Mike PhilbrickBMO Balanced SeriesUnits ETFZBAL.TOBUYNov 06, 2026

They're similar. ZMI is for income portfolios vs. ZBAL is for balanced ones. ZMI focuses on high dividends vs. ZBAL which carries international stocks which is more of broad, MSCI-type index. He prefers ZMI because it generates income if you need current income vs ZBAL where you have to sell shares to generate cash.

 It depends on what you need. ZBAL-T is more tax-efficient; when you ultimately sell it, you get a higher capital gains. It doesn't earn that much, so it pays out more than it earns. ZPAY does pay that much, and is tax efficient, if you don't mind current taxes as opposed to deferred taxes. 

He uses these balanced ETFs in smaller accounts. These ETFs do the rebalancing for you. But eventually, you want to invest in the individual building blocks instead of this single solution.

You don't need any fixed income 15 years ahead of retirement, because it depends on your level of risk. If inflation is more persistent for a decade or more because of tariffs, the bonds in a portfolio will fail. Fixed income has been terrible for a decade and will be for a decade more.