How to get started investing

Step 2 of 4: Brokerage

In order to actually start investing in exchange-traded funds and index funds, you need a way to invest your money there. That’s what a brokerage is for. Just like how a bank account is for getting a chequing account and e-Transfers. A brokerage allows you to open an investing account so that you can actually invest your money.

The brokerage I recommend is Wealthsimple because they don’t charge any transaction or administration fees. There are others like TD Direct Investing and CIBC Investors Edge, but they charge fees between $6-10 for every single buy and sell transaction.

Wealthsimple offers “Managed Investing” where they pick all the stocks and ETFs for you, you just choose a risk level between 1-10. They also have “Self-Directed Investing” where you hand pick the stocks and ETFs. In Step 4 of this guide, I will talk more about specific investments and my personal favourite ETFs.

Both “Managed Investing” and “Self-Directed Investing” are good options, it just depends if you want to have Wealthsimple invest your money for you, or if you want to have more control over it.

If you’re not sure, I'd suggest “Managed Investing” to get started. Then in the future, you can begin to dip your toes into “Self-Directed Investing” if you desire. It’s very flexible and you're never locked in with your choice.

Below is a special offer where you can signup for a Wealthsimple account and receive a welcome bonus.

You may be asking yourself, is Wealthsimple safe? The answer is yes, but don't just take my word for it. Wealthsimple is a Canadian investment organization fully regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and your funds are protected through the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF).

Tomorrow, I'm going to tell you about the different account types available. You've probably already heard about Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSA) and Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP). It will be alot to digest, so in the mean time, I'd recomend you start getting your Wealthsimple account setup.

If you have questions about this and want to talk through it, feel free to book a call with me here.

Until tomorrow,

Brendan @ Wealth Canada

brendan@wealthcanada.org

If you are under 18 and want to invest

If you are under 18 and want to invest, you’ll need someone 18 or older to open an account for you under their name ‘in-trust’ for you. An ‘in-trust’ account means the account is designated for you, this is not the same thing as a ‘trust fund’. Wealthsimple does not offer these kinds of accounts, so in your case I would suggest National Bank Direct Brokerage instead.

“In trust account. An alternative option for clients (usually parents) who would like to open a brokerage account for a minor.” – https://nbdb.ca/accounts/types.html

One-on-One Coaching

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I have an investing portfolio worth over $200,000 and have received over 2 million views and over 100,000 hours of watch time on TikTok.

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how often to invest and what to invest in

creating a long term investing plan

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emergency fund

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