My Portfolio - Seeking advice, please help

[learner]

i thought td only charges $10 per trade ?

[patriot1]

That's only for President's Account (500K+ assets or frequent trader), I think.

[learner]

thanks for the info i guess i'll go with the TD e-series funds.

What are cost for TD e-series funds ?

[BRIAN5000]

That's only for President's Account (500K+ assets or frequent trader), I think.

100k now of combined family assets.

[learner]

From my research with the TD e-series only charges MERs, and $25 a year. Am i correct ?

[like_to_retire]

From my research with the TD e-series only charges MERs, and $25 a year. Am i correct ?

The TDW discount brokerage has two types of Self directed RSP's.

The Basic self directed (at $25 year) and the Self directed (at $100 year). You can't hold stocks in the basic account, but it should be fine for a while for you.

You do want to stay away from ETF's until you have a fair bit more to invest. Every quarter when they distribute you'd have to find a place for the cash and would have to execute a trade. The e-funds are free with low MER's.

Use the Basic RSP account until you have at least $25K and then switch to the regular self directed account (which will now be free per year) and then consider ETF's.

If you want to get into the investing game you better learn how to research on the internet. Look up these account types for example.

ltr

[adrian2]

From my research with the TD e-series only charges MERs, and $25 a year. Am i correct ?

If you open an e-series account with TD Asset Management (not TDW), there is no annual fee. This is for a mutual fund account (no stocks et al).

After a few years, you can transfer smoothly to TDW, if desired.

[learner]

From my research with the TD e-series only charges MERs, and $25 a year. Am i correct ?

The TDW discount brokerage has two types of Self directed RSP's.

The Basic self directed (at $25 year) and the Self directed (at $100 year). You can't hold stocks in the basic account, but it should be fine for a while for you.

You do want to stay away from ETF's until you have a fair bit more to invest. Every quarter when they distribute you'd have to find a place for the cash and would have to execute a trade. The e-funds are free with low MER's.

Use the Basic RSP account until you have at least $25K and then switch to the regular self directed account (which will now be free per year) and then consider ETF's.

If you want to get into the investing game you better learn how to research on the internet. Look up these account types for example.

ltr

I research to but i just like to make sure before i go into accounts, thats why i ask about peoples opinions...specially the ones with more experience...they know all the hiddem fees, thanks for the advice

[queerasmoi]

Yes, agree with adrian2, you can open up a mutual-funds-only account with TD and pay no annual fees. I'm a TD Canada Trust customer already, so all I had to do was apply from EasyWeb, send in some pedantic paper forms, and then they activated my account. For e-series funds, they'll ask you to fill out a suitability survey that guides your fund selection - you'll probably end up with roughly the same allocation as you suggested.

[learner]

im 24, 5000 to invest in rsp....saving for house and retirement...about $400 monthly

i'm thinking of this portfolio

TDB909 25%
TDB900 30%
TDB902 30%
TDB911 15%

What do you guys think ?

[vince2]

I clearly made a mistake.

[learner]

15% TDB909
25% TDB900
25% TDB902
10% TDB911
10% TDB903
15% GIC

[randomwalker]

15% TDB909
25% TDB900
25% TDB902
10% TDB911
10% TDB903
15% GIC

If you could mention which funds the codes stand for it might help with a response.

[queerasmoi]

Translation for those of us who don't know TD eFunds by heart:

15% TDB909 (Canadian Bond Index - e)
25% TDB900 (Canadian Index - e)
25% TDB902 (TD US Index - e)
10% TDB911 (International Index - e)
10% TDB903 (Dow Jones Industrial Average - e)
15% GIC

Any particular reason you chose both the DJIA fund and the US Index?

Seems like a sane allocation overall, but I'm not sure what your goals are or your risk situation (I do recall you told the forum earlier you're going into a self-directed RSP account and your horizon is at least 10 years?). Any details on your preference for greater weighting to US equities (902 + 903) compared to Canadian and International?

Also, do your research to find the best RSP GIC rates you can when investing small amounts

[learner]

Translation for those of us who don't know TD eFunds by heart:

15% TDB909 (Canadian Bond Index - e)
25% TDB900 (Canadian Index - e)
25% TDB902 (TD US Index - e)
10% TDB911 (International Index - e)
10% TDB903 (Dow Jones Industrial Average - e)
15% GIC

Any particular reason you chose both the DJIA fund and the US Index?

Seems like a sane allocation overall, but I'm not sure what your goals are or your risk situation (I do recall you told the forum earlier you're going into a self-directed RSP account and your horizon is at least 10 years?). Any details on your preference for greater weighting to US equities (902 + 903) compared to Canadian and International?

Also, do your research to find the best RSP GIC rates you can when investing small amounts

Well i chose the DJIA fund to get some of the energy sector with the oil being so low. Would it be better to get the TD energy index-a rather than the DJIA ? I decided to switch to basic rrsp due to not enough capital yet. I'll stick with low mer funds for now.

I plan to take advantage of the first time home buyers plan in the next 5 years.

[like_to_retire]

I plan to take advantage of the first time home buyers plan in the next 5 years.

If you need this money in the next 5 years, then IMO you shouldn't be investing in stocks at all. You should put your money in GIC's so it will be there when you need it.

ltr

[adrian2]

Well i chose the DJIA fund to get some of the energy sector with the oil being so low. Would it be better to get the TD energy index-a rather than the DJIA ?

Taking aside the market timing / whether oil is low or high / you can get more than enough energy exposure from increasing the Canadian index allocation, if that's your goal.

I decided to switch to basic rrsp due to not enough capital yet. I'll stick with low mer funds for now.

Once again, you're wasting $25 annually by going with the TDW basic RRSP instead of the TDAM e-funds account.

[learner]

Well i chose the DJIA fund to get some of the energy sector with the oil being so low. Would it be better to get the TD energy index-a rather than the DJIA ?

Taking aside the market timing / whether oil is low or high / you can get more than enough energy exposure from increasing the Canadian index allocation, if that's your goal.

I decided to switch to basic rrsp due to not enough capital yet. I'll stick with low mer funds for now.

Once again, you're wasting $25 annually by going with the TDW basic RRSP instead of the TDAM e-funds account.

what are the advatages of having the TDW basic rrsp vs the TD e-funds account ?

thanks for all the advice

[Serdic]

Based on my own experience, I got a TDW Basic RRSP when all I really needed was a TD e-funds account. With the e-funds, account you can set up your own preauthorized purchase plan (PPP), and change it as you wish. With TDW, you have to call if you want to create the PPP or if you just want to change it.

Before you can even do that with TDW, you need to set up a monthly contribution, so that enough money is going into your account that they'll set up a PPP (aka a systematic investment plan - SIP).

With TDW, you can purchase mutual funds outside of TD's line of products, but not with an e-series account.

Finally, I much prefer the simpler view of my funds with TDAM - I don't need to worry about settlement date, and TDW's updating just seems slower than TDAM.

Speaking for myself, if I'd have been a bit more prepared for my meeting with TD, I'd have brought in the form to convert my account rather than try to explain it to the financial advisor (FA). If I was opening a new mutual fund account, I'd have used this form. The FA didn't know what I was talking about, and as a result, I got confused.

Lesson learned, always have the forms in hand. At this point, the only reason I've kept my TDW account is inertia. I can't be arsed to switch back to TDAM after having switched over to TDW less than 3 months ago.