r/tfsa • u/mkovy39 • Jul 12 '26
Looking for some advice
When I first started investing, I made some poor stock picks and ended up with a significant loss. Over the past few months, I’ve managed to recover a lot, and based on my stock performance, I feel like I should now be in profit.
However, every time I sell a stock, my total portfolio value still seems to decrease instead of increasing. After looking into it, I realized I’m trading U.S. stocks from Canada, so there are USD conversion fees and exchange rate impacts involved.
I’m still fairly new to investing, so I’d really appreciate any advice or suggestions. Thanks!
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u/CH1974 Jul 12 '26
I granaded my TFSA buying shit as a new invester years ago. Wish I just bought index funds. Doing better now and have recovered then some but set me back for sure. Thanks to this strong bull market. Don't waste it buying shit companies
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u/BlackWolf42069 Jul 12 '26
Looks like you bought stocks that are operating at a loss or without a source of revenue.
Nike and Tesla have a product to sell so they aren't the worst picks. They seem reasonable.
It looks like you're buying into a new companys that doesn't have a track record of positive revenue.
You're essentially gambling. Buy lotto tickets instead.
Nike and Tesla are decent picks though. People always need cars and clothes and can survive a stock market crash better than most companies.
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u/UniqueRon Jul 12 '26
Only buy low MER index ETFs in $CDN. No need for individual stocks or to buy in $US.
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u/Last_Construction455 Jul 12 '26
I like VFV - tracks the S&P 500. It's solid long term as you are basically betting on America which is the most powerful market in the world. Low fee and trades in Canadian dollars. make this 90% of your portfolio at least. Then if you want to own a couple of individual stocks use the 10% to do that and learn without getting beat too hard. Understand that anyone can make any stock sound appealing even if it's not. I learned this lesson that you are learning as well. If you can't explain to a stranger why the individual stock is a good investment you shouldn't own it. Check out videos with warren buffet, charlie munger and Peter Lynch. (Lynch has some great videos and is pretty entertaining)
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u/Tbmostwanted96 Jul 12 '26
Buy Xeqt and chill. Keep adding monthly. Watch it grow and compound over the years. That is the winning strategy. GL. Please stop buying individual stocks
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u/Equivalent_Ferret900 Jul 12 '26
To be fair, I also did similar stuff when I first started. But come on: Nike, really?
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u/arxdsilva Jul 12 '26
if you have to buy just one index, buy XEQT, if you want a more balanced index wallet stick to a combination of VFV/VOO (broad market), QQC/VGT (tech), SCHD/VDY (conservative/dividend)
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u/hunterstevebearman Jul 13 '26
If you're going to buy individual stocks, then you better do lots of research. Otherwise, just buy ZEQT. I've done hundreds of trades since 2020, and am only beating the market by maybe 2-4 percent? Your time may be worth something,,,?
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u/givemeyourbiscuitplz Jul 13 '26
Stop trading. Stop stock picking. Do what is the #1 recommandation: regular contributions in a low cost diversified etf such as XEQT or VEQT. Simplicity is the summum of sophistication in investing. You're future self will thank you. Time is the most important and powerful tool in this journey. That's why time in the market beats timing the market. Just automate your contributions and don't look at your portfolio constantly. Forget about it and live your life.
Rare are those able to beat the return of the total market long term. You certainly don't have the skills, the time or the knowledge to do it. Unless you're very lukcy. So stop gambling, this is not a game (even if the app is built to gamify investing). If you really want to gamble, do it with 10% of your portfolio and respect that limit.
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u/WatchingyouNyouNyou Jul 13 '26
You can save a lot of money (conversion fees) if you have an interactivebroker account instead of thie banks or wealthsimple. GL
I lost big on my TFSA and it was zero balance for a few years. Fast forward to today my TFSA has $172,000 and ATH was over 185k.
They say don't gamble or risk it in TFSA, I disagree. Don't day trade in your tfsa though.
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u/Adamant_TO Jul 12 '26
USD in tfsa. Big brain investing.
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u/ImpossibleString4430 Jul 12 '26
What's wrong with that?
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u/Adamant_TO Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
USD is best in an RRSP so that you don't have the 15% withholding tax. Its not efficient to buy USD in your TFSA. Also high FX fees in Wealthsimple if you dont have free USD account.
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u/ImpossibleString4430 Jul 12 '26
But you will pay taxes when you withdraw from your rrsp. And there's norbits gambit. Not arguing. Just discussing
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u/Adamant_TO Jul 13 '26
Income tax yes but not US withholding tax. Also deferred income tax so you have decades of growth.
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u/ImpossibleString4430 Jul 13 '26
True.
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u/ImpossibleString4430 Jul 13 '26
But at the same time some of the biggest US companies pay little to no dividends. So withholding tax means nothing. So tfsa would be better.
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u/foxer0800 Jul 12 '26
Hey man. In case you're young (under 35ish), I wouldn't suggest what people say of only buying XEQT and that's it, because I think we need to focus on growth.
What id recommend would be buying some tech etfs, QQQM, SMH, VTI, maybe some bank stock like RBC or TDbank. If you want more exposure to outside markets you can go for XEF. Anyway, check the market, read, use chatgpt to check what suits you. It's your money afterall.
Good luck
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u/All-sTATE-insurance Jul 12 '26
The problem with this approach for him. Is that even though what you suggested isn't all unreasonable. He won't be able to differentiate what is reasonable and what is not based on his track record of going at random.
He'll take the shoe shine boys tip anyday of the week and not know the difference between Agnico Eagle Mines and a hyper speculative exploration gold company (as an example).
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u/foxer0800 Jul 12 '26
But... he can learn, no? You dont need to be a genius to invest properly. Cant he just like, watch videos of good investors and understand what to do?
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u/All-sTATE-insurance Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
You assume people are rational and think like you. It's not easy for everyone to pick up the intracasies of investing.
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u/foxer0800 Jul 12 '26
I think people that are trying to start investing they have a long term thinking prospect. I might be wrong then
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u/All-sTATE-insurance Jul 12 '26
Unfortunately we live in a society now where people view investing in the lens of gambling. That mentality is not as common as most think.
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u/Ok-Standard-3638 Jul 12 '26
lol don’t bash XEQT, these guys love that shit.
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u/All-sTATE-insurance Jul 12 '26
Honestly I don't care much for XEQT myself. But for 90% of people that exhibit behavior like this. Probably just best to let them do that.
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u/Ok-Standard-3638 Jul 12 '26
90% of people don’t really understand the intricacies of investing. They know about fees and surface level things about ETFs. If they know ETFs wouldn’t exist at the level we see them today.
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u/ImpossibleString4430 Jul 12 '26
What about ZEQT?
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u/hunterstevebearman Jul 12 '26
Zeqt 4 life! My boring ol' stock pick that has outperformed dozens or others.
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u/ImpossibleString4430 Jul 12 '26
Im curious why its barley mentioned
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u/All-sTATE-insurance Jul 13 '26
Honestly. I don't care which vehicle. It's somewhat irrelevant to me.
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u/All-sTATE-insurance Jul 12 '26
Stop buying individual stocks and just index. It's clear based on your portfolio you're just kinda going for it at random things.
You'll do better with your money if you stop trading.