For years, I enjoyed building my own investment spreadsheet.

I tracked stock prices, 52-week highs and lows, calculated target allocations, and decided exactly where every dollar should go. Every payday meant opening Excel, checking prices, figuring out which holdings were underweight, and manually placing trades.

It worked, until I realized I was spending far more time managing my portfolio than actually growing it.

If your investing process looks anything like my spreadsheet below, Wealthsimple's new Automated Investing Account might be exactly what you need.

The Spreadsheet Trap

If you do this, your spreadsheet probably looks familiar.

• Amount to invest this period
• What percentage towards what stocks
• Current stock prices
• 52-week highs and lows
• Target portfolio percentages
• Investment amounts
• Number of shares to purchase
• Manual calculations

Should you buy more Telus because it's at its 52-week low?

Is Bank of Nova Scotia a better value today?

Should you skip Fortis this month because it's near its yearly high?

Instead of investing taking five minutes, it turns into an hour of analysis.

The biggest problem isn't the spreadsheet itself, it's that it encourages you to constantly think about timing the market.

The Problem with Manual Stock Buying

Buying individual stocks comes with several hidden challenges.

You Have to Make Every Decision

Every deposit forces you to answer questions like:

• Which stock is cheapest today?
• Which position is underweight?
• Should I wait for prices to drop?
• Am I buying too much of one company?

Even experienced investors second-guess themselves.

Rebalancing Becomes a Chore

Markets move.

One stock outperforms while another falls behind.

Suddenly your carefully planned allocation isn't so balanced anymore.

That means:

• recalculating percentages
• adjusting future purchases
• sometimes selling winners
• buying laggards

It isn't difficult—it just takes time.

You're Constantly Watching Prices

When you're managing every purchase yourself, it's easy to become obsessed with daily price movements.

A stock drops 5%.

Should you buy more?

It rises 8%.

Did you miss your chance?

Instead of thinking long term, you're reacting to short-term noise.

Enter Wealthsimple's Automated Investing Account

This isn't the same as a traditional robo-advisor.

Instead of handing over every investment decision, Wealthsimple lets you create your own target portfolio using eligible stocks, ETFs, or even direct indexes. You decide what belongs in your portfolio and what percentage each investment should represent. Wealthsimple then automatically invests new deposits and helps keep your portfolio aligned with those targets.

Think of it as your spreadsheet, without the spreadsheet.

Automatic Investing Every Time You Deposit

One of the best features is what happens after you add money.

Instead of manually deciding where every dollar goes, Wealthsimple automatically purchases investments that are below their target allocation. This keeps your portfolio moving back toward your desired percentages with every contribution.

If your goal is:

• Telus – 20%
• Bank of Nova Scotia – 20%
• Fortis – 20%
• Enbridge – 20%
• Brookfield – 20%

You don't need to calculate anything.

The platform does it for you.

Automatic Rebalancing Without Selling Everything Yourself

Markets move.

Some stocks outperform while others fall behind.

With a spreadsheet, rebalancing usually means opening Excel, recalculating percentages, and deciding what to buy—or sometimes what to sell.

Wealthsimple automatically executes trades based on the target allocations you've already set, keeping your portfolio closer to your intended mix as deposits and withdrawals occur.

That means less math and fewer opportunities for emotion to influence your investing.

You Stay in Control

One thing I really like is that this isn't handing your money over to someone else to make investment decisions.

You still choose:

• which eligible stocks or ETFs to own
• your target allocation
• when to contribute
• when to make changes

The automation simply handles the repetitive execution according to the instructions you've already provided. Wealthsimple doesn't provide investment recommendations or change your strategy for you, it follows the allocation you've chosen.

For DIY investors, that's a nice middle ground between fully self-directed investing and a managed portfolio.

Is It Worth the Fee?

Wealthsimple charges an annual service fee of 0.25% for Automated Investing accounts, capped at $250 per account per year. In exchange, it automatically invests deposits, maintains your target allocation, supports fractional investing on eligible securities, and removes the manual work of portfolio maintenance.

Only you can decide whether that fee is worthwhile.

For someone investing in just one ETF each month, it may not be necessary.

But if you're maintaining a diversified portfolio with multiple stocks or ETFs—especially using a spreadsheet to calculate every purchase, the time savings and convenience may easily justify the cost.

Final Thoughts

I still love a good spreadsheet.

It helped me understand portfolio allocation, taught me discipline, and gave me confidence as an investor.

But I realized I didn't want to spend my investing journey updating formulas and calculating share purchases every payday.

I wanted a system that would faithfully execute my investing plan without requiring constant attention.

Wealthsimple's Automated Investing Account does exactly that.

It lets you build the portfolio you want while automating the repetitive tasks that spreadsheets were created to solve in the first place.

Sometimes the smartest upgrade isn't changing your investment strategy.

It's changing the way you execute it.

My split for my portfolio (I am not an investment advisor and I am not providing investment advise)

This is a portfolio that I built to balance long-term growth, reliable dividend income, and global diversification. Broad-market ETFs provide exposure to the U.S., Canadian, international, and emerging markets, while a core allocation to high-quality Canadian companies adds stability and consistent dividend growth. A small allocation to gold helps reduce overall portfolio volatility during periods of market uncertainty. The result is a diversified, buy-and-hold portfolio designed to generate growing passive income while capturing long-term capital appreciation across multiple sectors and regions.

Happy Investing! and if you don't already have an account at WealthSimple, sign-up now.

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