Financial Perfectionism and XEQT: Why 'Good Enough' Investing Beats Perfect Every Time

I want to tell you about the dumbest three months of my financial life.

It was late 2023, and I had finally saved up enough money to start investing seriously. I knew I wanted to buy a low-cost, globally diversified ETF. The obvious choices were right in front of me – XEQT and VEQT. Two nearly identical products from two of the largest asset managers on Earth. Either one would have been an excellent choice.

But “excellent” was not good enough for me. I wanted perfect.

So I built a spreadsheet. Obviously. The spreadsheet compared XEQT’s geographic allocation to VEQT’s, down to the decimal. I calculated the fee difference – 0.20% vs 0.24% MER – and projected the impact over 10, 20, and 30 years. I then added a third tab for a five-ETF DIY portfolio (XUU + XIC + XEF + XEC + VCN) that could theoretically shave off another 0.04% in fees. I read iShares product whitepapers. I read Vanguard product whitepapers. I read academic papers on optimal home-country bias weighting for Canadian investors. I lurked on r/PersonalFinanceCanada until I could recite the top comments on every “XEQT or VEQT?” thread from memory.

At one point, I had a spreadsheet with 14 columns and 87 rows comparing every possible combination of allocation, account type, fee structure, and rebalancing frequency.

Three months. That is how long I spent on this. Three months of research, analysis, and soul-searching before I bought a single share of anything.

Want to know the punchline? When I finally did the math on the actual difference between XEQT and VEQT over 30 years on a $500/month contribution – the thing I had spent an entire quarter of my life agonizing over – it came out to roughly $2,400. Total. Over three decades.

Meanwhile, those three months of delay cost me approximately $4,800 in lost compounding (assuming an 8% average return on $15,000 over 30 years). My perfectionism did not just fail to find a better answer. It actively destroyed more wealth than the “problem” it was trying to solve.

That was the day I learned the most important lesson in my investing journey: good enough, done today, beats perfect, done never.

1. What Financial Perfectionism Actually Looks Like

Financial perfectionism is sneaky. It does not announce itself as procrastination. It disguises itself as responsibility, diligence, and intelligence. You are not wasting time – you are being thorough. You are not afraid to invest – you are being careful. It is a close cousin of analysis paralysis – but where analysis paralysis freezes you with too many options, perfectionism freezes you with the belief that the right option exists if you just keep looking.

Here is what financial perfectionism looks like in practice. See if any of these sound familiar:

The Endless Comparison Loop. You have been comparing XEQT to VEQT for weeks. Then you discovered ZEQT from BMO and added that to the comparison. Then someone on Reddit mentioned FEQT from Fidelity, so now you are comparing four ETFs that all do essentially the same thing. You keep finding one more variable to add to your spreadsheet. The spreadsheet grows, but your portfolio does not.

The Entry Point Obsession. XEQT is at $28.50 today. Maybe it will dip to $27.00 next week. Or maybe you should wait for a correction. You have been watching the price for months, waiting for the “right” moment. The price has gone up $1.50 since you started watching, and now you feel like you missed it, so you wait for it to come back down. It does not come back down.

The Account Type Paralysis. TFSA or RRSP? Which one is more tax-efficient for XEQT specifically? Should you consider the tax implications of foreign withholding taxes on US dividends inside a TFSA vs. RRSP? You have read seventeen articles on this topic, and each one gives slightly different advice based on marginal tax rates you are not entirely sure how to calculate.

The Strategy Perfectionism. Lump sum or dollar-cost average? Weekly or monthly? What day of the week shows the lowest average prices historically? Should you use Norbert’s Gambit for currency conversion on the US-listed holdings, even though XEQT handles this internally? You have seventeen tabs open and a growing sense of dread.

The Knowledge Gap Fear. Before you invest, you want to understand exactly how index construction works, how securities lending affects returns, and what happens if BlackRock goes bankrupt. You want to understand everything before risking a single dollar.

If you recognized yourself in three or more of those, you are a financial perfectionist. I say that with empathy, because I have been every single one of those people. The problem is not that you are asking bad questions. The problem is that you have mistaken answering every question for a prerequisite to investing. It is not.

2. The Science of “Good Enough”: Why Satisficing Beats Maximizing

In 1956, the economist and cognitive scientist Herbert Simon introduced a concept he called satisficing – a combination of “satisfy” and “suffice.” Simon argued that human beings are not, and cannot be, perfectly rational decision-makers. We do not have the time, information, or cognitive capacity to evaluate every possible option and select the optimal one. Instead, we set a threshold of “good enough” and pick the first option that meets it.

Simon won the Nobel Prize in Economics for this work. That is how important this idea is.

Later research by psychologist Barry Schwartz expanded on Simon’s framework, dividing people into two categories:

• Satisficers set criteria, find something that meets those criteria, and move on. They buy a washing machine that is well-reviewed, reasonably priced, and available for delivery. Done.
• Maximizers need to find the best possible option. They read every review, visit every store, compare every feature, check every price – and even after buying, they wonder if they made the right choice.

Here is the finding that should change how you think about investing: satisficers are consistently happier with their decisions than maximizers, even when maximizers objectively choose “better” options.

Now apply this to investing. The maximizer spends months comparing XEQT to VEQT, agonizing over a 0.04% MER difference, building DIY portfolios to save fractions of a percent. Even after they invest, they second-guess themselves.

The satisficer says: “I need a low-cost, globally diversified, all-equity ETF from a reputable provider. XEQT fits that description. Done.” They set up automatic purchases and go live their life.

And here is the critical part: the satisficer almost always ends up with more money. Not because they picked a better fund, but because they picked sooner. While the maximizer was researching, the satisficer was compounding.

This applies with particular force to investing because the marginal difference between “good” and “optimal” options is tiny, while the cost of delay is enormous. The gap between XEQT and VEQT is measured in basis points. The gap between “invested six months ago” and “still researching” is measured in thousands of dollars.

3. The Real Cost of Perfectionism: Numbers That Should Make You Uncomfortable

Let me put some actual dollars on what perfectionism costs you. Because abstract concepts like “lost compounding” do not hit hard enough. Real numbers do.

Assume you have $20,000 ready to invest, plus $500/month in ongoing contributions. You plan to invest for 25 years. Your expected average annual return is 8% (conservative for a globally diversified equity portfolio like XEQT).

The only variable is how long you spend “researching” before you start.

Let that last row sink in. Five years of trying to find the “perfect” strategy costs you over $200,000. And what did all that research produce? Almost certainly the same conclusion you could have reached on day one: buy a low-cost, diversified ETF and hold it.

But even the mild perfectionist – the one who only delays three months while comparing XEQT to VEQT – gives up nearly $12,000. That is real money. That is a vacation. That is a year of TFSA contributions. And it is gone forever, sacrificed at the altar of optimization that ultimately did not matter.

Here is the painful irony: the difference between XEQT and VEQT over 25 years on these same numbers is roughly $1,000-$3,000. The perfectionist delays three months to solve a $2,000 problem and creates a $12,000 problem in the process. That is not smart. That is perfectionism eating its own tail.

4. The Five Perfectionism Traps (And Their “Good Enough” Answers)

I am going to walk through the five most common perfectionism traps I see in the Canadian investing community. For each one, I will give you the short answer so you can stop agonizing and start investing.

Trap #1: “XEQT or VEQT?”

The perfectionist’s version: “I need to compare the exact geographic weightings, the underlying index methodology, the securities lending practices, the tracking error, the MER, the bid-ask spread, and the historical performance before I can decide.”

The good-enough answer: Both are excellent all-in-one global equity ETFs with near-identical returns. I wrote an entire detailed comparison, and the honest conclusion is that it does not matter much. XEQT has a slightly lower MER (0.20% vs 0.24%). VEQT has slightly different geographic weights. Over 30 years, the difference in outcomes is measured in the low thousands – not tens of thousands. Pick one. Move on. You are not choosing between a Ferrari and a bicycle. You are choosing between a dark blue Honda Civic and a dark grey Honda Civic.

Trap #2: “TFSA or RRSP first?”

The perfectionist’s version: “I need to calculate my marginal tax rate, estimate my retirement income, factor in foreign withholding tax implications on US equities within each account type, consider the impact of government benefit clawbacks, and model seventeen scenarios before choosing.”

The good-enough answer: If your income is under roughly $55,000, start with the TFSA. If it is above $55,000, the RRSP is probably slightly better, but the TFSA is still great. If you are genuinely unsure, pick the TFSA – it is more flexible, your withdrawals are tax-free, and you can always open an RRSP later. Both are dramatically better than a regular taxable account, and either one is infinitely better than leaving your money in a savings account while you debate the question.

Trap #3: “Lump sum or dollar-cost average?”

The perfectionist’s version: “Vanguard’s research says lump sum wins 68% of the time, but DCA reduces volatility risk, and I am not sure about my risk tolerance, and maybe I should do a hybrid approach where I invest half now and DCA the rest over six months, but what if the market drops right after the lump sum portion…”

The good-enough answer: Lump sum wins more often than not. DCA is also fine and helps you sleep at night. Both beat doing nothing, which is what you are currently doing while debating this question. If you have money to invest today, invest at least some of it today. Invest the rest on a schedule. Stop overthinking this.

Trap #4: “What if the market is at all-time highs?”

The perfectionist’s version: “XEQT is near its all-time high. I should wait for a correction. Maybe I’ll set a limit order 5% below current prices and wait.”

The good-enough answer: The market is at or near all-time highs roughly 30-35% of all trading days. That is not a bug – that is how a market that trends upward over time behaves. I wrote a whole post about buying XEQT at all-time highs – the data shows that investing at all-time highs has historically produced positive returns the vast majority of the time. Waiting for a dip sounds smart but rarely works, because you do not know when the dip will come, how deep it will be, or whether you will have the courage to buy when it does. Time in the market beats timing the market, every time.

Trap #5: “I should build my own multi-ETF portfolio for lower fees”

The perfectionist’s version: “If I buy XUU, XIC, XEF, and XEC separately, I can save 0.05% in MER and customize my geographic allocation. I just need to calculate the optimal weights, set up a rebalancing schedule, manage currency conversion, and track the adjusted cost base for each holding across multiple accounts.”

The good-enough answer: Yes, you can save a tiny amount in fees with a DIY multi-ETF approach. But you are adding complexity, rebalancing obligations, and – most dangerously – more opportunities to tinker and second-guess yourself. For the vast majority of investors, the simplicity of owning a single fund like XEQT is worth the extra 0.05% per year. On a $100,000 portfolio, that is $50 annually. You are trading $50 a year for the risk of behavioral mistakes that could cost you thousands.

5. The 80/20 Rule of Investing: Most of Your Results Come From Almost None of Your Decisions

The Pareto Principle – the 80/20 rule – states that roughly 80% of outcomes come from 20% of inputs. In investing, the ratio is even more extreme. I would argue that 90% of your long-term results come from just three decisions:

1. Do you invest regularly? (Saving and investing consistently over decades)
2. Are you broadly diversified at low cost? (Owning a wide basket of global equities through something like XEQT)
3. Do you stay invested during crashes? (Not panic-selling when the market drops 30%)

That is it. Those three things determine the vast majority of your financial outcome over a lifetime. Everything else – the specific ETF you choose, the exact account type, the day of the week you buy, whether you use DRIP or manual reinvestment, the precise geographic allocation – all of that is noise. Important noise, maybe. But noise.

Here is what this means for the perfectionist: you are spending 90% of your time optimizing the 10% that barely matters, while neglecting the 90% that determines everything.

The investor who buys XEQT on autopilot every two weeks and never looks at their portfolio is going to crush the investor who spends years building the theoretically optimal seven-ETF portfolio and then panics during the next correction because they do not have the emotional stamina that comes from years of practice.

Getting the big decisions right is not hard. It does not require spreadsheets or whitepapers or Reddit debates. It requires action.

6. Perfectionist vs. Satisficer: A Side-by-Side Comparison

Let me show you what these two approaches look like in practice over a 10-year period.

The perfectionist “wins” on paper – their portfolio has slightly lower fees and theoretically optimal allocation. But in practice, the satisficer wins with money. The delay, the tinkering, the stress-induced decisions during downturns, and the constant second-guessing all eat into the perfectionist’s returns in ways that do not show up on a spreadsheet.

This is the core paradox: the pursuit of the best outcome produces a worse outcome than settling for good enough.

7. Why XEQT Is Built for Satisficers

I have spent a lot of time on this blog explaining what XEQT is, how it works, and why I think it is one of the best investment products available to Canadian investors. But I have never explicitly framed it this way: XEQT is, by design, the satisficer’s investment.

Think about what XEQT eliminates:

• Asset allocation decisions? Eliminated. XEQT holds Canadian, US, international developed, and emerging market equities in professionally determined proportions. You do not need to decide how much to put in each.
• Rebalancing? Eliminated. XEQT rebalances internally. You never need to sell one thing and buy another to stay on target.
• Individual stock selection? Eliminated. You own over 9,000 stocks across 49 countries. You are not betting on any single company, sector, or economy.
• Fund comparison? Minimized. XEQT is one ticker. You do not need to compare five ETFs and figure out the right mix.
• Ongoing maintenance? Essentially zero. Set up automatic purchases, contribute regularly, and check in once or twice a year.

The MER is 0.20% – not the absolute lowest you could achieve with a DIY approach, but low enough that the difference is negligible. On a $100,000 portfolio, you are paying roughly $50 more per year than a DIY four-ETF portfolio – in exchange for never having to think about your investments. That is an extraordinarily good deal.

XEQT is not the “perfect” investment. There is no such thing. But it satisfies every criterion a long-term investor needs:

• Broadly diversified across the global equity market
• Low cost (0.20% MER)
• Automatically rebalanced
• From a reputable provider (iShares/BlackRock)
• Available commission-free on platforms like Wealthsimple
• Simple enough to buy once and never think about again

It is the embodiment of “good enough” – and in investing, good enough is great.

8. How to Recover from Financial Perfectionism

If you have recognized yourself in this post – and I suspect many of you have, because I am essentially describing my past self – here is how to break the cycle.

Step 1: Set a deadline. Give yourself one week to finalize your research. Not one more month. Not “when I feel ready.” One week. Put it on your calendar. On that date, you invest. Period.

Step 2: Accept the 90% solution. You do not need the perfect ETF. You need an ETF that is globally diversified, low-cost, and from a reputable provider. XEQT, VEQT, or even XGRO – any of these will get you 90%+ of the way to optimal. That remaining gap is not worth losing sleep over.

Step 3: Automate immediately. The single best thing you can do for your financial future is remove yourself from the decision-making process. Set up automatic deposits and recurring purchases of XEQT. Once it is automated, your perfectionist brain cannot sabotage you. The money goes in whether you feel ready or not.

Step 4: Delete the spreadsheet. I am serious. Or at least close it. That 14-column comparison of XEQT vs. VEQT vs. your DIY portfolio is not helping you anymore. It is a security blanket that gives you permission to keep researching instead of acting. Close it. You have enough information. You have had enough information for weeks.

Step 5: Give yourself permission to be imperfect. This is the hardest step, and it is the most important. You will never have complete information. You will never be 100% certain you made the “right” choice. That uncertainty is not a sign that you need to do more research – it is a fundamental, unavoidable feature of investing. The only way to eliminate it is to not invest at all, which is the worst possible outcome.

I still catch myself falling into perfectionist patterns sometimes. Last year I spent an entire weekend comparing DRIP strategies when I should have been at a barbecue. Old habits die hard.

But here is what I know now that I did not know then: the best investment plan is not the one with the lowest fees, the optimal allocation, or the most sophisticated tax strategy. It is the one you actually follow. And the simpler the plan, the more likely you are to follow it.

The Bottom Line

Financial perfectionism is not a virtue. It is a wealth destroyer disguised as diligence. Every spreadsheet column you add is another excuse not to click “buy.” Every comparison between nearly identical ETFs is a distraction from the only decision that truly matters: are you invested, or are you not?

XEQT exists precisely for people like us. It is a single, globally diversified, automatically rebalanced, low-cost ETF that eliminates virtually every decision a perfectionist would agonize over. It will not be the top-performing fund every year. It will not have the absolute lowest fees on the market. But it will be good enough to build serious, life-changing wealth over decades – and that is all it needs to be.

Stop researching. Stop comparing. Stop waiting for the perfect entry point that will never come.

Just buy XEQT.