The TD e-series funds are a way in which you can get a mutual fund without having to pay an arm and a leg for the MER’s.  I have had a TD e-series fund for my RRSP since last year and regularly contribute a set amount to it per month.  It’s a great way to employ dollar cost averaging without having to pay for trading commission fees each time you do a transaction.  It’s wonderful for us young people who don’t have time to go to the bank (really, how do people do their banking regularly when they work the same hours you’re working?) and are internet savvy.

However, TD e-series are notoriously difficult to acquire, it takes a bit of time and a bit of patience to be able to set an account up, mainly because when you walk into any TD branch, no one knows what the heck you’re talking about.

The reason, I believe, that TD bank branch employees do not know what you’re talking about is because it is an e-series fund.  That means that TD bank doesn’t waste their money teaching branch employees the details of the fund because it is all done online.  This my friend, is where they save you the $.  You don’t have to pay for the services of a Mutual Fund Specialist because there are none!  The MER’s for TD e-series are low- 0.31-0.48% is the average compared to a whopping 2.5% for full service mutual funds.

It took me about 6 weeks to get my TD e-series fund in working order (long story- I think I tried to mail it in, and they told me I needed a card after I had no response for a 3 weeks, then I went into the branch and had to go back twice because no one new what I was talking about, then finally got my beloved e-series), so I’m going to try and save you the time and headache by learning from my mishaps.

So without further adieu, here’s the most hassle-free way on how you can get in on the action:

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No, I don’t mean Creme de la Mer (the uber expensive face cream), I mean MER, otherwise known as Management Expense Ratio.

From my experience, your investment advisor won’t really tell you about this until you ask for it, or look into it yourself.

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Okay, so I’m entering the blogging world.  And am here to talk about money.  And saving.  And I am young.  Hence the title of my website “Young and Thrifty”… kinda like “the young and the restless”.  Catchy huh?  Thought you’d like that.

So, it seems like the average “Generation Y” guy or gal doesn’t know what an RRSP is.

Most of my friends tell me “it’s a mutual fund”.  So that’s why i am here.  To try and explain that it is not a mutual fund, but it can hold a mutual fund.  And explain much much more about that elusive and tangible thing, money (and how to save it)!

One of the other reasons I decided to make this website is that my sisters (er… they are 21 and 23 respectively, and yes, they are a bit sheltered), didn’t know the difference between a debit and credit card.

Yes, I know that is a bit extreme, but I plan to write about the very basics to the higher level in terms of saving, investing, etc. etc.  because we didn’t get taught about money in school.  And our parents (bless their baby boomer hearts) worked so hard so that we could live in excess and take everything for granted and not work a day in our lives and not know “what the value of a dollar” is.

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