What Would Dan Bortolotti Say?
Enter your portfolio and fees to get the calm, evidence-based read: which single one-ticket ETF matches your target mix, and how much you'd keep over a lifetime by trading a ~2% mutual fund for a ~0.20% Couch Potato portfolio. Boring is good.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Dan Bortolotti. An educational interpretation of ideas published in Reboot Your Portfolio: 9 Steps to Successful Investing with ETFs (Figure 1 Publishing, 2021). Not provided, reviewed, or approved by Dan Bortolotti or PWL Capital Inc.
What your fees cost you
Projected ending value of the same portfolio at your current MER versus a one-ticket ETF at ~0.20%. Same market return, different fee.
What he'd have you do next
In order. Calm, cheap, automatic.
How this is calculated
Risk-tier matcher
Your target equity share is snapped to the nearest standard one-ticket asset-allocation tier: 100/0 → VEQT / XEQT / ZEQT; 80/20 → VGRO / XGRO / ZGRO; 60/40 → VBAL / XBAL / ZBAL; 40/60 → VCNS / XCNS / ZCON; 20/80 → VCIP / XINC. Source: model portfolios and the asset-allocation ETF line-up documented at canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios (Dan Bortolotti's own free primary material).
Fee-savings projector
We grow your portfolio at a net return of (expected gross return − MER), compounding annually and adding your contribution at each year end, for two scenarios: your current blended MER, and a one-ticket ETF at 0.20%. The gap between the two ending balances is your lifetime fee savings. The compounding is reimplemented here from first principles. Source: the low-cost, buy-the-whole-market thesis in Reboot Your Portfolio: 9 Steps to Successful Investing with ETFs (Figure 1 Publishing, 2021), which contrasts typical ~2% mutual funds with ~0.20% one-ticket ETFs.
The score
Rewards the three things the strategy says you can actually control: low cost (up to 50 points, best near a one-ticket's ~0.20% MER), a long horizon to let compounding and discipline work (up to 30 points), and a regular automated contribution (up to 20 points). Global diversification and rebalancing come free with any one-ticket fund. Source: the "minimize cost, diversify globally, rebalance automatically, stay the course" principles in Reboot Your Portfolio (2021).
Where this is a simplification
Real returns vary year to year, MERs and trading spreads differ slightly between fund families, and taxes on non-registered accounts are ignored. This is an educational projection, not a forecast. For personal advice, talk to a licensed professional.
The fine print
This is an educational interpretation applying Dan Bortolotti's well-documented public philosophy to your numbers. All verdict lines are respectful paraphrases in his calm, plain-spoken style, not real quotes. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Dan Bortolotti or PWL Capital Inc.; not provided, reviewed, or approved by them. If you are Dan Bortolotti or represent them and want this changed or removed, email [email protected] and we'll act promptly.
Common questions
What is a Couch Potato one-ticket ETF portfolio?
It is a single, globally diversified asset-allocation ETF that holds thousands of stocks and bonds in a fixed target mix and rebalances itself automatically. You pick one fund to match your risk tolerance, keep costs near 0.20% a year, contribute regularly and leave it alone — no stock picking and no manual rebalancing.
Which one-ticket ETF matches my asset allocation?
Roughly: 100% equity maps to VEQT / XEQT / ZEQT; 80/20 to VGRO / XGRO / ZGRO; 60/40 to VBAL / XBAL / ZBAL; 40/60 to VCNS / XCNS / ZCON; and 20/80 to VCIP / XINC. Choose the split you can hold through a downturn without selling.
How much do high fees actually cost over time?
A typical bank mutual fund charges around 2% a year while a one-ticket ETF is about 0.20%. That ~1.8% gap compounds: on a six-figure portfolio held for decades it commonly adds up to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in foregone growth. Cost is the one variable you control, so minimizing it is the highest-probability way to improve returns.
Do I ever need to rebalance a one-ticket ETF?
No. The whole point of an asset-allocation ETF is that the fund maintains its target stock/bond mix internally, so you never rebalance by hand. Your only jobs are to keep contributing and to resist tinkering when markets are noisy.