Hey everyone,
I’m in my early 20s (Ontario), investing for a 20–30+ year horizon. This is long-term money I don’t plan on touching.
I’m just downloaded Wealthsimple and am funding from my TD chequing. Accounts are non-registered for now (due to maxed elsewhere). I’m trying to be as financially efficient as possible but not overcomplicate things.
In a nutshell, here where I’m stuck:
I’m debating between:
US-listed ETFs like VTI / VOO / QQQM
vs
Canadian-listed equivalents like VUN / VFV / QQC
From what I understand:
• US ETFs have lower MERs
• Canadian versions are slightly more expensive
• Performance is almost identical long term
• Currency fluctuations affect CAD-listed returns
• There are withholding tax differences depending on account type
Over 20–30 years, is the difference actually meaningful? Or is this mostly optimization at the margins?
Also, Important to note is Wealthsimple (and pretty much every Canadian broker) has a 1.5% FX conversion fee, as well need $10 a month membership to hold USD money in an account. Another downside is automatic ETF purchases becomes quite hard without lump sum purchases and conversions (therefore turing into manual work, defeating the purpose of efficiency and low effort).
My goal is to purchase these 3 ETF’s evenly, weekly, divided through 25% of weekly pay. Unless, you guys recommend doing monthly/bi-monthly lump sums (as I know statistically lump sums win in long run) (I have the money to lump sum now if weekly 25% of paycheck is not recommended).
So if anyone in a similar position or is confident with wealthsimple (I am brand new) can shed some light on my overthinking, indecisive mind, I would greatly appreciate it. If I need to elaborate in any other way, please make me aware, thank you!