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Thanks for this interesting discussion, its quite useful. Just ordered 4 Pillars and added in Millionaire Teacher to get my free Amazon shipping with some left over gift cards. Looking forward to reading them. In the meantime my wife is making her own projections for her online business for our "serious money talk" (to be held naturally enough over beers at the pub) in a week and a bit. I want to thank the thread and the information resources out there that have helped make what has always been a bit of a black box a bit less opaque. Not only will I be paying much lower fees on my savings, but I have also decided to kick the fees based chequing account to the curb in favour of Tangerine or PC.
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Jan 12, 2015 21:34
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Bilirubin posted:Thanks for this interesting discussion, its quite useful. 4 Pillars will really change your life. Not that there is anything in there that hasn't been said ITT in some fashion, but just seeing it laid out in such a straight-forward and easy-to-understand manner is very refreshing. If your still on the fence about index investing, you'll be converted by the end of the book.
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Jan 12, 2015 21:50
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Holy poo poo moving my regular accounts to Tangerine will get both more interest and fewer fees, sold. The more I look, the less competitive CIBC gets no matter what category I examine, other than my credit card that pays me cash dollars every year.
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Jan 14, 2015 20:34
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Bilirubin posted:Holy poo poo moving my regular accounts to Tangerine will get both more interest and fewer fees, sold. Compare accounts with pc financial which has similar rates to tangerine but also gives you grocery points! Also, check out the MBNA Smartcash (platinum plus?) cards. When I checked a couple of years ago they were the best no fee cash back cards.
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Jan 14, 2015 21:28
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My wife used to have a PC mastercard and fired them because of their poor customer service and constant spam so we aren't inclined to look at them but a good suggestion nevertheless. Hopefully they have improved
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Jan 14, 2015 23:33
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Bilirubin posted:My wife used to have a PC mastercard and fired them because of their poor customer service and constant spam so we aren't inclined to look at them but a good suggestion nevertheless. Hopefully they have improved Yeah it's been great for the past few years. Almost as good as TD as far as I can tell. The last call I made had like two rings and about ten minutes before my issue was resolved.
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Jan 15, 2015 00:18
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Finally managed to read through the whole thread and am getting ready to get into the index fund game. It's been a really enlightening read, and we've already got a few mistakes we can correct. Since I started working here a couple of years ago, I've been contributing into our ESPP, which is an additional 25% contribution of up to 5% of our pay. I've got $10k in there now, as well as $7k in available value in stock options, which this thread has taught me is a horrible place for the bulk of my savings to be. I've also got $2.5k in a RRSP I halfheartedly started when I paid off my car, but putting that money into a TFSA sounds like a much better idea due to the RRSP's 2.2% MER. My SO, on the other hand, has $35k in this Scotiabank portfolio with an MER of 2.42%, which this thread has led us to believe is in super-ripoff territory. She did the math and is definitely interested in switching over to ETFs or eSeries funds. Is it just a matter of cashing out all of my shares and paying all of the associated fees and taxes, then putting that money into a TFSA for investing purposes? Or is there a more ideal way to transfer funds from a Solium Shareworks account? I'm guessing I'll have a little over $10k if I simply cash out, which I'll probably put into a TD eSeries account to get my feet wet with index fund trading. Or would that be enough money to jump straight into ETFs? Same question with my partner's TFSA - is $35k enough to make purchasing ETFs cost effective? Either way, I'm going to try out one of those Questrade practice accounts to see what we're getting into. Sorry if any of this sounds dumb. I think I've got the gist of it, and I want to make sure we're on the right track before booking an appointment with TD.
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Jan 15, 2015 02:13
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It seems like you're conflating investment vehicles with investment accounts. The RRSP doesn't have an MER of 2.2%, the investment you are holding IN the RRSP does. You could buy hold that same investment in a TFSA and it would still cost you 2.2%. I can't give you a detailed plan right now, but one thing you need to be very aware of with registered accounts (i.e. TFSAs and RRSPs), they have restrictions on withdrawals and contribution limits. In particular, if you withdraw your money from your RRSP, the amount you withdraw is considered employment income and is added on top of year earnings in the year of the withdrawal-- therefore it is taxed at the highest marginal rate that you pay for that year. In addition to that, you do not regain the RRSP contribution room you used up when you initially put in the money. How do you get out of paying 2.2% MER and move it to another institution you say? First convert the investment into cash, and leave it in your RRSP. Then you can move the cash into another RRSP opened at another institution (Questrade, Qtrade, Tangerine, TD, or whatever you decide to use). This transfer must be initiated by the receiving institution in order to avoid triggering a withdrawal from your RRSP, so talk to the receiving institution about how to initiate the transfer. You will also need to pay a transfer out fee from the transferring institution, which sucks. Once the cash is in the new institution's RRSP, then you can buy whatever investment vehicles you want according to your investment strategy.
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Jan 15, 2015 03:30
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Awesome, my next question was going to be what to do with the funds I currently have in my RRSP, and you've answered that perfectly. I had a feeling that I was best served by leaving the money in the RRSP, but I wasn't sure of what was involved with moving it around without getting hit with taxes. Thanks!
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Jan 15, 2015 03:40
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Am I crazy for thinking that a higher MER is acceptable in exchange for a better dividend yield, assuming the difference in yield exceeds the difference in MER? I'm looking at reshuffling my portfolio and focusing on dividend yields since the extra monthly/quarterly income is really nice. There's lots of iShares funds that pay 3% or better but their MERs are higher across the board compared to Vanguard funds with much lower yields.
Vatek fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Jan 15, 2015 |
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Jan 15, 2015 18:59
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I just got a letter from TD saying I have a bank draft owing to the Minister of Finance for $80.00 from 2012, does anyone have any idea what this could be? I didn't even have a credit card back then but if I have 3 years of a missed payment could my credit history be rocked? There isn't anything that this could really be.
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Jan 16, 2015 02:17
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Wilhelm posted:I just got a letter from TD saying I have a bank draft owing to the Minister of Finance for $80.00 from 2012, does anyone have any idea what this could be? I didn't even have a credit card back then but if I have 3 years of a missed payment could my credit history be rocked? There isn't anything that this could really be. You should probably call TD about this letter!
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Jan 16, 2015 02:28
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Excellent thread All I have to contribute is my pdf copy of Seth Karlman's 12,000 bux book \ Who is Seth and what is this funny book about ? Good question: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/04/16/seth-klarman-billionaire-book-investors-holy-grail/ Hal_2005 fucked around with this message at 10:24 on Jan 17, 2015 |
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Jan 17, 2015 00:50
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 Also, all the links on that page prompt me to download some .exe from some .ru website so imma have to pass for now.
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Jan 17, 2015 08:32
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Guest2553 posted:
Odd. I'll remove the link and will review it, it should not be that way. Sorry
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Jan 17, 2015 10:24
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25 basis point cut 
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Jan 21, 2015 16:38
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Wow, that is shocking.
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Jan 21, 2015 16:40
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Could someone give a layman's summary of what just happened?
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Jan 21, 2015 16:45
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Poloz is shiting his pants that he'll miss his inflation target. Exports and unemployment are not showing positive signs. Oil lost 60% of its market value. Poloz is hoping to stimulate the economy by making it very cheap to buy Canadian goods and cheap to borrow money, amongst other things. This will probably create jobs and keep inflation up. Now is a good time to Google zirp.
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Jan 21, 2015 16:48
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This is just hilarious policy, a large number of Canadians are over extended on their house(s) to begin with and continue to spend on HELOC type products. The CMHC continues to underwrite these consumers spending habits. If rates don't rise soon this living on credit economy we are essentially pushing will cause large issues in the future.
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Jan 21, 2015 17:30
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Poloz kicked the can, embracing short term monetary policy at long term consequence, demonstrating that the BoC is captured by politicians as it is an election year.
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Jan 21, 2015 17:33
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Isn't this just going to further increase the household debt to income ratio? How is that ever going to drop?
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Jan 21, 2015 17:54
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Pieces posted:Isn't this just going to further increase the household debt to income ratio? Do you know what else increases the household debt to income ratio? A rise in unemployment due to a 50% drop in oil. Right now the price of oil is clearly trumping everything else.
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Jan 21, 2015 18:07
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The joys of being a petrostate 
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Jan 21, 2015 18:25
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jm20 posted:The joys of being a petrostate Except that Canada isn't. You might be surprised to learn oil makes up like 7% of GDP. It's high but to put things in perspective, Norway oil and gas is 22% of GDP and Venezuela is like 25%.
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Jan 21, 2015 18:56
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How does currency appreciation work for tax purposes? If you have a bunch of USD sitting in an account, and CADUSD drops (as we've seen) - do you owe tax on the gain? What about the reverse - I have a hard time imagining them letting you claim a capital loss.
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Jan 21, 2015 19:09
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Ah yes, loving cra makes you look up the exchange rate for the days that you buy or sell.
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Jan 21, 2015 19:17
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Lexicon posted:How does currency appreciation work for tax purposes? If you have a bunch of USD sitting in an account, and CADUSD drops (as we've seen) - do you owe tax on the gain? What about the reverse - I have a hard time imagining them letting you claim a capital loss. If you hold a bunch of USD and CADUSD drops, your gains only exist on paper. Capital gains applies to realized gains and losses, which means that there has to be an actual transaction involved (i.e. CADUSD drops and you then proceed to exchange your USD for CAD, incurring a capital gain.) Vatek fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Jan 21, 2015 |
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Jan 21, 2015 19:18
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Cultural Imperial posted:Except that Canada isn't. You might be surprised to learn oil makes up like 7% of GDP. Let Alberta know they aren't a petrostate, this knowledge might help balance their books.
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Jan 21, 2015 19:18
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Vatek posted:If you hold a bunch of USD and CADUSD drops, your gains only exist on paper unless you perform a transaction to exchange your USD for CAD. The CRA taxes transactions, not paper gains. Yeah, so obviously paper gains wouldn't be taxed - just like capital gains - but are you saying you're expected to know what CAD price you acquired USD at and at what CAD price you eventually sell it at? That seems bonkers.
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Jan 21, 2015 19:25
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Sassafras fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Jan 26, 2015 |
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Jan 21, 2015 19:38
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Lexicon posted:Yeah, so obviously paper gains wouldn't be taxed - just like capital gains - but are you saying you're expected to know what CAD price you acquired USD at and at what CAD price you eventually sell it at? That seems bonkers. It's not really any different than being expected to know what price you bought/sold a stock at for tax purposes.
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Jan 21, 2015 19:44
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Capital gains and losses are supposed to be reported using the exchange rate on the date of buy/sell. However, income such as dividends and interest can be reported using the annual average exchange rate. And that is the rate that is always reflected on T3/T5.
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Jan 21, 2015 19:51
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I know this is a bit of a change in topic but I have some questions with. My friend basically stopped paying attention to his financial state for 3-4 months. We’re talking no minimum payments on his 3 credit cards. He’s had no issues before this. Card #1 was through his bank, and went to internal collections and the card was closed. He talked to them, made payment, and arranged paying the rest off. Card #2 was a retail card and was send to 3rd party collections. He called the collections agency and has a plan in place to pay it. Card #3 was a retail card. This one was closed and possibly sent to collections, but maybe an internal collections team. No plan yet to pay it off yet, he was referred to another phone number and is calling today. I think from my limited knowledge that these are all probably R5s on his credit report already. I also doubt that his bank will be willing to open his credit card again, and he’d have to go through reapplication, which would likely get denied due to the R5s. I’m looking for advice on how to build up credit so that hopefully it’s not 7 years before he gets approved for a credit card again. I was thinking a prepaid credit card could show as available credit to lenders, which is good. Also he has a LOC with his bank, so unless they closed it he can maybe use that and start building up R1s again? Or is he just screwed for the next 7 years?
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Jan 22, 2015 16:49
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jm20 posted:25 basis point cut So, I see that my investments are now worth about 3k more (out of ~50k). Is this connected to the basis point cut? I mean, this is terrible news because stocks get more expensive but I really don't understand how this works. Does the point cut makes money less expensive? So with more money in the system, stock prices inflate to maintain their current value? What's going on???
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Jan 22, 2015 17:09
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tuyop posted:So, I see that my investments are now worth about 3k more (out of ~50k). Is this connected to the basis point cut? I mean, this is terrible news because stocks get more expensive but I really don't understand how this works. I think it's because the dollar went down. My US & International investments went up huge. 4% in one day for one of my emerging markets ETFs, I think.
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Jan 22, 2015 17:14
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Yeah, it's the FX rate. The dollar dropped by more than a cent yesterday.
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Jan 22, 2015 17:18
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I'm trying to understand a bit better exactly what the drop in the value of the dollar means for equities. I assume it wouldn't make sense to buy USD equities at this time since your buying power is lower. If the CAD rises eventually, this would reduce your gains by some percentage when compared back against CAD, right? And what about selling USD equities you have purchased when the CAD was much higher. Would it make sense to sell some of these (and convert the USD gains back to CAD) when the CAD appears to have bottomed out and is rebounding?
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Jan 22, 2015 18:42
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book of blue posted:I know this is a bit of a change in topic but I have some questions with. My friend basically stopped paying attention to his financial state for 3-4 months. We’re talking no minimum payments on his 3 credit cards. He’s had no issues before this. He might be able to get a Secured Credit Card? That's how I got a credit card when I was 16. He would need cash he can lock up against it though.
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Jan 22, 2015 18:43
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The Butcher posted:I'm trying to understand a bit better exactly what the drop in the value of the dollar means for equities. Assuming you know what the currency is going to do, this is correct. But good luck with that.
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Jan 22, 2015 18:45
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