WealthSimple: Am I doing something wrong, or is this roboadviser not that good?

[dexter234]

Over the course of the last 4 years I've put 20k into a wealthsimple TFSA. It was up by $100 - $200 at first, but over the past three years its habitually been between -5% to -10% performance. When the market was down it made sense, but I see YoY the S&P is up ~5%, yet my WS is still down 7%. Is it just a timing thing? Is WS that bad? Should I look at moving my investments?

 

[davidcn]

@dexter234 Level 9-10 risk on my kids RESP. Similar timeframe, up 7%.

You probably went low risk and got wrecked by the bonds.

 

[dyydxx]

@davidcn Same. Level 10 risk and up a similar amount

 

[candycrush1005]

@dyydxx Level 10 but mine is down 0.66%…..how is it so different?

 

[christian2014]

@candycrush1005 Timing.

 

[candycrush1005]

@christian2014 I contribute biweekly.

 

[christian2014]

@candycrush1005 When did you start?

 

[candycrush1005]

@christian2014 Jan 2020

 

[christian2014]

@candycrush1005 I'm at 4% since Jan 2021!

 

[word_cuts_deep]

@christian2014 And inflation is eating your gains away lol

 

[christian2014]

@word_cuts_deep Trudat. It's eating any savings and stuff too! Anyone not even investing is making negatives for sure.

 

[crobads]

@candycrush1005 Lol no dummy, when did you START contributing not how often. Where the market was when you started investing plays a massive role from where it is today.

 

[clothedinstrength]

@crobads When did you start contributing? ‘Yes’

 

[p1saint]

@davidcn These last 3-4 years really killed the notion of low risk (bonds/gold) to high risk (equities). I know so many young people that went low risk (new to investing, a little bit scared and didn't understand how it works) and got wrecked when at their age they should've went full equities (the notion of high risk was intimidating)

 

[davidcn]

@p1saint Yeah it’s really sad to see. Now many of these new investors will switch to GICs and fixed income, which is terrible in the long run.

 

[p1saint]

@davidcn Yeah, sometimes I feel like finance and investing is purposefully made confusing to the average person so the big guys can profit and dump on retail.

 

[finkd]

@p1saint 100% agree. Im in my 30s and it seems the average person i talk to falls into very common pitfalls, like high mer bank programs. They just want to be able to tell people they are investing but are not outcome oriented.

 

[christabella]

@davidcn I don't understand why. I can get a 6% GIC, and sell and then reassess with the market.

 

[davidcn]

@christabella Maybe you’ll reassess. Most people will go hey I lost money in this stock thing and made money in GICs, guess I’ll stick with GICs.

 

[christianfamily]

@p1saint The entire notion of risk is very poorly described. It should be more explicitly age-based. Overweight bonds while young is HIGH RISK, not low risk.