Once you have taken a hard look in the mirror and decided what your target asset allocation should be (with some help if you need it), it’s time to look at just how you should go about actually getting money from your paycheque into an indexed investment. An index fund is a general term that covers a few different specific types of investments. When we talk about an investing “index” - that’s just code for “all of the assets in a given market”. That given market could be all o...| Million Dollar Journey
There may come a point during the year that you max out your registered Canadian investment accounts, or if you are living abroad, there might be certain restrictions on what you can contribute to tax-advantaged accounts. The great news is that no matter what your situation is, you can still open a non-registered tax efficient ETF portfolio. If you are living and earning an income abroad, or have maxed out your TFSA and RRSP, you may not be able to contribute to an RRSP or a TFSA. Read on to ...| Million Dollar Journey
Can I really go work in Qatar and not pay Canadian income taxes as an expat? This was one of my first thoughts when I started looking into teaching abroad. I mean, when you make a decision to move to the desert, adventure has to be the primary consideration, but let’s be honest here: If you care enough to be reading an article on MDJ, then you know that money and taxes are always a consideration. From August 2019 to January 2020 my wife’s and my evenings often consisted of the following...| Million Dollar Journey
What is portfolio rebalancing, and should you do it? If so, then how and when? We cover everything you need to know.| Million Dollar Journey
When I first wrote about the Smith Manoeuvre (18 years ago!) - a method to transform your mortgage into a tax-deductible loan - I never imagined it would become one of our most popular topics, racking up hundreds of comments. Even though I kicked off my own Smith Manoeuvre at practically the worst time in the last half-century (back in 2007), it still turned out pretty well for me. As we move into 2025, it’s becoming clear that high mortgages might be coming down a bit, the days of ultra-lo...| Million Dollar Journey
We've been writing about low-cost ETFs in Canadian index portfolios since 2008. Below is our 2025 update. ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, first entered the Canadian market over a decade ago. From day one, they impressed us as an excellent tool to help you build a low-cost, diversified portfolio. As time has passed, ETF providers have created tools that make index investing easier than ever. All-in-one ETFs, or “portfolio ETFs” mean that you’ll never have to worry about rebalancing you...| Million Dollar Journey
Are you curious about how investing taxes are calculated on capital gains, dividends, and interest in Canada? I’m not a tax expert, but with tax loss harvesting season coming out, I figured it might be a good time to review some of the basics between how Canadian investment returns are taxed in your RRSP, TFSA, and non-registered accounts. Investing Taxes in an RRSP Let’s start with RRSPs. As you probably know, RRSP contributions and investment growth are taxable only upon withdrawal. A...| Million Dollar Journey
After writing a deep dive article on whether the 4% safe withdrawal rate still works for retirement at various ages, I received a lot of questions basically asking: “Ok, so 4% is a good rule of thumb, but when I actually go to withdraw money from my various investment accounts, to put into my chequing account & high interest savings account in order to pay for day-to-day expenses, what is the best way to avoid taxes?” Upon reading many of these types of questions, I realized that I wasn...| Million Dollar Journey
Options are one of the best ways to capitalize on market trends and enhance profitability - if you get your prediction right. While buying options has a limited downside on a per contract basis, it is also one of the “best” ways to lose your money in the market - or as WSJ put it “More Men are Addicted to the Crack Cocaine of the Stock Market”. Options trading is not for the faint of heart, and shouldn’t be used by novice traders. Honestly, the average Canadian investor has no need ...| Million Dollar Journey
What is TD Direct Investing Brokerage? The TD Directing Investing online brokerage is a solid option, even though it doesn’t quite make it to the top of my list of Canada’s best online discount brokerages. As Canada’s second biggest bank (and one of our largest companies, period) it’s probably not a surprise that the TD trading platform has evolved over the years and consistently gotten better. The problem (and it’s a problem not unique to TD Direct Investing, as the other Big Bank ...| Million Dollar Journey
I’ve been writing about the “Dogs of the TSX” Canadian investing strategy for about twelve years now. I can’t claim that I was the creator of the idea though. In fact, no Canadian can really lay claim to the “Dogs’” principles. The Dogs of the TSX can trace its roots back to the “Dogs of the Dow” strategy in the USA. The first place that I saw the idea being applied to Canada was when MoneySaver magazine started writing about the BTTSX or Beating the TSX Dividend Stock Strat...| Million Dollar Journey
Why Justwealth? As I’ve updated my Justwealth review over the years, they have risen from a solid-but-not-elite option to the best robo advisor in Canada. How did they do it? By focusing on what matters. Frankly, while Justwealth has made great strides in the way their website looks, they still aren’t the most aesthetically-appealing option out there. They aren’t taking your money and paying a giant team of coders to make and update some beautiful app or clever TV marketing campaign. ...| Million Dollar Journey
If you have been like many investors and sticking with an easy, passive all-in-one ETF, but looking to try out something a bit more active, investing in commodities in Canada could be just the thing to scratch that itch. Commodities are consumer products such as energy, metals and agriculture tend to fare particularly well in times of high inflation. As inflation rates continue to rise worldwide, we can expect commodities to continue to surpass stock returns. So, now is the perfect time to co...| Million Dollar Journey
There is a TON of investment advice out there. Some should only be taken into consideration after a thorough investigation and planning. Some - like contributing to a TFSA - is just sound advice that should be acted on quickly. The reason? Two words: tax free. That is not something you hear often, and that’s why we want to help you start contributing to your TFSA as quickly as possible to achieve maximum money saving and investment earning results. If you turned 18 on or before 2009...| Million Dollar Journey
For income-oriented Canadian investors the choice between a Bond (or Bond ETF), a GIC, or a high interest savings account has become more important than ever. With interest rates at historic lows (for a little while longer anyway) choosing the best option for the “safe, low risk investing” part of our portfolio can make a big difference! Read on to find our picks for the best Bond ETF, the best GIC rates in Canada, and our pick for top Canadian high interest savings account. Best Cana...| Million Dollar Journey
We’ve had hundreds of Canadians email us or comment, “Should I buy Bitcoin?” throughout the latter part of 2020, and it has only increased in 2021 as the Canadian Bitcoin ETFs have come online. The truth is that I’m not a Bitcoin (BTC) guy. Yes, I know what it is. Yes I’ve heard Bitcoin enthusiasts tell me why I’m wrong. I know that it’s worth $1.2 Trillion or so at this point. No, I still don’t want to buy bitcoin. It could go to $1Million and I will still sleep so...| Million Dollar Journey
A blue chip stock refers to stocks of high value companies. Think companies that are household names, have a widely recognized brand and are so big that they are unlikely to fail. The top blue chip stocks in Canada include companies from a wide range of sectors; utilities, industrial, financial and consumer staples. These companies often have very little - if any - competition, which is a great thing if you are one of their investors. On top of having a large market capitalization, and the ...| Million Dollar Journey
Long-term investing is one of the most powerful ways to grow your wealth. As the name implies, long-term investing means that an investor buys an asset with the intent to hold it for some time. The time frame can be years or even decades. Over time, long-term investing has the potential to produce excellent returns due to the magic of compound interest. While this strategy might not appeal to everyone, especially those with a high risk tolerance, it has historically proven to be an effectiv...| Million Dollar Journey
Because I’ve been writing about dividend investing for nearly two decades now, I get a lot of inquiries every month about the best Canadian dividend ETFs vs the best dividend stocks in Canada. Obviously Canadians love their tax-efficient dividend income. The consistency of having those dividend payouts hit their accounts allows investors to better control their behaviors and stay focused on the long-term. What the dividend ETFs vs individual stocks decision ultimately boils down to for mos...| Million Dollar Journey
If you’ve started your research on investing, but still aren’t quite sure how or where to get started, you are not alone. Plenty of almost-investors get stuck at the starting line for reasons like not feeling educated enough, feeling like they don’t have enough money to start investing, or simply feeling unclear on which type of investment to choose. When it comes to investing, the best time to start is now, and index investing is the perfect way to begin. It’s simple, easy to manage,...| Million Dollar Journey
Because I’ve written a lot about the Best Canadian ETFs and the top dividend ETFs, I tend to get a lot of questions and comments asking me about the MER and taxes on ETFs that hold equities from other countries. Obviously when you’re asking those types of in-depth questions you already understand the value of index investing, and instant diversification. Personally, I like to balance my love of Canadian dividend stocks, with non-Canadian ETFs to get super-convenient international exposure...| Million Dollar Journey
Canada’s best robo advisors are an excellent investing solution for the many folks who are intimidated by the thought of buying and selling shares on their own - but who don’t want to pay the outrageous mutual fund fees that come with the traditional investments recommended by banks and credit unions. There is incredible value in automatically taking a piece of your paycheque every month and automatically turning it into a diversified investment portfolio. Way too many of us hesitate to g...| Million Dollar Journey
The best free stock trading apps in Canada can help you cut fees to the bone, and DIY invest yourself to a substantial nest egg. That said, there is no such thing as a truly free stock trading in Canada. We’ll go into detail about what “free” really means when it comes to investing in Canada, and how to compare the various DIY investing platforms in Canada. Since trading apps like Robinhood came onto the scene, DIY investment has given investors control over how they invest, and how m...| Million Dollar Journey
As one of the Best ETFs in Canada, it made sense to take a deeper dive into one of my favourites with an in-depth VEQT ETF Review. VanguarD VEQT ETF The Vanguard All Equity ETF Portfolio is one of the best deals going in Canadian personal finance. A super cheap, super efficient way to get instant global diversification. VEQT ETF Key Facts: MER: 0.24% Account Eligibility: RRSP, TFSA, RRIF, RESP, DPSP, RDSP Assets Under Management: $4.29 Billion Median Market Cap: $87.8 Billion Date Creat...| Million Dollar Journey
I recently received an email from a reader with a bright financial future. They have a maxed out TFSA and has recently maxed out her RRSP as well. Here’s a snippet of the email below (edited for brevity). First of all, thank you for sharing your wisdom and financial journey. I love reading your blog and I learn so much from it! I was wondering if you could give some advice on where to put my money after maxing out my RRSP and TFSA contributions. I saw on MDJ that you like all-in-one ET...| Million Dollar Journey
Canada’s all-in-one ETFs (also called portfolio ETFs) have been the single most important investment product innovation since I’ve started writing about this stuff nearly two decades ago. The Vanguard, iShares, and BMO all-in-one ETFs are the perfect marriage of index investing strategy, convenience, asset allocation math, and behavioural safeguards. These ETFs - which are actually a collection of smaller ETFs - are so diverse that they actually include several of the Best ETFs in Canada,...| Million Dollar Journey
How and when to pay yourself through your business. Are dividends better than a salary? Should you use income splitting, are pensions worth it and more.| Million Dollar Journey
When I first started writing about Canadian personal finance twenty years ago, my list of the best ETFs in Canada could fit on a napkin. There were no Canadian all-in-one ETFs, no catchy tickers, and definitely no slick marketing campaigns. ETFs were basically niche tools used by hardcore index investors and a handful of spreadsheet-loving DIY types. Fast-forward to today, and the landscape has completely changed. While I still hold a solid chunk of Canadian dividend stocks in my portfolio, l...| Million Dollar Journey
Is BMO Investorline Safe and Trusted? In a word, YES. As one of Canada’s oldest and most trusted companies (founded in 1817) the Bank of Montreal is as safe, trusted, and legit as you can get. InvestorLine has been around longer than the internet - BMO introduced self-directed trading way back in 1988 before moving online in 2000. That’s an impressive history! BMO InvestorLine is IIROC regulated and CIPF insured. They use 128-bit encryption and multi-factor user authentication to keep y...| Million Dollar Journey
As we look ahead to summer and the second half of 2025, it’s time for an updated look at the Best Online Brokerages in Canada. With RRSP season in the rearview mirror – and what might be shaping up to be another round of “tariff season” drama ahead – now’s the time to lock in the easy DIY investing wins. I’ve been writing about Canadian online brokers for nearly 20 years, and the changes in the space have been massive. Fees have plunged, platforms are smoother than ever, and com...| Million Dollar Journey