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TFSA ETFs: what to do from 55-65?

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Fintentional:
Greetings all,

I'm new to this forum and to investing. Unfortunately I wish I could say that I am new to the workforce. I'd certainly have done a few things differently from a financial literacy and planning point of view. I'm now in my mid fifties and am pretty bleak that TFSAs weren't around when I started my first job. My husband and I have invested in traditional RAs from the start (through a broker - groan when I think of all those 1-2% charges we've paid down the years). We've always been frugal, but with two kids to raise and educate, on a teacher's salary (SGB, so minus many of the perks that government employees get), there is a limit to what we've been able to put away for our retirement. I've done the numbers, using the formulae I've found on this site (thanks Patrick) and suffice it to say that we are probably only a third of the way towards what we need. Our focus now is to do all we can to improve our situation.

So, I've signed up on the Satrix and Easy Equity platforms and am ready to invest in my first TFSA ETF.  Given the short timeframe to retirement (8 years), what advice would you give re. selection/blend of ETFs? I'd really appreciate any advice y'all could give me.  Thank you! 

gcr:
Hi Fin - be very cautious in using competitors on this site to map out your future investing options as by and large many of the competitors buy/sell shares to gain the No.1 spot for bragging rights.
You case is distinctly different you want pointers as to what you should do to alleviate financial burdens in retirement and TFSA's may not be the answer for you, especially given that any capital removed from a TFSA can't be replenished so it will affect your total investment.

So if you are going to be the administrator and investor of your "pension funds" you need to read a lot, attend seminars or talks on investing (Simon Brown runs regular sessions through JSE and presents in some of the large centres and listen) - he also has a website JustOneLap which you can read up back presentations. No I'm not a disciple of Simon's but I do value his mix of ideas; Warren Ingram is another who adds value to the mix.

Many people advocate investment advisors and quite honestly they are all well and good to listen to but find a creditable one who isn't hooked to any of the large investment houses otherwise they will want to sell their home breed as best of breed,

As a suggestion maybe you need to do a few sums like:- What's your monthly income now and what % do you want as a pensionable income when you go on pension, this could give you an indicator of how much you would need to put away now for your future "pension". It is not going to be easy as you would want to look to achieving at least a 70% pension replacement of your current salary incrementing/escalating over the next 8 - 10 year

As I said at the get go - this is my opinion, and is not a sure fire answer to your dilemma, and, others will also give their opinions - so sift through them and make you own call   

Fintentional:
Thanks very much for the sound advice and cautions, GCR. I've worked out what we need on a monthly basis using the 300 Rule and have also been following a number of personal finance sites, including Simon Brown's Just One Lap, for a while. He gave an interesting talk a while ago on investing in ETFs within the framework of a TFSA. I definitely have a lot more reading and studying to do to find the best option/s. We own our own property and have rental income coming in, but we need to diversify our assets. We do already have a financial advisor, but quite frankly, the fees are nibbling away at our nest egg. BTW, I have no intention of retiring at 65 myself, but my husband has to retire from his fulltime teaching job (Dept. of Education policy).  Thanks again.
 

IndustryGuy:
If you don't mind me asking, what is your financial advisor charging you in fees?

Fintentional:
Two percent. And then on top of that are the costs of the various provider platforms that our RAs are housed in. Don't even get me started on what the broker fees are on my husband's mandatory school pension plan. Close to 8 percent.

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