"The rise of ETFs is making life miserable for Canada’s mutual fund industry" - G&M

[cmanders]

@carterfox I could be mistaken but I believe that there was a change in meaning from freedom to retire at age 55 to freedom to retire when your kids reach age 55.

 

[surfnow1]

@cmanders I gave up on freedom55 a long time ago.

My new plan is freedom 6/49. It seems more reliable.

 

[madisynwalkers]

@surfnow1 Freedom 35 for me

 

[mormarw]

@cmanders That is a lie...

it means you have the financial freedom to have kids by the time you turn 55!

 

[cmanders]

@mormarw A "Freedom" Oxymoron exemplified!

 

[ghag17]

@cmanders ha!

 

[shetel]

@carterfox For the same reason people walk into a bank to see an advisor. They are trying to be responsible with their money and want to be able to retire (at all, or early). Responsible, have money, maybe even a successful business... but not savvy on this particular industry. Big sign says "55", they're wearing suits, the marketing just seems to align with their goals and ideas about money. Way more common than you think.

 

[radonenv]

@carterfox It's a pyramid scheme. They recruit young idiots to harass their friends and family, then when that pool dries up you either leave because you're poor, or you buy someone else's residual package and spend the rest of your life trying to maintain it.

 

[ukbeliever220485]

@carterfox Inertia.

 

[brandyk]

@carterfox Because MERs in mutual funds includes the cost of advice. There are two debates here: active vs passive management, and advice vs no advice.

A mutual funds that track an index is really a passive investment, so paying a high MER if you aren't receiving advice makes no sense - some people are simply by the wrong series of the fund. Similarly there are ETFs that have an active strategy. Active vs passive is its own investment debate.

Advice vs no advice is different. Generally (I use generally cautiously, this subreddit is biased towards people who believe in DIY) people who get independent advice make better financial decisions, beyond what investment products they choose. There are good and bad advisors out there. Challenge with MERs on mutual funds is that there isn't full transparency what the cost of the advice is since it's baked into the cost of the fund, so people don't understand exactly what they're paying for.

 

[inkerman]

@ukbeliever220485 Interestingly I've just taken a look at the MERs on the MFs I own from before I got into ETFs and they have dropped bit by bit but consistently since I first bought them.

Still need to set aside some time to sell them....

 

[resjudicata]

@ukbeliever220485 I'm a 24 year old independent fee based financial advisor and it ticks me off that mfda hasn't provided mfda advisors with access to ETF's yet. I don't want to do my securities course and move my entire book of business over to a securities dealer just to use products that I'm already allowed to use but can't because of a lack in infrastructure. Currently working on my CFP because that's where I feel I add the most value. In planning, not security selection.

 

[resjudicata]

@ukbeliever220485 What the free market giveth the free market can taketh away again.

 

[resjudicata]

@ukbeliever220485 To the "industry" middle-men:

Cry me a riiiiiveeeeeer...