Is a self-directed registered retirement account right for you?
Yes - if you want to reduce or eliminate management and administration fees. Yes - if you want to take control of your investments. And most of all, yes - if you care more about your financial future than your bank.
For the 2nd year in a row, Canada is paying the highest mutual fund fees in the world.* This is not something to brag about. So it is up to you, the investor, to understand how much you are being charged and try to keep it to a minimum.
Self-directed registered savings plans do require more due diligence on your part, but the rewards can be substantial.
Benefits:
- A diversified portfolio is a strong portfolio. Add gold to
your investments.
- Trading U.S. stocks in your RRSP just got easier. For the first time in a Canadian RSP,
hold U.S. cash and trade in U.S. stocks & options without a forced conversion fee.
Read more »
- When wisely chosen, mutual funds can play a role as part of a risk-sensitive portfolio. Questrade
suggests you closely review each fund's prospectus or annual report prior to purchasing. Mutual funds
have high management expense ratios (MERs) associated with them that can affect your overall returns
significantly. Visit our mutual fund area.
- Consider ETFs - exchange traded funds, which can be traded in your portfolio just like a stock.
* Mutual Fund Fees Around the World, May 1 2007. http://ssrn.com/abstract=901023
The authors – Ajay Khorana (Georgia Institute of Technology), Henri Servaes (London Business School,
CEPR and ECGI), and Peter Tufano (Harvard Business School and NBER) – surveyed over 46,000 funds from
18 countries. The results: the average expense ratio for equity funds was 1.29%. The U.S. was under the
average at 1.11% and Canada was at the top at 2.56%. Note that for the purpose of this study, the authors
adjusted Canada's numbers downwards to take the GST into account. So add GST to that figure of 2.56%.
