April was a busy month, and I’m running behind schedule with some new content I’m creating. In the mean-time, check out my May 2017 investment portfolio growth update! While April saw the day where my e-Series investments made their biggest jump since I started investing, May unfortunately saw a day where the same investments made their biggest drop. But as always, a day doesn’t mean anything in the long run of these investments.
Overall Assets
TFSA TD e-Series Index Funds
My TFSA e-Series portfolio was fairly stagnant in the month of May, with a few ups and downs throughout. The International Index Fund continues to thrive, while the Canadian Index Fund saw another poor month, actually losing value by the end of the May. I used the slumping value of the Canadian Index as opportunity to purchase more shares, while also buying more shares of the Canadian Bond index to get as close as possible to my 23%/23%/23%/31% portfolio split. I received 2 small dividend payouts for my Bond index, as I received one at the beginning of the month and the end of the month.
As you can see below, May 17 saw the single biggest drop in my portfolio gains since I started investing, losing $122. My portfolio started to regain as soon as it dropped, but unfortunately hasn’t regained completely yet. Many investment advisors tell their customers that they shouldn’t track their investments daily, as short-term swings may scare them into doing something stupid. This is a good example – $122 loss in one day doesn’t mean anything in the long run. My only reaction to that was that it gives me a chance to buy more shares at a cheaper value.
RRSP TD e-Series Index Funds
My RRSP consisting of an aggressive TD e-Series portfolio also stayed pretty stagnant in May (as it mirrors most of the makeup of my TFSA portfolio). I added an additional $100 of shares in the TD Canadian Index Fund, hopefully getting to capitalize a bit on the slumping fund. I’m still keeping investments in my RRSP to a minimum while I focus on building my TFSA portfolio.
I still continue to add funds to my RRSP to meet the requirements of repaying funds I took as part of the Home Buyers’ Plan.
High Interest TFSA
I continue to add funds to my High Interest Savings Account in an attempt to save money for some upcoming educational costs. I received my predictable 0.8% interest payment. Not great, but at least it’s predictable.
Home Value
I reached the end of my previous 5-year 3.29% fixed mortgage term, and started my new 5-year 2.65% fixed mortgage term. I was actually 1 additional payment ahead than what I had previously thought when calculating my home equity, so this month sees double the equity increase to compensate. It’s never a bad thing when you’ve actually made more payments than you thought you had!
