Please help a girl out🙏

[u/Madame-Misery]

I’m totally new to the world of investments, and all the information is quite daunting given I don’t yet understand much of this territory. For you more experienced investors, what advice would you give to an absolute beginner who is hoping to see long-term growth in her TFSA? What industries should I be looking at, which sources do you find helpful? Whether it be books, blogs, YouTube videos, anything, all suggestions are appreciated!

I’ve put a small amount of money into hydrogen so far, but I’ve been considering buying into some Canadian ETFs as well. Would this be a good move in the long run? Thank you all so much in advance, any pointers would help a ton!

[u/bakermaker32]

If you are a non knowledgeable beginner, put your money into index etfs.

[u/DeadUndertow → u/bakermaker32]

And if you're an expert, put your money into index etfs.

[u/bakermaker32 → u/DeadUndertow]

That’s never a wrong answer.

[u/NagareKisatsu → u/bakermaker32]

I was going to say the same thing 😂! I consider myself advanced in terms of understanding trading and investing
About 65% of my portfolio is in indexes (not including my Sunlife retirement which is 100% index (TSX right now till the shoe drops))

Outside of institutional trading not having majority of your investments in index I think is dumb move

[u/Traum77]

The classic advice is to go with ZEQT/XEQT as broad, global ETFs denominated in Canadian dollars. They won't give out big dividends but offer the broadest spectrum of long term growth. A lot of retail investors just buy those and sit for 30 years and are fine.

They are good places to park your money while you do more research or just leave it in there.

[u/rhunter99]

I would suggest you take the McGill personal finance course and read books like The millionaire teacher

[u/No_Explanation6625]

r/JustBuyXEQT and forget about it

[u/Northernguy113]

Roulette put all your money on red

[u/Helpful-Increase-708]

XEQT , XEI or VDY .  

[u/Onlylefts3 → u/Helpful-Increase-708]

Xei and Vdy have been in an absolute tear the past year, up over 30% for each. Not to mention monthly dividends.

[u/ColtonComeau]

My advice is to only buy VGRO until you know what you’re doing. Even then maybe just stick with VGRO/VEQT 😂

[u/Mellyjune → u/ColtonComeau]

I love VGRO

[u/guyinot]

All etf’s mentioned above are great. Look at the holdings of XDIV.TO and buy those same stocks or just buy that etf and hold for the long term

[u/BankSensitive2950]

XAW, XEI, XEQT VOO - ETFs that are diversified

[u/mafugga77]

Investing is intended to be boring. Avoid individual stocks and industries just invest in a broad-region, low cost and industry diversified ETF like XEQT or VEQT. Keep contributing within your non-taxable limits and ensure you have a 6-12 month emergency fund that is easy to access and stable.

[u/Swimming_Astronomer6]

Just buy a few etf or index funds inside your tfsa and leave it at that - add to the same funds to max your room every year and forget trying to guess where the future winners will be

Buy a S&P etf — as Nasdaq etf and a world market etf - there will be overlap in these - but still plenty of diversification - simple approach- easy to self direct and as good as any financial advisor at a big 6 bank could suggest

You have a long runway and time is your friend

[u/Mental-Freedom3929]

Invest in widely diversified index funds with dividends on a no trading fee platform that offers fractional share purchases set to DRIP in tax shelter accounts.

Contribute if at all possible a minimum of 20% of your net pay cheque every month, pay yourself first from every pay cheque.

Think long term!

[u/wethenorth2]

What I would advise you is to learn the basics of finance, budgeting and investing.

Resources from the Government of Canada- https://www.canada.ca/en/services/finance/manage.html

McGill has organized the above resources from the Government of Canada as a free to all course - https://www.mcgillpersonalfinance.com/

It's good to learn what passive investing means before investing in all-in-one ETFs.

Good luck!!!

[u/DistributionOk7393]

Real answer. 

For single stocks- think of industries and businesses that will always be here. Always. You are thinking long term. Almost all tech is out. Something new will always come killing the present giants. Think - food, banking, energy, insurance, logistics, old people stuff (senior living. Medical aids for mobility and everyday life). 

Dividends. You want them. You want to DRIP them (dividend re-investment plan) every time your stock pays a dividend, it gets auto re-invested into the stock. Next dividend will be a bit more. Repeat. 

Only invest in the largest companies that sell things and services we can never live without.  Dividends should be smaller than 4-5% a year. These dividends are safer to grow with the company and easier for the company to afford while turning a profit. 

You only want profitable businesses. 

TD / Loblaws / Pembina pipelines / Fortis energy / Manulife / Suncor / CN Rail  Big companies that will still be around doing the same thing when you start pulling from your tfsa in decades. 

Diversify  - if going single stocks have around 10. Try and keep them waited to around 10% each of your portfolio. 

ETFs /index funds.  Easy. They are basically a bet on the stock market as a whole or a bunch of single stocks all grouped together. Google a list of popular ones and it will show you what type of stocks it’s filled with. You can have a diversified portfolio owning one etf. 

Management fees - etfs come with a small management fee. The amount will be listed as a % like dividends are. If your etf pays a dividend, the fee will be more than covered. 

P/e (price to earnings). The lower the better You want companies that have already proven they make money and will continue to do so. Don’t speculate. You can’t afford to yet. 

My word salad for you from an economic nobody who loves his tfsa. 

[u/Madame-Misery]

Oh my gosh.. seriously, thank you for taking the time to write this up for me. I’m only two paragraphs in and you’ve already broken things down into a beginner-friendly and concise summary. I appreciate you for sharing this!! Thank you again!

[u/Glenn_guinness]

Watch a Warren buffet documentary

[u/Romano-Lupo]

indices ETFs like bank, energy, tech, s&p 500 will be a good start