Topic: How To Invest

Dear Pat and team: I have a numbered company, with equity holdings I must sell off over four years. My accountant has advised me to sell roughly 25% of the value of its equities each year, for the next four years. Could you recommend which ones to sell in what order to account for about 25% of the total value each year? Here’s the list:

Article Excerpt

CI Canadian Bond Fund  $ 31,286 CI Canadian Equity  $ 73,406 CI Corporate Bond  $ 37,783 iShares Cdn S&P/TSX60  $ 22,640 iShares MSCI JAPAN ETF  $ 22,640 BCE Inc.  $ 7,592 SPDR S&P China ETF  $ 6,783 WestJet Airlines  $ 12,090 Cash  $ 3,489 TOTAL Investments  $ 217,710 A: We don’t generally recommend that investors hold mutual funds, mostly because of their higher fees. In particular, we also don’t recommend bond funds: Bonds are unlikely to perform well over the next few years, if only because interest rates will likely hold steady or rise. That means the fund would only earn interest income on its bonds; in fact, instead of capital gains, its bond holdings could produce capital losses. So, you should consider selling the bond funds first, and then the other mutual funds, the next year. Third, perhaps, sell the two riskier, foreign ETFs. That leaves you with the Canadian ETF and your shares in WestJet and BCE to sell in the fourth year. year. …