There is a new blog on the internet called CanadianCouchPotato.com. In a nutshell, the purpose of the blog is to help investors who are thinking about dumping their advisor to start investing on their own, without making it a part-time job. The “couch potato” term refers to the fact that the portfolios are very low maintenance, often requiring no more than 15 minutes per year for rebalancing. Investing doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive – and if it sounds like something you are interested in learning more about, I recommend checking out the site. I should point out that there are many fans of couch potato portfolios, but there are also alternatives. It’s not right for everyone, but after doing some reading on the site you’ll have a better idea if it is for you or not.
- Here is a link to the FAQ about Canadian Couch Potato Portfolios – it will take you from 0-60 in about 5 minutes. That sounded more impressive in my head since it’s a car reference and no one should be impressed by a car that takes 5 minutes to get to 60, but you get the idea.
I’m copying verbatim the “About” page on the site down below in italics for anyone too lazy to click on a link. (Hey, it happens…):
Welcome to Canadian Couch Potato. This blog is designed for Canadians who want to learn more about investing using index mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The Couch Potato strategy—also called index investing, or passive investing—is growing in popularity as more people become disillusioned with mutual funds and stock-picking strategies that try, usually in vain, to beat the market.
The blog’s creator is Dan Bortolotti, a professional journalist who has written about personal finance for many Canadian magazines, including MoneySense, Financial Post, More, Chatelaine and Today’s Parent. He completed the Canadian Securities Course in 2009.
During his work, Dan has spoken to many small investors who have been badly served by the financial industry. Advisors put these investors’ money in high-cost, poorly performing mutual funds, or in undiversified portfolios of individual stocks. Many of these hard-working savers had little idea how or where their money was invested, or how much risk they were taking on. In many cases, their portfolios were wholly inappropriate and absurdly expensive.
After reading Dan’s articles about the Couch Potato strategy, many investors contacted him directly. They loved the strategy, but they weren’t sure how to implement it. Should they buy index mutual funds or ETFs? How should they compare one ETF to another? Which asset classes should they invest in, and in what proportion? The answers are not straightforward, and while there are many books and websites devoted to index investing, virtually all of them are aimed at US readers. Nothing similar has been available in Canada—until now.
If you’re a Canadian investor who is thinking about embracing the Couch Potato strategy—or if you’re already one of the enlightened—you’ll find all the information you need right here.
Yep… what he said. Click here to visit the site if you haven’t already.
I personally think there are better indexes than XIU – I hope it’s a topic they vist.
I like EWC-nyse