Investment Portfolio Results After Two Years - The Only Fund I've Invested $37,000 In

So I’ve been investing since the beginning of 2022, which means that it’s officially been 2 years since I started putting my money into the stock market. Now, we’ve obviously kept you guys up to date with Steph’s investment journey, but I think now’s a really good time to take a look into what I’ve been up to!
Here's the high level numbers before we dive into the journey of how I got here - my portfolio as of right now is sitting at a value of $38,000, with a total return of about 9%. The last time we caught up, my portfolio was sitting at about $20,000 and I was announcing that I was changing up my strategy to something completely different so I’m pretty excited to show you how things have been since then - let's get into it!
0:00 How my investment portfolio has performed after 2+ years
0:32 Why I use the Questrade platform to invest
2:04 Why I invest in XEQT (a 'one fund solution')
4:55 How has XEQT performed for me so far?
8:34 My investing plans moving forward
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Disclaimer - This content is for education and entertainment purposes only. Steph & Den do not provide tax or investment advice. The information is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance, or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.

[@stephandden]

What are you currently investing in? Let us know! 👀

[@Ouroporos]

100% XEQT 😎

[@KrazEWillY]

xeqt gang reporting in!

[@R-FighterR-po8hj]

Great video bro! What are your thoughts about CHILIZ (CHZ) a lot of people suggesting me to buy and talking about a price target of 2 dollar. With a lot of new partnerships and good fundamentals a good buy? Your thoughts?

[@FatimahSadiq-nh5ue]

Btc %%%

[@eska961]

97% in VXC and 3% in VCN (using Passiv) to replicate the FTSE Global All Cap Index. Alternatively, 97% XAW + 3% XIC can replicate the MSCI ACWI IMI Index. XEQT is overexposed to the Canadian market, which represents only 3% of the total world market weight.

[@robyn_southafrica]

Just came across your channel and omg im obsessed!! Love Steph as well 😃😃 great teachers!!! 🤍

[@stephandden]

Yay, we're so glad you're here! 🙏🏿🙌🏻 thank you!

[@KrazEWillY]

lets go! i started investing in 2022 as well, which was painful but it's been going well so far

[@stephandden]

That’s awesome! 🙌🏿👏🏻What are you investing in?

[@HiddenGully]

Love you twos videos, the audio is great, the video editing is awsome, the tone and presentation is very professional and digestible. Keep it up :)

[@stephandden]

Thank you so much, we appreciate it!

[@mocha.7777]

My wife and I are also investing XEQT as much as we are able to. For 2024 we have re-maxed our TFSA also additional contribution for RRSP in these two months. We are planning to recurring buy $1,000 biweekly starting March till December. We will also invest our tax returns as a lump sum. I personally hold single stocks for fun but it’s limited to 5-10% of our portfolio.

[@stephandden]

Amazing - love to hear that you've maxed out your TFSAs + are utilizing your RRSPs, too 😊

[@JadenHercules]

Damn, that's impressive. Best of luck with the year!

[@DreamyTalesTVDigest]

This video is legit. Very useful information. You guys are the beacon of hope for young investors in this ever changing age.

[@stephandden]

Thank you! We’re glad you enjoyed the video 😊

[@hedgefundharry]

I would edit 4:37-4:45 out. Agreed, with the intent of what you're saying - individual stock picking is a gamble. Having insider information and acting on it is illegal.

[@stephandden]

Yes, that’s the point I was making! I was being facetious with that comment

[@autobotdiva9268]

i want to use a Target date fund for my 22 year old with vanguard but it has 2 bonds (whomp, whomp) so we can only set up vti right now to get that $3000 minimum

[@mbartok]

Hi , 9% in 2 years is what we would get with savings. Am I missing something ?

[@niloofarzarif7225]

XEQT has a lot of advantages but the MER is 0.2% and that is considerably high in the ETF world. For example VFV has MER of 0.08%. In long term, the MER is gonna make a considerable difference.

[@hedgefundharry]

VFV here as well... I doubt they'll make a change given they just pivoted to the "just buy XEQT" strategy. They'll say something along the lines of MER being negligible or how VFV isn't diverse because it only covers the S&P500.

[@stephandden]

You’re not wrong and it’s very common to see more and more people putting their money in either one of the US Total Stock Market or S&P 500 ETFs. Im personally looking for a more diverse portfolio. Also, I’m not sure what the overall construction of your portfolio is, but saving on fees also comes at a cost if you’re not able to execute your strategy or properly balance your portfolio over the long run. 😊 Justin Bender has a great blog post on this - www.canadianportfoliomanagerblog.com/should-you-dump-your-all-equity-etf/

[@amitmin2131]

@@stephandden Took a look and it seems pretty horrible for others who are curious and come across this in the future. Even a quick glance at XIC (which is 25% of XEQT's holdings) shows that their largest holding is cash... Why would you actively pay someone such a high expense ratio for their largest holding to be cash. And not to even mention the expense ratio stacking that goes on that the average person (like the author of this video) unfortunately doesn't realize. You pay 0.2% to hold XEQT, and XEQT is paying upwards of 0.22% to hold XIC - you are getting compound expense ratio'd. Overall a really bad suggestion for people who are actually looking to grow their wealth. Research shows that you do not need this much exposure to foreign and stagnant markets to be diversified against market downturns.

[@HouseOfBurgz]

Love the vid especially since I too invest solely into XEQT. Just wondering now that a ton of investment firms like Blackrock, Fidelity, FTI and others got the green light for a Bitcoin ETF. What are your thoughts on allocating a small percentage towards this asset class?

[@stephandden]

We’re not opposed to it - but our focus for now is on building a significant foundation in our longer term strateg, a.k.a. XEQT 😊

[@HouseOfBurgz]

@@stephandden I feel the exact same way. U feel XEQT is the most globally diversified equity fund at a very low cost for the long term. Bitcoin being still very speculative there’s a good opportunity for adoption and growth so I’ll see where it heads from here in the next 10 years or so.. love your channel and keep up the good work.

[@tm2062]

Do you invest in RRSP as well? I recently moved MY RRSP from TD to wealth simple in order to avoid the fees. I am plannung to invest in an etf that is 80/20 risk level. I'm wondering if you have RRSP with the big banks. Great video!

[@stephandden]

Congrats that’s awesome! Which ETF are you going to be investing in? 😊 No, we’ve been prioritizing our TFSA over the last couple of years. We’re not in our high income earning years just yet so it hasn’t made sense to contribute to our RRSP. But I have an RRSP account open with Questrade and Steph has one open with Wealthsimple. I plan to invest in the same ETF I mentioned in the vid, but we’ll do another video talking about some of the things I’ll be taking into consideration.

[@carinalynnegaspar]

I just started investing in a Wealthsimple Socially Responsible portfolio so I'm seeing how that goes. I figure it's not a perfect solution (i.e. I'm not going to morally agree with all the companies WS is choosing for me) but at least it's something and a start. If you two ever have any advice for people wanting to invest in that eco-minded/ethical-minded world, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[@stephandden]

Thank you for sharing this! Maybe we can talk more about this in a future video 😊

[@saram2606]

VFV is my retirement plan.

[@stephandden]

That’s great! It’s definitely a solid option 😊

[@HiddenGully]

Do you have any relationship to XEQT? Both of you speak very highly of it. I just was wondering for transparency

[@stephandden]

No, not at all - it's the fund we choose to invest in after doing our research a few years ago (I starting investing in XEQT first, and Steph just made the switch this year)

[@KarlyNoorda]

My aunt passed and I inherited some of her portfolio and cash savings, I’m 28 with about 400k cash in savings and as usual everybody’s preaching invest, so what stocks are a good long term buy, only major purchase I intend to make is buying a home in 5years from my returns

[@MFTW]

$2000 a month is wild! Are you willing to share if you're doing weekly investments to spread out the risk or just $2000 in lump sums?

[@stephandden]

Hey 👋🏿 - yes, absolutely! I get paid once a month so in theory I could do $500 a week, but in order to simplify my process I usually do a lump sum at the beginning of the month. Long term it doesn’t really matter as long as I’m consistent and sticking to the overall strategy. 😊

[@MFTW]

@@stephandden thanks Den! I'd love to see your budget allowing you to do 2K a month. It's very impressive!

[@roymcpherson1639]

Hey there. National Bank of Canada Direct Brokerage is pretty good. They don't charge unlike QT. Once you have 20k they wave the annual fee of 100. Other than that, everything is free.

[@stephandden]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@roymcpherson1639]

Anytime.

[@roymcpherson1639]

Would be great to see you do a review on them.

[@JadenHercules]

Seems like a good fund to invest in, although I prefer individual stocks like insurance and utility companies. Great video, Dennis! Wishing you the best this year.

[@stephandden]

Thanks, Jaden! 🙏🏿🙌🏿

[@PrestigeSpizzy]

are you guys not interested in crypto? I feel that as organized and strict you guys are you would be making it huge in crypto. definitely much quicker returns but for sure riskier.

[@stephandden]

We’re more so focused on long term investing in the market and finding ways to increase our income 😊

[@bensontsui2180]

MER 2.4% but I am at 16 percent up with mutual funds

[@stephandden]

Which funds? 😊

[@rosed8691]

Why not buy the MSCI world or VTSAX?

[@stephandden]

VTSAX isn’t available in Canada and MSCI World Index doesn’t factor in home bias. I’m basically paying a slightly higher MER than the weighted-average MERs of the underlying ETFs. To me, this is a price I’m willing to pay for professional asset allocation and rebalancing services. Savings on fees also comes at a cost if you’re not able to execute your strategy or properly balance your portfolio over the long run.

[@rosed8691]

@@stephandden thanks for the reply! Isn't the msci world etf a global fund so home bias wouldn't be an issue? Since the stocks in it are not based on your home country?

[@BenjaminVarghese06]

Hi @stephandden may i know the charges when buying this etf with wealthsimple and also while selling the same please . Can you also include the MER please also can i be advised if there are similar charges while buying individual stocks.

[@swaggyg6017]

Too much diversification is a bad thing in my opinion, in.2 years XEQT returns are pretty bad coupled with inflation compared to VFV, and other ETFs.

[@stephandden]

2 years is a very short-term time horizon (this is a very long term investment for me). Many people tend to favour investing solely in the US market (like VFV, which is a fine option!), but having some geographic diversification isn't a bad thing - it's still a 100% equity ETF. Again, there are multiple other options you can go with based on your beliefs and comfort level, but I'm happy with XEQT at the moment. 😊

[@swaggyg6017]

great reply@@stephandden

[@ToddClattenburg]

If that etf is built out of other etfs, then you have fees on top of fees.

[@stephandden]

When you opt for simplicity, there is a point at which you’re likely leaving money on table (i.e. choosing XEQT), but you also have to remember that there’s definitely a cost to implementing and managing your portfolio of multiple ETF’s.

[@ToddClattenburg]

look into index investing then. Much lower MER (which makes a huge difference compounded over time). Look at VSP for example.

[@RouRoro]

Have you guys considered a small % Bitcoin in your portfolio?

[@stephandden]

We’re not planning on investing in Bitcoin any time soon!

[@AfroSenpai]

Thanks for keeping it real. I'm in investing in blockchain stocks because Bitcoin is about to take off

[@jessicamillerr]

Hey! KZbin recommended one of your videos, and I must say, you post awesome stuff. I love it, and I want to see you on top! By the way, I was wondering if you need a video editor or thumbnail designer. I am Mohan, a professional video editor and thumbnail designer with 4.5 years of experience in creating engaging and high-quality videos and thumbnails for KZbin. If not, please reply with "NO" and I will remove you from my follow-up list. Keep creating amazing content! Best regards, Mohan

[@ItS_YeR_DrEAmXRP]

Not keeping up with inflation.

[@stephandden]

Inflation was at 2.9% in January and my portfolio is sitting at above 9%.

[@Kevin-eg6vg]

All you had to do was buy bitcoin.

[@stephandden]

You could say that about many different ‘what ifs’!

[@nibraden]

So you are buying an ETF that has fees and holds other ETFs that have fees. Just buy VOO or VTI. Don’t try to be fancy..you will lose out in the long run

[@stephandden]

What I’m doing isn’t fancy - it’s ensuring I have a diversified portfolio. Both VOO and VTI only include US equities, and I believe in some global diversification - XEQT still includes the total US stock market, as well

[@nibraden]

@@stephandden international funds will drag your performance down. I understand the diversification and the fact that you are Canadian but over the long run you will regret not just putting all your eggs in US Market

[@luisahernandezmunoz8332]

Dividend aristocrats and dividend kings

[@stephandden]

What about them? 👀

[@luisahernandezmunoz8332]

@@stephandden I invest in them

[@HughDyke]

I cannot believe ppl are watching this

[@stephandden]

🤔

[@feliciahayes9532]

What do you guys think of high dividend paying etfs, like XEI?

[@daniellen.5148]

XEQT

[@stephandden]

That’s the one! 🙌🏿 🙏🏿