ETF Index Investing Course
Bonus Videos Currently Being Worked On:
Below is a list of all the videos that I'm currently working on adding to the course (for free). If there are any that you would like to add, you can make a request in the comments section below. Lastly, if you would like me to prioritize the creation of a particular video below, then let me know as well. The more requests/upvotes that I receive for a question, the higher I will prioritize that question from the list. Here's the current list:
- Buying ETFs when the market is closed
- Customizing Questrade view for quicker navigation
- What kind of returns can I expect when I buy the index ETFs?
Update:
I've been getting lots of questions about how to switch over to Questrade from your existing provider (i.e. where you may currently be holding high-fee mutual funds and want to switch to low-cost ETFs).
Here is the guide that I created that goes into all of this. Definitely let me know if something isn't clear, or if you have any follow-up questions and I'll be happy to help.
15 Comments
Bryce O
March 22, 2021Kornel, now that you have a child I’d love to see a video on your approach for maximizing your Registered Education Savings Plan.
By Kornel Szrejber
April 10, 2021Hi Bryce. Thanks. To not keep you waiting, I’ve actually just written a guide on RESPs for course owners, and how I personally use the RESP. It’s on the page here:
https://www.buildwealthcanada.ca/etf-index-investing-course/16-additional-tips-and-conclusions/
By Kornel Szrejber
October 1, 2021Hi Bryce. Just an update on this: I was recently asked to do a private educational webinar by Questrade to teach their users about RESPs. I’ve uploaded that entire webinar for everyone in this course. It’s currently in the section right before this one (“16. Additional Tips and Conclusions”) so search for the RESP section in that and you can watch the entire 1 hour private training that I did.
Ryan
February 18, 2021Hi Kornel,
Please also send me the email version of “How to transfer funds from another broker”. Many years ago I purchased Canadian stocks that came with an actual certificate (from Computershare and AST Trust Company) and I just want to consolidate those to Questrade.
Thanks!
By Kornel Szrejber
February 19, 2021Hi Ryan and everyone else. Here is the guide that I made on how to do it:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1veUN9phvPTnyWaIOqyujfWvThc08pgSTSIVabbWH3rg/edit?usp=sharing
If something is unclear just let me know and I’ll gladly help.
Kornel
Cassandra
June 27, 2020Hi Kornel,
I just want to clarify between commissions and MER fees. Are these the same thing? When you made the purchase and the commissions came off was that the MER fee or is that just the broker fee? If the later when do the MER fees get deducted?
Cheers
Cassandra
By Kornel Szrejber
July 6, 2020Commissions and MER fees are two different things.
When you are buying ETFs, commissions will be charged when you buy and sell them. Usually, this is $5 to $10 per trade (depending on the broker you use). With Questrade, you don’t pay these commissions when you buy the ETFs (only when you sell), so you’re able to avoid this fee when buying.
Questrade and other brokers will still charge ECN fees on buying and selling. However, this amount is very small and pretty negligible. The last time I checked it was $0.00335 per share/ETF. So even if you are buying a bunch of ETFs, the ECN fees will typically end up being less than $1.
For example, if you are buying $3,000 of an ETF that costs $28, then that means you are buying 107 units of that ETF. If we multiply that out, the 107 units x $0.00335 = $0.36.
So, for a $3,000 investment, you are paying a one-time fee of $0.36. Pretty negligible in my opinion.
Onto the 2nd part of your question: The MER is the fees that get paid to the company for running the fund. These are automatically deducted for you by the fund company.
So, when you receive dividends from the ETF, and when you sell any of your ETFs, those fees have already been deducted. This is why if you compare the performance of an ETF tracking an index like the S&P 500 to an ETF that you hold that mimics the S&P 500, you’ll notice that there is a small difference between the two. A lot of this difference comes from the MER that is charged so your performance will be slightly lower than what the actual index is showing.
jeff
March 23, 2020Hi Kornel,
Thanks for the course. It’s very user friendly and detailed. What I am wondering is how you track and organize capital gains/losses for each tax year in registered and non-registered accounts? I may have missed it in the course because I took a break in completing it.
Regards,
Jeff
By Kornel Szrejber
March 23, 2020For registered accounts (TFSA and RRSP), you don’t need to track your capital gains and losses. You can if you want, but you don’t need to report capital gains/losses to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
For your taxable/non-registered accounts, you do have to do it.
I have a spreadsheet that I use for that. I can share it with you and all the course students. Just give me some time to clean it up first.
Are you currently investing in taxable accounts? (if yes then I’ll boost this on my priority list so that you have it ASAP)
Kornel
Alex
February 22, 2020Hi Kornel,
After going through the course, I couldn’t help but wonder your personal approach towards your RRSP. I’m assuming you buy ETFs within both your TFSA and RRSP?
Thanks in advance,
Alex
By Kornel Szrejber
February 28, 2020Hi Alex. Yes, that is correct. I buy the ETFs in my RRSP, TFSA, and also we have a bunch in our taxable accounts since our TFSAs are maxed out, and since we retired, it no longer makes sense to contribute to an RRSP in our case.
Joanne Hastie
May 29, 2019Hi Kornel,
AMAZING course, thank you for your clarity.
Can I get in on the same answer as Seth via email? I am about to approach the bank to move my mutual funds and any feedback would be great. They’ve made it impossible to cancel my auto payments or move things around without in-person meeting with the mutual fund sales person. So I want to be able to tell them exactly what I want to do without having to hear the sales pitch. I noticed the auto payment disappears monthly now that I stopped putting in lump sums thanks to your podcasts I am aware of what my money is doing (so it is literally just paying fees!)
My largest mutual fund is an RRSP, so I would like to know how to transfer the RRSP to my new ETF Quest Trade account.
Thanks!
Joanne
By Kornel Szrejber
August 30, 2019Hi Joanne.
I ended up sending you this way back in June but I didn’t hear a reply so I’m not sure if you got my email. Just in case, if you or anybody else needs the guide on how to transfer, I’ve uploaded it at the link below. Enjoy 🙂 and feel free to reach out with any questions. Here’s the link: https://1drv.ms/w/s!Ao6BaByLrAghg-IvZRiryTQnrmlAmQ?e=hc9XrQ
Sethuraj Sivanolipava
November 2, 2018Hi Kornel,
I notice that you are in the process of making a video for “How to transfer funds from another broker (ex. A bank where you currently have mutual funds)”. When will you publish it? Because I’m in the same situation and would like some clarification.
Thank you.
By Kornel Szrejber
December 20, 2018Thanks Seth. I’m in the process of making it but I have an answer for this question in email format. I already responded to you via email to send it to you, but if anybody else reading this needs help on this, then just let me know and I’ll email it to you. I’ll be posting it on the site too, but this is just way to get the answer quicker instead of waiting.