Total Value Jan 2007 to March 2009

The chart below illustrates the effects of the economic meltdown on my total portfolio. Starting with $1.7M in Jan 2007 the value has dropped to $1.2M in 2009.

How much do you need to be rich?

Wall Street Journal

January 9, 2008

Studies have shown that when people are asked how much it takes to be rich, they always give a number that’s twice their current net worth or income. Those with $100,000 in income say $200,000, while those worth $5 million say $10 million.

A Balanced Investment Portfolio

My plan is to slowly evolve my current portfolio (45 plus investments) towards the following 8 investments and mix.

Canadian Bonds
XBB - 20%
TDB909 - 20%

Canadian Stocks
XIC - 10%
TDB900 - 10%

US Stocks
XSP - 10%
TD902 -10%

International Stocks
XIN -10%
TDB911 - 10%




Why use both i Shares and TD e Funds?

When rebalancing to the % allocation in each investment (and you should rebalance often), buying or selling i Shares will incur commissions and bid-ask spreads. There are no trading commissions from TD when you purchase e Funds directly from TD. TD e Funds are only available to self administered TD trading accounts. So this blend allows you to rebalance at low cost with TD e Funds often.

Also you should manage your holdings between your RRSP and Non RRSP accounts for tax advantages. Hold XBB in your RRSP (i.e. it generates significant annual interest income) and hold XIC in your non RRSP portfolio as it generates tax advantaged Canadian dividends.





The TD funds (TDB902 and TDB911) are not currency hedged.

This is balanced by i Shares (XSP and XIN) which are currency hedged.

Current Investment Portfolio Mix - Nov 2007

My investment portfolio sorted by % of assets in each investment.

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Current Mix

International 13.47%
Can Stock 60.35%
Can Trust 9.44%
Can Preferred 7.17%
Can Balanced Fund 8.51%

Cash 1.01%

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2008 Plan

Increase % of non Canadian investments.

Simplify number of positions and address international currency hedging risks.