# TD e-Series Mutual Funds vs Questrade ETF Couch Potato Portfolio



## Kursor (Mar 7, 2014)

I have a TD e-Series index funds (Global Couch Potato Portfolio) within a Self Directed RRSP (~$32k market value) I had originally setup a couple of years ago.

I recently setup a RRSP with Questrade (~$30k market value).

I'm planning on liquidating (to cash) the e-Series index mutual funds and having the RRSP transferred to Questrade. Going fwd making monthly contributions to my RRSP instead of an annual lump sum.

Since, Questrade offers free ETF purchases. Is there any reason to keep the TD Self Directed RRSP?


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## richard (Jun 20, 2013)

As long as you are comfortable managing the ETF portfolio, there is no need to keep the TD account. It just gets you access to the e-Series funds and they don't give you any advantage.


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## Intricated (Dec 14, 2012)

TD e-Series funds would give you reinvested distributions to fractional shares, whereas ETFs do not (or at least Questrade's DRIP service does not). So if you had small allocations to bonds, you can minimize the time the the proceeds would sit in non-interest generating cash by holding it in e-Series (or any other mutual fund) and maximize the time you are fully invested. Whether that is worth the difference in MERs or other considerations requires specifics on the funds and some math.


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## coolbeans (Oct 2, 2013)

The TD e-Series Global Couch Potato works out to an MER of ~0.44%. Something like the Complete Couch Potato is 0.23% MER. So you might save something like ~0.2% on your MER going from TD e-Series to ETFs. That's $64/year for a $32k portfolio. The trade commissions on buying those ETFs at TD pretty much cancel out that benefit, especially if you want to purchase ETFs on more than an annual basis. Having your account at Questrade would allow you to dollar-cost-average your regular contributions for free. You will have to pay the RRSP transfer fee to exit TD, but you should recoup that cost in a couple years.

As long as you aren't going to miss Big Bank services, why not?

Also, if you're purchasing ETFs on a regular basis, it's not such a big deal dealing with the distributions (fractional if you can get DRiP) that you get.

Note: I (happily) use TD for purchasing e-Series funds for my RESP accounts for the kids, but I'm not familiar with the TD direct investing platform. I started using Questrade for all of my RRSPs about 6 months ago and regularly contribute to the accounts and purchase ETFs on a monthly basis or so.

Edit: Looks like Questrade charges a $5 fee for the day when purchasing US ETFs in an RRSP. I.e., when you purchase VTI and VXUS, you'll get charged $5 that day. Still pretty cheap.

From Questrade website:



> When you say buy ETFs for free, what do you really mean?
> We mean buy ETFs commission-free. ECN fees may still apply, but you won’t pay a nickel of commissions when you buy ETFs with Questrade. If you decide to sell the ETF, you’ll pay the standard commission.
> 
> For clients trading in an RESP, you’ll be charged a flat, $5 fee on any day that you trade U.S. securities, ETFs included. This is a flat, per-day fee, no matter how many trades you make.


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## Fain (Oct 11, 2009)

coolbeans said:


> The TD e-Series Global Couch Potato works out to an MER of ~0.44%. Something like the Complete Couch Potato is 0.23% MER. So you might save something like ~0.2% on your MER going from TD e-Series to ETFs. That's $64/year for a $32k portfolio. The trade commissions on buying those ETFs at TD pretty much cancel out that benefit, especially if you want to purchase ETFs on more than an annual basis. Having your account at Questrade would allow you to dollar-cost-average your regular contributions for free. You will have to pay the RRSP transfer fee to exit TD, but you should recoup that cost in a couple years.
> 
> As long as you aren't going to miss Big Bank services, why not?
> 
> ...


Your quote is about RESPs and not RRSPs. . . RRSP don't get charged $5 for a USD transactions. . . The reason why RESPs get charged the fee is being you can't have USD currency inside the RESP but you can have USD securities, each time you buy/sell a USD symbol Questrade will have to convert the funds for the transaction to get executed.


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## coolbeans (Oct 2, 2013)

Thanks for catching the error. 'RESP' and 'RRSP' trick my eyes.


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