CSAV
CI HIGH INTEREST SAVINGS ETF
stock TSE

Generic investment advice
First, you should pay off your bad debts—especially credit cards with interest rates of 18% or more. You will never get a better return than paying those off, compared to any other investment. Also, paying off other high-interest debts should be a priority.
Second, you should build an emergency fund. It’s usually recommended to keep 3 to 6 months’ worth of expenses in a high-interest savings account in case you lose your job, get sick, or face an emergency (Wealthsimple, Oaken Financials, Canadian Tire Bank or PC Financial offer higher interest rate than regular banks). The goal is to have money readily available at any time if needed. Some people prefer to put this amount in the ETF like CASH, CSAV or PSA, which pays interest monthly.
After that, the type of investment you choose will depend on your investment goal. If you’re investing for less than 5 years, it’s better to put the money into a safer investment, such as a high-interest savings account, a money market fund (like ZMMK or CBIL), a short-term bond fund (like ZST or ZST.L), or a GIC. The longer your investment horizon, the more risk you can take, since you’ll have more time for your investments to recover after a major drop.
If you’re investing for more than 8 years, you can look at stocks and bonds. The larger the portion of bonds in your portfolio, the less it will fluctuate (big ups and downs), but your return will generally be lower than if you had a larger portion of stocks. There are several ways to invest in these types of assets. You can invest in a mutual fund that combines stocks and bonds according to your risk tolerance, but management fees range from 1% to 2.5% (amount deducted every year from your invested amount by the financial institution). Alternatively, you can invest with a robo-advisor, where management fees are around 0.2% to 0.6%, which leaves more money in your pocket than a mutual fund. Robo-advisors build a portfolio of index funds and automatically rebalance it for you. Here’s a list of robo-advisors available in Canada: [https://www.ratehub.ca/investing/robo-advisors](https://www.ratehub.ca/investing/robo-advisors)
Another option is to invest on your own in all-in-one index funds such as XBAL/VBAL/ZBAL (60% stocks / 40% bonds), XGRO/VGRO/ZGRO (80% stocks / 20% bonds), or XEQT/VEQT/ZEQT (100% stocks / 0% bonds). The management fees for an all-in-one ETF are around 0.17% to 0.20%, so they’re even cheaper than robo-advisors, though slightly more effort (but not much). For this last option, you’ll need a brokerage account. Disnat from Desjardins, National Bank Direct Brokerage, Wealthsimple, Qtrade and Questrade offer commission-free brokerage accounts for index funds. Here’s a list of the main all-in-one index funds in Canada: [https://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios/](https://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios/)
You can also do this Vanguard risk tolerance test, if you want to know what profile is right for you (% of stocks and % of bonds):
[https://investor.vanguard.com/tools-calculators/investor-questionnaire](https://investor.vanguard.com/tools-calculators/investor-questionnaire)
You can read the book "From Zero to millionaire" by Nicolas Bérubé or "The Wealthy Barber" by David Chilton (2025 edition), it explains how to invest effectively in diversified low cost index funds.

Generic investment advice
First, you should pay off your bad debts—especially credit cards with interest rates of 18% or more. You will never get a better return than paying those off, compared to any other investment. Also, paying off other high-interest debts should be a priority.
Second, you should build an emergency fund. It’s usually recommended to keep 3 to 6 months’ worth of expenses in a high-interest savings account in case you lose your job, get sick, or face an emergency (Wealthsimple, Oaken Financials, Canadian Tire Bank or PC Financial offer higher interest rate than regular banks). The goal is to have money readily available at any time if needed. Some people prefer to put this amount in the ETF like CASH, CSAV or PSA, which pays interest monthly.
After that, the type of investment you choose will depend on your investment goal. If you’re investing for less than 5 years, it’s better to put the money into a safer investment, such as a high-interest savings account, a money market fund (like ZMMK or CBIL), a short-term bond fund (like ZST or ZST.L), or a GIC. The longer your investment horizon, the more risk you can take, since you’ll have more time for your investments to recover after a major drop.
If you’re investing for more than 8 years, you can look at stocks and bonds. The larger the portion of bonds in your portfolio, the less it will fluctuate (big ups and downs), but your return will generally be lower than if you had a larger portion of stocks. There are several ways to invest in these types of assets. You can invest in a mutual fund that combines stocks and bonds according to your risk tolerance, but management fees range from 1% to 2.5% (amount deducted every year from your invested amount by the financial institution). Alternatively, you can invest with a robo-advisor, where management fees are around 0.2% to 0.6%, which leaves more money in your pocket than a mutual fund. Robo-advisors build a portfolio of index funds and automatically rebalance it for you. Here’s a list of robo-advisors available in Canada: [https://www.ratehub.ca/investing/robo-advisors](https://www.ratehub.ca/investing/robo-advisors)
Another option is to invest on your own in all-in-one index funds such as XBAL/VBAL/ZBAL (60% stocks / 40% bonds), XGRO/VGRO/ZGRO (80% stocks / 20% bonds), or XEQT/VEQT/ZEQT (100% stocks / 0% bonds). The management fees for an all-in-one ETF are around 0.17% to 0.20%, so they’re even cheaper than robo-advisors, though slightly more effort (but not much). For this last option, you’ll need a brokerage account. Disnat from Desjardins, National Bank Direct Brokerage, Wealthsimple, Qtrade and Questrade offer commission-free brokerage accounts for index funds. Here’s a list of the main all-in-one index funds in Canada: [https://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios/](https://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios/)
You can also do this Vanguard risk tolerance test, if you want to know what profile is right for you (% of stocks and % of bonds):
[https://investor.vanguard.com/tools-calculators/investor-questionnaire](https://investor.vanguard.com/tools-calculators/investor-questionnaire)
You can read the book "From Zero to millionaire" by Nicolas Bérubé or "The Wealthy Barber" by David Chilton (2025 edition), it explains how to invest effectively in diversified low cost index funds.