Bombardier makes changes at the top, suspends dividend + MORE Feb 12th

(Getty Images/Hero Images)

Getty Images/Hero Images

Q: What are the benefits and/or drawbacks to using more than one financial adviser at the same time? —Donna, via email
A: Investing 101 suggests that you should diversify your investments. I can see an argument for diversifying your advisers as well and in practice, Donna, it happens regularly.
Some people do it by accident because they contribute to an RRSP at their bank branch, they have investments with their insurance agent and they have a group retirement plan. If you end up with multiple accounts and more than one financial adviser as a result of happenstance, rather than on purpose, I’d be inclined to consider what you really want.
Some of the drawbacks of using multiple advisers are:
1. Higher fees: You may qualify for fee discounts on higher investment balances. If you have investments with multiple advisers, you might not be paying the lowest fees possible due to multiple small balances.
2. Poor asset allocation: If you or your advisers are not monitoring your overall asset allocation across all of your accounts, you might end up with duplication or over or underweighting that is unintentional…

This family finds themselves juggling personal and workplace RRSPs (Photograph by Matt Ramage)
Q: My husband and I participate in workplace RRSP top-up programs, and we have an RRSP loan to maximize my husband’s RRSP contribution. We’re not sure if this is a good plan, especially considering we’re nowhere near maxing out our annual mortgage contributions or TFSAs.”—Vanessa McCubbing Saskatoon, Sask.
A: Group retirement plans tend to have matching contributions from employers. Investment options are usually good, primarily due to fees being lower than what you’d pay on retail investments. So this is where your primary focus should likely be.
I wouldn’t be worried about your TFSAs if you have RRSP room. RRSPs are likely a better choice than TFSAs for most people, unless you’re in a low tax bracket, close to retirement or may need some of your savings in the short term.
I’m on the fence about the TFSA versus mortgage debate. Studies have shown that the vast majority of TFSA investments in Canada are in savings accounts and GICs…

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