Investing for the Newby

[Corneliousrooster]

I am finally in a position in life where i will some additional income that outweighs my expenses so i am wanting to start taking investments a little more seriously.

I have opened a TFSA and have started an RESP for my child as well as a conservative mutual fund portfolio with BMO.

I have started watching the individual funds within the mutual fund and have opened a few funds to invest directly into them.

I am not a big fan of the BMO investments as the management fees are very high and I don't feel like i have much control over where the funds get dispersed. Every time I try to put money in one or the other online i get a call from the bank saying that my "investment goal ratio" is unbalanced so they have to change my investment goal profile and then the next time i try another flag goes up somehow..... i don't find it very user friendly or easy.

I see Edwards jones all over the place - is this a good way to go? What is the recommended way that people invest? I am not a huge risk taker but I would like to make more than just having it sit in an account or the low rates that GIC's pay. i don't have huge amounts of time to be watching stocks but I do like to keep an eye on things and move money accordingly if i feel it would be performing better elsewhere.

A great example is that in some of the funds i have a large percentage is in bond funds - bond funds have not been doing well for quite some time - being they are in the "package" i have little control over that - i did see that some of the equity funds are doing well so i put separate money into them and they are way outperforming what my conservative portfolio is providing.

Any advice/opinions would be appreciated.

[Bsuds]

Any advice/opinions would be appreciated.

My advise is don't take advise from a forum and find a financial adviser that you trust and go with what they say.
Find one who doesn't charge so much that you make no profit or what's the point.

[Corneliousrooster]

My advise is don't take advise from a forum and find a financial adviser that you trust and go with what they say.
Find one who doesn't charge so much that you make no profit or what's the point.

There are a LOT of different financial advisors out there - I was hoping on some positive/negative feedback so I don't have to waste time "interviewing" or trying out multiple different ones. I am not asking for direct financial advice - I am just wondering if anyone can relay some positive experiences so I can head in that direction - or some negative experiences so I know where to avoid.