Greenline

The financial dashboard for Canadians. See everything you have, know if you're on track.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

Nobody teaches Canadians how to invest or save for retirement. Not your school. Not the news. Not your bank. Definitely not your bank.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

TSX this week:

Canadian Natural up 1.2%,
Imperial Oil up 1%,
BMO and TD each up 0.4%,
Brookfield down 1.7%,
Fairfax down 2.6%,
Shopify down 1.4%.

Energy, financials mixed ahead of earnings.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

RBC posted $18 billion in revenue in fiscal Q1, a record quarter for any Canadian bank. Adjusted EPS came in at $4.08.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

If you missed the 10 best trading days over 20 years, your returns got cut in half.

Seven of those 10 days happened within two weeks of the worst ones.

You can't catch the recovery if you already left.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

Fund fees are never shown as dollar amounts.

Always percentages.

2% sounds like nothing until you calculate that it's $2,000 a year on $100,000.

The format is the trick.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

Canada has the RRSP, RRIF, RESP, RDSP, TFSA, FHSA, LIRA, and LIF.

Every single one can hold investments, yet not one has "Investment" in the name.

Imagine how many more Canadians would be investing in them if that was just a little clearer.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

98.3% of Canadian equity funds underperformed their benchmark over 10 years.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

$500 a month for 25 years.

At a 2% MER: $270,000.
At a 0.2% MER: $370,000.

Same contributions. Same market returns. The only difference is a fee, which is conveniently collected without your involvement.

That's why it's important to keep fees low.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

BoC rate decision tomorrow at 9:45 AM ET.

Markets are pricing a 93% chance of holding at 2.25%, where it has sat since October.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

The TSX closed Monday at 33,818, up about 36% from a year ago.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

@SammyLau We'll try not to let you down. 👋

[Sammy Lau | Personal Finance @SammyLau]

0.4% on a $180K portfolio = $720/year
0.9% on a $180K portfolio = $1,620/year

Under 1%, lots of people don't bother checking the difference.

But that's still $900 a year walking out the door.

That's why @useGreenline displays your portfolio's fees in dollars, not percentages.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

If you hold $XIC or $VCN, you own meaningful slices of $RY, $TD, $BMO, $BNS, $CM, and $NA.

$RY just became the first Canadian bank to clear $20 billion in profit in a fiscal year.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

BoC held at 2.25% in March and the next decision is April 29.

Markets are pricing a 96% chance of no change.

One of the quieter rate cycles we've had in a while.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

RBC iShares launched 5 new ETFs this week.

Mostly fixed income and equity options.

The Canadian ETF shelf keeps getting wider every year.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

The TSX is up roughly 47% from a year ago.

It's had one of its best 12-month stretches in a while.

Important to remember that when most headlines are focused on other things.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

DIY investors do the research, build the portfolio, and stay disciplined through dips.

Nobody sends them a quarterly letter saying 'good job.'

The work is invisible unless they build the record themselves.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

The cheapest ETF in Canada costs about $30 a year on $100,000.

The most expensive costs $1,500 or more.

Both are called ETFs.

Important to investigate what's underneath, and how much they're charging!

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

An 80/20 portfolio left untouched from early 2020 to 2023 drifted to about 91/9. Same account, same holdings.

Double the risk, without anyone deciding to take it.

That's why rebalancing regularly is an important part of any portfolio.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

The average CPP retirement payment in Canada is about $830 a month.

Add full OAS and you're at roughly $18,684 a year.

CPP and OAS were always meant to be a foundation, not the whole plan.

[Greenline @UseGreenline]

Miss the 10 best trading days in the last 20 years and your return drops from 10.4% a year to 6.1%. Half your gains, gone. Ten days out of 5,000.

The most important part? The best days tend to happen during volatile periods, between the bad days.