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Recommending Questrade for ETFs. The free ETF purchasing is a definite bonus when we're splitting hundreds of percentages.
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Jan 4, 2015 03:11
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tuyop posted:Recommending Questrade for ETFs. The free ETF purchasing is a definite bonus when we're splitting hundreds of percentages.
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Jan 4, 2015 06:29
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cowofwar posted:I would've been with Questrade except when I initially opened an account with them they couldn't manage to do a funds transfer from my old institution or manage to give me the ability to wire funds to my account. Seemed kind of bush league. That's exactly why I don't use them. Also I do so few trades a year that I don't care about a few commissions just for the longevity and lack of hassle when they're eventually and inevitably subsumed into the gaping maw of the Canadian banking oligopoly. VV I signed up in late 2010 or early 2011 so my opinion may well be totally unfair in early 2015. Lexicon fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Jan 4, 2015 |
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Jan 4, 2015 06:39
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Questrade has improved greatly in the last 5 years or so. I don't find them bush league at all.
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Jan 4, 2015 06:58
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Kal Torak posted:Questrade has improved greatly in the last 5 years or so. I don't find them bush league at all.
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Jan 4, 2015 07:37
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Bookmarking: you are on page 43 Also a question: seeing how the CCP recommends a percentage of exposure to the US stock market, and given discussions of US withholding of dividends, would it be of benefit to me, a dual citizen who has to file annually with the US despite a Canadian residency to hold US fund versions of those indices? I'm at the point either this year or the next of having to owe US taxes again and would like to reduce that tax burden however I might.
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Jan 4, 2015 08:32
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cowofwar posted:I thought they brought out a new trading platform semi-recently that was a clusterfuck. No way. IQ is way better than anything they had before.
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Jan 4, 2015 18:54
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I signed up maybe a year ago and they allowed transfer in kind as well as wires, sounds like they just sucked back then. I only use the bare bones trading platform which never game me an issue, I (apocryphally) heard the problems were with the full feature one. The only thing that bugs me is that I can't make spousal TFSA contributions so I have to EMT money to my wife's account which adds an extra 75 basis points in transaction costs. Re: dualcitizenchat - I'd personally want to talk to an accountant. I don't believe you can recoup US withheld taxes by the US for paper in a CDN account, the same way you can't recover what's withheld by the Canadian gov't in your US accounts. Treaty recognized registered accounts are the best shelters, but keep in mind the US doesn't recognize TFSAs and may attempt to charge taxes on gains. Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 06:46 on Jan 5, 2015 |
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Jan 4, 2015 20:59
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Guest2553 posted:I signed up maybe a year ago and they allowed transfer in kind as well as wires, sounds like they just sucked back then. I only use the bare bones trading platform which never game me an issue, I heard the problems were with the full feature one. The only thing that bugs me is that I can't make spousal TFSA contributions so I have to EMT money to my wife's account which adds an extra 75 basis points in transaction costs. That's because there's no such thing as a spousal TFSA.
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Jan 4, 2015 21:15
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Boogle posted:That's because there's no such thing as a spousal TFSA. I probably crossed a wire with spousal RRSP. Same net drag on my finances either way
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Jan 4, 2015 21:20
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Guest2553 posted:Re: dualcitizenchat - I'd personally want to talk to an accountant. I don't believe you can recoup US withheld taxes by the US for paper in a CDN account, the same way you can't recover what's withheld by the Canadian gov't in your US accounts. Treaty recognized registered accounts are the best shelters, but keep in mind the US doesn't recognize TFSAs and may attempt to charge taxes on gains. First step is to chat with the IRS for me I think. I also want to confirm I am reading their reporting requirements on assets over $50k correctly--but I suspect that if I get an IRS stub for US withholding then I can use that on my US filing. Its insane of course that we have to file after having a bona fide residence abroad for decades but  Is the advice still sound to go with the e-series below $50k then convert to EFTs or with the no fees EFT transaction mean just start with them and gogogo? No fees EFTs just on Questrade still? (sorry I'm only on page 51 but things appear to be crystalizing for me and I want to rush ahead of this novel to see if the butler actually did it)
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Jan 4, 2015 22:16
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Guest2553 posted:The only thing that bugs me is that I can't make spousal TFSA contributions so I have to EMT money to my wife's account which adds an extra 75 basis points in transaction costs. How do you normally get money into your own account? Why couldn't you send money to her Questrade TFSA via the pay bills section in your own online banking? I sold my car to my dad and I regretted not just using pay bills in his online banking to send the money to my Questrade account instead of waiting a week for the cheque to clear (and then sending it to Questrade myself anyway).
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Jan 4, 2015 22:58
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Bilirubin posted:Is the advice still sound to go with the e-series below $50k then convert to EFTs or with the no fees EFT transaction mean just start with them and gogogo? Lost my post when my tablet poo poo itself, but yeah you can jump into ETFs right away since there's no cost to buy which is what I did. If you're adding money somewhat regularly you can usually rebalance through buys and avoid selling altogether as well. It takes a couple days for transfers to arrive in my questrade account, but it hasn't caused me any grief yet. Their customer service is pretty solid in my experience as well. TD is a bit easier to use and they allow you to buy partial shares, but their fees are higher. It works out to maybe 30 bucks a year per 10k invested. Unless you're dealing with large amounts or time periods, it's not something that'll break the bank. If you opt for ETFs check out the CCP post on ECN fees. I didn't really understand them until I read that blog entry. Rick Rickshaw posted:How do you normally get money into your own account? Why couldn't you send money to her Questrade TFSA via the pay bills section in your own online banking? I bill-pay it to my own account, the issue is that I can't do so directly into my wife's account. Since we're about 1000 miles from our Canadian banks the only way to get my money to her TFSA is to EMT the cash to her first. e. Tuyop your new avatar is pretty kickin rad.
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Jan 5, 2015 05:40
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Guest2553 posted:Lost my post when my tablet poo poo itself, but yeah you can jump into ETFs right away since there's no cost to buy which is what I did. If you're adding money somewhat regularly you can usually rebalance through buys and avoid selling altogether as well. It takes a couple days for transfers to arrive in my questrade account, but it hasn't caused me any grief yet. Their customer service is pretty solid in my experience as well. TD is a bit easier to use and they allow you to buy partial shares, but their fees are higher. It works out to maybe 30 bucks a year per 10k invested. Unless you're dealing with large amounts or time periods, it's not something that'll break the bank. Made it finally through the thread  Now I have a lot to think about. The lack of transaction fees for EFTs on Questrade is really appealing, but there is a problem with trusting they will be around for the long haul. CIBC has lower EFT trading fees than other direct investment programs of the majors but with even their low transaction fee monthly contributions aren't really feasible are they? TD e-series MFs can be contributed to on an ongoing basis but on the long term (my work life is still 20-25 years) the fees are higher. Convert a TD mutual fund account to avoid Waterhouse account annual fees for balances below 25K (unless those have been recently eliminated?). Plus information on contribution limits to RRSP (which is apparently really easy to max out given my Pension Adjustment, so that was a huge thing to get internalized) and TFSA (which can also hold MFs, another big new thing I learned). But mostly get the gently caress out of my high MER managed fund ASAP are the major things I have learned so far.
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Jan 5, 2015 06:01
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Congrats on making it all the way through the thread. I did the same thing about a year ago myself. Up next is reading all of CCP  This post should answer some of your questions about protections you have as an investor. TL;DR is that Questrade is insured by Canadian Investor Protection Fund to a max of a million per account. It's a private insurer, so they might be dickpains to deal with since their job isn't to maintain confidence in the market system, but it does cover you.I'm not super-smart on how TD runs their shop so I can't answer those questions, but you're right that step 1 = get out of your high MER dodge. Again, be careful with the TFSA since it's not recognized by the US Gov't. If you have US registered accounts those may also change what securities you want to hold where.
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Jan 5, 2015 06:13
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Kal Torak posted:No way. IQ is way better than anything they had before. Maybe when I can get the damned thing to work. Good job picking Silverlight, guys. Bilirubin posted:Made it finally through the thread I think you mean ETF (exchange traded fund). An EFT is an electronic funds transfer. There are two ways for Questrade to go tits up: they implode for whatever reason, or they get worse slowly. In the first case, you're covered for 1 million dollars per account through CIPF, as Guest2553 mentioned. In the second case, other brokerages are trying to poach you all the time and it's almost worth churning accounts for the sign up bonuses. Right now Scotia itrade will give you $250 for opening or transferring an account worth 100k or more ($500 for accounts worth 500k or more). If Questrade turns to poo poo, just switch out, and probably pick up a new account incentive while you're at it. The nice thing about ETFs over MFs, is that you should be able to transfer in kind if you need to move accounts so you don't trigger a taxable event.
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Jan 5, 2015 06:35
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Bilirubin posted:CIBC has lower ETF trading fees than other direct investment programs of the majors but with even their low transaction fee monthly contributions aren't really feasible are they? I seem to recall Lexicon and I discussing that ITT - the idea with ETFs is that you can contribute monthly to your account(s), you just don't buy until you have $X accumulated so that $X >> transaction costs, so you aren't getting bled by the transaction fees for small purchases. IIRC Lexicon's limit was $2,000. In the grand scheme of 20-25 years it's not going to much matter if you only buy every 3-6 months. And yes, if you have a pension watch your RRSP contribution limit - my wife also has a pension with her work that severely limits her RRSP contribution. As far as US/Canada dual citizenship investing stuff, I would agree that an accountant is the way to go, unless you are confident that you can understand all the nuances. Better, I think, to spend some money now to ensure things are done right than potentially losing a lot of money later to a bonehead mistake.
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Jan 5, 2015 11:56
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Aagar posted:I seem to recall Lexicon and I discussing that ITT - the idea with ETFs is that you can contribute monthly to your account(s), you just don't buy until you have $X accumulated so that $X >> transaction costs, so you aren't getting bled by the transaction fees for small purchases. IIRC Lexicon's limit was $2,000. And if I want to similarly invest my TFSA into the same, say, 4 EFTs following the CCP model, that would be four transaction fees to get started, in addition to the four for the RRSP, with annual balancing, that is starting to add up. Am I missing something?
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Jan 5, 2015 15:34
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Guest2553 posted:e. Tuyop your new avatar is pretty kickin rad. From the 2014 goals thread! We had a good year over at chez tuyop. 
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Jan 5, 2015 15:37
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Bilirubin posted:And if I want to similarly invest my TFSA into the same, say, 4 EFTs following the CCP model, that would be four transaction fees to get started, in addition to the four for the RRSP, with annual balancing, that is starting to add up. Am I missing something? E - T - F. Exchange Traded Fund. Ok, look at it this way. Let's say you have $100K total over your RRSP and TFSA. You will buy a total of 8 ETFs (4 in each account) and balance yearly. Total cost: $55.60. Now, lets say you get some Vanguard funds (0.08% S&P 500 Index ETF, 0.10% S&P/TSX Index, 0.10% Canada Short-Term Bond ETF, 0.20% for Global ex-US and Canada Equity Index). Equal weighting: 0.12% (I'm not saying to weigh them equally, just need an overall number). Yearly fee on $100K: $120 So, with yearly fees and transaction fees: $120 + $55.60 = $175.6 Previously, $100K in your managed 2.07% MER fund (bought for free) was: $2070 So, the question is: are you going to begrudge $55.60 when you are saving $1894.40? Even investing a total of $10,000 puts you ahead ($175.6 with ETFs vs. $207 for actively managed fund).
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Jan 5, 2015 18:35
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Aagar posted:E - T - F. Exchange Traded Fund. Sorry, I work on amphibians so my head naturally skews towards efts. ETFs. I get that wrt the managed account (e. except in the case of an account of $10k, which CICB IE charges an extra $100 annually for a balance below $25k for RRSPs. But in that case your $120 should probably be $12 right?). Where I am going to begrudge those fees is in the case where I can get an account that does not charge them, like Questrade. So the calculus here is whether that $55 is worth the peace of mind or whatever I would gain from having the account with a "secure" bank. Bilirubin fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Jan 5, 2015 |
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Jan 5, 2015 18:49
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Bilirubin posted:Sorry, I work on amphibians so my head naturally skews towards efts. ETFs. Also investment accounts don't receive the same protection (CDI) as deposit accounts at major banks as far as I know. When you buy a fund or share you own it and whether or not the holding institution goes tits up doesn't affect that. In this case you would be concerned about issuing institution going tits up. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Jan 5, 2015 |
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Jan 5, 2015 19:01
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I just wanted to be sure I fully understand all options and the various advantages and disadvantages. I think I do, but at this stage, like you say, it probably makes most sense to start with the e-series and build the amount I am holding up higher, get used to the process, and learn new habits. Thanks for your patience thread!
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Jan 5, 2015 20:09
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Thanks to this thread, I'm slowly getting my financial life in order. I started out with a hodgepodge of random stocks and etfs but now have almost gotten my accounts following the CCP models meaning low MER ETFs. I'm still one of those idiots that uses their TSFA as a low interest savings vehicle but I wanted to stay somewhat liquid as I thought of buying a house within the next 5 years. My enthusiasm for that dropped markedly as the Canadian housing bubble thread got bigger and bigger so I think I"ll move my TSFA into index ETFS soon. I currently have money with Sun Life in three accounts: RRSP, Locked-in Retirement Account, and Locked in RRSP. These are all from company provided pension plans and RRSP plans (where the employer will match employee contributions up to 5% blah blah blah). I don't work for the companies anymore that these accounts came from so is there a way that I can move all this money in to my iTrade account and self-direct? Even though Sun Life says they have the lowest MERs I'm sure my average MER is around 2.0% which is ridiculous. I'd love to get this money in to low cost ETFs.
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Jan 6, 2015 14:11
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In CC reward spamming news, I just closed my first year of cards before the annual fee rolled over, net haul from bonuses so far is 40k Aeroplan miles or whatever they call them. This was surprisingly painless, Amex did it through the robot phone operator (press 4 to cancel... press 1 to confirm that you're cancelling your card) and I had to call CIBC to cancel and speak with a human. He sounded slightly dejected. Neither of these providers put up any fight or tried to bargain with me. Should I just turn around and open another round of cards even if they're from the same provider? I'm probably going to open a TD Card, which I haven't done yet, but the next best card is from CIBC, and I just closed an account with them.
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Jan 9, 2015 00:12
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tuyop posted:In CC reward spamming news, I just closed my first year of cards before the annual fee rolled over, net haul from bonuses so far is 40k Aeroplan miles or whatever they call them. This was surprisingly painless, Amex did it through the robot phone operator (press 4 to cancel... press 1 to confirm that you're cancelling your card) and I had to call CIBC to cancel and speak with a human. He sounded slightly dejected. Neither of these providers put up any fight or tried to bargain with me. Do you not get blacklisted after a while in doing this? I sure would if I were running a credit card outfit 
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Jan 9, 2015 00:40
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Lexicon posted:Do you not get blacklisted after a while in doing this? I sure would if I were running a credit card outfit I'm just doing what HawkGirl said to do. 
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Jan 9, 2015 00:43
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tuyop posted:I'm just doing what HawkGirl said to do. The common advice is to wait six months.
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Jan 9, 2015 02:04
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C... posted:The common advice is to wait six months. This is what I've read also. Apply > Wait 6 Months > Cancel > Wait 6 Months > Apply. I earned 65,000 Aeroplan points in bonuses last year. Not expecting as big of a year this year, but maybe. Rick Rickshaw fucked around with this message at 14:23 on Jan 9, 2015 |
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Jan 9, 2015 14:21
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What should I be considering when deciding whether to invest or pay the mortgage down?
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Jan 9, 2015 15:42
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Bilirubin posted:What should I be considering when deciding whether to invest or pay the mortgage down? Your mortgage interest rate versus expected returns on investment.
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Jan 9, 2015 16:37
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Saltin posted:Your mortgage interest rate versus expected returns on investment. This is correct, but it can be hard to fully ascertain numerically. One thing I always tell people: if you're shovelling every last cent at the mortgage, quite apart from the likely higher investments returns elsewhere - you almost certainly aren't taking advantage of available tax shelters like the TFSA or RRSP. Ultimately that should be factored into your "expected return on investment" but many people don't. Lexicon fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Jan 9, 2015 |
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Jan 9, 2015 20:22
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You can either rent and invest or cross your fingers and build house equity. I hear some people also purchase houses in order to have their total housing cost at a third of their income leaving income to invest as well but that's silly.
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Jan 9, 2015 20:43
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Lexicon posted:This is correct, but it can be hard to fully ascertain numerically. Yeah, with my mortgage rate being as low as it is it probably makes most sense to max out RRSP, assuming a 5-7% return, then plow the return into TFSA and/or then pay down mortgage. FWIW the property is not an investment for me, but the opportunity to live where I want and not have to move every year. I only have 12 years left on it or so anyway which will then free up more money to save.
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Jan 9, 2015 22:35
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Bilirubin posted:Yeah, with my mortgage rate being as low as it is it probably makes most sense to max out RRSP, assuming a 5-7% return, then plow the return into TFSA and/or then pay down mortgage. FWIW the property is not an investment for me, but the opportunity to live where I want and not have to move every year. I only have 12 years left on it or so anyway which will then free up more money to save. 
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Jan 9, 2015 23:42
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Lexicon posted:This is correct, but it can be hard to fully ascertain numerically. I'm not sure this it the correct evaluation to make. I think the comparison should be expected increase/decrease in equity over X years for paying mortgage vs saving. Also this being Canada, your mortgage rate is not guaranteed for the entire amortization period so you need to factor in risk of changing interest rates. For example, if you are paying $2000/month towards mortgage and $1500 of that is interest, you probably should pay as much into your mortgage as possible to reduce your exposure to future changes in interest rates. If $1500 of that is going towards principal, you have less exposure to increased interest rates and might have a better return by putting your budget surplus towards savings.
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Jan 9, 2015 23:51
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Mantle posted:I'm not sure this it the correct evaluation to make. I think the comparison should be expected increase/decrease in equity over X years for paying mortgage vs saving. Also this being Canada, your mortgage rate is not guaranteed for the entire amortization period so you need to factor in risk of changing interest rates. For example, if you are paying $2000/month towards mortgage and $1500 of that is interest, you probably should pay as much into your mortgage as possible to reduce your exposure to future changes in interest rates. If $1500 of that is going towards principal, you have less exposure to increased interest rates and might have a better return by putting your budget surplus towards savings. The risk of interest rate changes is a totally orthogonal point to the one I'm making. If you're in the top tax bracket, and paying all your available take-home into your 3% mortgage, you're missing out on a substantial tax sheltering opportunity, and the (likely greater than 3%) tax-sheltered growth thereof (not to mention the opportunity cost of foregoing a TFSA). I believe it to be the case that maximizing mortgage repayment is likely not an optimal strategy, and that that would be true under a variety of interest rate future outcomes.
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Jan 10, 2015 00:01
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My parents don't invest in their TFSAs. How illegal would it be for me to give them money to put into their TFSAs for me? I should have mine maxed this year, so next year I'll have to begin paying down the mortgage after I max my RRSP and contribute either the $5k or $10k of room for next year's TFSA room. I'd much rather open up more TFSA room via my parents! But I don't really know how legal that would be. I'm guessing the issue would be the "gifting" of money, regarding taxes.
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Jan 11, 2015 06:33
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Lexicon posted:This is correct, but it can be hard to fully ascertain numerically. Because capital gains on a residence are tax-free, a primary residence is at some level a tax shelter. It's a lovely one if you (rightly) believe that it has lower expected returns than investing in equities, but it is still a tax shelter.
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Jan 11, 2015 07:49
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Olive Branch posted:While I don't have a mortgage, the advice I read said to invest in RRSP first, then TFSA, then your mortgage. There is a part two to this advice, but it has to do with passive investing and MER avoidance, two things which you've already read about. This is only really good advice if you are in a high tax bracket now and plan to live extremely frugally in retirement. If you are low income now, or high income now but will be high income in retirement, or want flexibility, the TFSA is a probably a better choice. If you are in a high tax bracket now you should be able to max your TFSA easily anyways so there's still not much of a 'choice' there.
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Jan 11, 2015 07:57
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