Take control of your financial future during Financial Literacy Month with Qtrade Direct Investing

TORONTO, November 1, 2023 – For Canadians, financial literacy is imperative, especially in retirement. Recently, Qtrade Direct Investing, an online brokerage owned by Aviso, took to the streets of Calgary to ask people how much they thought they needed to retire comfortably. The responses varied widely, from $100,000 to a staggering $4 million. This disparity underscores the existing uncertainty among Canadians about the exact amount they need for a comfortable retirement and the path to achieving it. 

During Financial Literacy Month, Qtrade hopes encouraging people to learn more about self-directed investing can help provide a solution to this ambiguity. “Retirement is personal, and the number you need to get there depends on what you want it to look like,” says Christine Zalzal, Head of Qtrade and SVP of Online Brokerage and Digital Wealth at Aviso. “Whether it’s $1.7 million, something more modest, or even something more extravagant, having your retirement nest egg spread across different types of assets and investments can help you get there. Having access to the tools and information you need when it comes to self-directed investing, like those offered by Qtrade, can give you the confidence you need to write your own future – however you imagine it.”

As part of their new digital campaign, Qtrade is highlighting the importance of diversification and not putting all your nest eggs in one basket, like an employer pension or equity in a home. This campaign builds off the success of the campaign they ran in Calgary over the summer, where they spread the diversification message on billboards, bus shelters, and trains throughout the city. They even rented out advertising space on a local home for a week in August with the message, ‘A home shouldn’t be your only retirement plan.’ 

“Having a diversified portfolio of investments, which can include real estate, but also things like stocks, Exchange Traded Funds, and mutual funds held in a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) or Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) will help you have peace of mind when retirement comes,” shares Zalzal.

Qtrade is sharing content about retirement, savings, and investing on their education site and social media. The month will culminate with an ‘Ask me anything’ event on X (formerly Twitter) on November 24, where people can have their questions about RRSPs, TFSAs, and more answered live by experts. 

While there’s no guarantee what the future will hold, one thing’s for sure: the sooner someone starts investing, the better off they’ll likely be. The best time to start investing is today. 

About Qtrade

Qtrade offers self-directed investors a choice of platforms to achieve their financial goals. Qtrade Direct Investing is among Canada’s top-ranked online trading platforms, having secured more than 24 first-place wins over the past 16 years in industry evaluations of online brokerages. 

With more than 20 years’ experience, Qtrade operates direct to consumer and through over 200 strategic partnerships with some of Canada’s largest financial services institutions. Qtrade believes that Canadian do-it-yourself investors should have confidence in their financial decisions, confidence in the tools we provide to help them make those decisions and confidence in the support we offer.

About Aviso

Aviso is about powering wealth. We’re a leading wealth services supplier for the Canadian financial industry, with over $110 billion in assets under administration and management. Our clients include our partners, advisors and investors.

We’re a trusted partner for nearly all credit unions across Canada, in addition to a wide range of portfolio managers, investment dealers, insurance and trust companies, and introducing brokers. These organizations depend on Aviso for specific wealth management services, solutions and expertise that give them a competitive edge in a highly competitive industry: we help them keep pace with evolving technology, client expectations, and regulatory requirements.

Our investment dealer and mutual fund dealer and our insurance services support thousands of investment advisors across Canada. Our asset manager, NEI Investments, oversees a comprehensive lineup of responsible investment funds and portfolios. Our award-winning online brokerage, Qtrade Direct Investing®, enables self-directed investors to build their wealth with confidence, and our fully automated investing service, Qtrade Guided Portfolios, serves investors who prefer a hands-off approach. Aviso Correspondent Partners provides custodial back-office services, trade execution, clearing, processing, and reporting.

Aviso is backed by the collective strength of our owners: the credit union Centrals, Co-operators/CUMIS, and Desjardins.

Online brokerage services are offered through Qtrade Direct Investing, a division of Credential Qtrade Securities Inc. Qtrade Guided Portfolios is a trade name of Credential Qtrade Securities Inc. Qtrade and Qtrade Direct Investing are trade names and trademarks of Aviso Wealth Inc. and its subsidiaries. 

NEI Investments is a registered trademark of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Aviso Correspondent Partners operates as a separate business unit of Credential Qtrade Securities Inc. Aviso Wealth Inc. ('Aviso') is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aviso Wealth LP, which in turn is owned 50% by Desjardins Financial Holding Inc. and 50% by a limited partnership owned by the five Provincial Credit Union Centrals and The CUMIS Group Limited. The following entities are subsidiaries of Aviso: Credential Qtrade Securities Inc. (including Credential Securities, Qtrade Direct Investing, Qtrade Guided Portfolios, Qtrade Advisor and Aviso Correspondent Partners), Credential Asset Management Inc., Credential Insurance Services Inc., Credential Financial Strategies Inc., and Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. This material is for informational purposes only. While this material has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, Qtrade Direct Investing does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or reliability of this information.