Stocks, funds or seg funds

Three ways to own the same companies. What changes is who picks them, who carries the risk of any one of them, and what is paid for that.

1. Picking the companies yourself

Biggest position Everything else

One company carries a quarter or more of the money, so its news still moves the total.

What a single failure costs depends on how much sits in that company, not on how many names you hold: ten holdings with half the money in one are more exposed than five even ones. Spreading wider also doesn't remove the risk shared by the whole market, which every route still carries.

2. What an ongoing cost adds up to

What $100,000 grows to in 20 years, and how that total splits

A cost of 1.0% a year sounds small, but it is charged on the whole balance every year, and the dollars paid out stop compounding. Over 20 years that takes 17% of what the money would otherwise have grown to. Whether that is worth paying is what the table below is for.

$100,000 growing at 6% a year before costs, no deposits or withdrawals, no tax. An illustration of how a percentage compounds, not a forecast and not the fee on any particular product.

3. Side by side

Every column has ticks and crosses. The useful question isn't which one wins, it's which of these trade-offs matters in a particular situation.

General education, not a recommendation, and not a comparison of any specific products. Costs, guarantees, creditor protection and beneficiary rules vary by product, account and province; Fund Facts, the information folder and the contract always govern.