
Read Answer Asked by Ron on January 08, 2019
Q: I have 11% ZLU, 19% CDZ, 50% SDY, !% VWO, 15% VEA and 3% CGL in a RIF. I need to sell $12K from a RIF. Is there something you would recommend selling, or just move in kind?
Read Answer Asked by Wayne on January 07, 2019
Q: Two questions on Canadian equity/dividend ETFs:

1) The holdings in DGRC are selected based on market cap, expected earnings growth, return on equity, and return on assets. How is it that none of the Big 5 Canadian banks qualify for inclusion in their portfolio? This is puzzling to me. What is your opinion of this ETF for the core Canadian equity component of one's portfolio, for a longterm hold?

2) You continue to recommend XIC despite reminding members, many a time, of how the TSX index is heavily concentrated in financials and energy. Why? It is a cheap ETF, but other CDN equity ETFs (like DGRC) are modestly more expensive but I can't help but think that the few extra basis points in cost are worth it if it allows for a more balanced sector allocation overall. You continue to recommend CDZ even though it is very expensive, with a MER of 0.66. Why? I know it is analogous to VGG/VIG, which you (and I) love, but I don't think they're comparable, since VGG/VIG contains many companies with a much longer history of dividend increases (including many so-called 'Dividend Aristocrats' and 'Dividend Kings' whereas inclusion in CDZ only requires that a company has a history of increasing its dividend in at least four of the last five years. It almost seems like the continued recommendation of XIC and CDZ is due more to historical reasons rather than their merits as of right now, relative to other ETFs that may not have been available when XIC and CDZ were first made available.


Read Answer Asked by Walter on January 03, 2019
Q: If you were going to buy a basket of low cost etfs for long term (20-30 years) to hold in an rrsp what would they be? What weightings would you reccomend? Im looking to take advantage of the 8%+ annual market return for the long haul. Or would you use one of the one stop shop Vanguard ones? Could you also explain any reasoning?
thanks
Read Answer Asked by david on December 19, 2018
Q: I just transferred 100,000 from an investment company to Questrade because i'm fed up with the high management fees. I was thinking of splitting it between Index Funds and ETF's. I'm 59 and this money is in an RRSP acct. Where would you recommend I invest this money.
Thanks

Brian
Read Answer Asked by Brian on December 18, 2018
Q: Can you suggest both a Canadian and Global Dividend Growth ETF?
Read Answer Asked by Ian on December 10, 2018
Q: Hello 5I,
I will be retiring in 3 to 4 years and I would like to know if the following ETF would provide a suitable diversification while reducing volatility and providing a monthly income to compliment my pension.
50% CND: CDZ/XTR/XEI/PDF/ZRE
30% United States: ZWH/ZDY
20% Intl: ZWE/ZDH
Feel free to add/remove ETFs as required
Finally, would you limit the exposure to each ETF to 15%?
Thanks
Sylvain
Read Answer Asked by Sylvain on November 30, 2018
Q: Would you please recommend:
A couple of well diversified Canadian equity dividend ETF’s
A couple of well diversified Canadian equity High dividend ETF’s.
Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Gary on October 25, 2018
Q: I would like to derisk my portfolio and pull out of trading equities myself. I am near 70. What mawer products or other etf/mutual fund products can I hold in my trading account that would give a fair dividend , would have preferred tax rate on those dividends and reasonable MER.
Read Answer Asked by brian on October 23, 2018
Q: My friend has $150,000. to invest, she has a time frame of 10 years minimum before she will need the money. She is interested in dividend stocks and wants to have a balanced portfolio, can you suggest what stocks she should purchase for this portfolio, she does not own any stocks at the present time.
Thank you for your help.
Dorothy
Read Answer Asked by Dorothy on October 04, 2018