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VelociBacon posted:That and how slow they were to get on free e-transfers makes them look like a trash option. But enough judgment about their customers already! What was the rejected merchant? (Chargeback heaven like porn / video games?)
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Aug 20, 2020 01:03
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I use tangerine and had that happen. It was skipthedishes. It was very odd, since I'd used them a bunch before. They told me they'd been getting a ton of scams recently so they started pre-blocking. It was not an ideal experience, but the cashback is legit, and I've not had it happen again yet. The one time I legit had fraudulent charges they handled it very quickly and easily. Also, no fees is nice.
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Aug 21, 2020 03:02
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I want to make sure I'm understanding something correctly, please excuse any errors as I'm getting this out while on night shift and I'm exhausted. HXQ is a TSE-traded ETF that tracks the Nasdaq 100. It's basically QQQ. It's traded in CAD (there is HXQ.U for USD) and is NOT CAD-hedged, so the fluctuation of the USD means that the movement of HXQ isn't exactly the same as QQQ despite tracking the same underlying holdings. Where I'm unclear is how the USD/CAD movement actually affects HXQ's price on any given day, and if it's specifically the movement of the USD (against any other currency) which makes a difference or if it's specifically against the CAD. From observation it feels like when the USD does well, HXQ outperforms QQQ. Is this simply reflecting the increased value of the shares of the company relative to the currency (CAD) in which they were indirectly purchased? Should there be some finite relationship here that would make sense, IE the value of QQQ multiplied by x% of the intraday performance of the USD/CAD relationship should always give me the current price of HXQ?
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Aug 23, 2020 10:57
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VelociBacon posted:I want to make sure I'm understanding something correctly, please excuse any errors as I'm getting this out while on night shift and I'm exhausted. As I understand it, if the the fund is not currency hedged, then it is effectively in the underlying currency. So the price in Canadian dollars is the price of the underlying fund in USD times the current exchange rate.
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Aug 24, 2020 00:52
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Yep, you can check out hxq.u to see it without the currency impact.
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Aug 24, 2020 01:12
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Great, thanks guys.
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Aug 24, 2020 08:20
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Anyone else have that free access to CreditView Dashboard? A Transunion thing? I've noticed that, if I "simulate" my credit score with literally no changes, it goes up 20 points. I've also noticed that Transunion does not know about my mortgage apparently. I'm waiting on my free Equifax report to see if it's both.
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Aug 27, 2020 22:25
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Are there any platforms where you can buy a foreign government bond directly?
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Sep 11, 2020 19:00
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Sassafras posted:The best card for the past decade (Capital One Aspire Travel, 2% on absolutely everything, great insurance benefits, and some extra stuff) just self-imolated by reducing rewards to 1.5% and everyone with the grandfathered $20 annual fee net of rewards now pays 120 ... That's with an effective date of Aug 5 everywhere but Quebec (Sept 6) and I'd expect similar fallout in the near future for the two or three other cards left that paid 2% with fewer perks due to general industry wide reductions in merchant fees. A few of the other cards that usually don't verify incomes have announced plans to downgrade you if your total annual spend isn't large enough, too. Take that, retired mother and also little sister who were just telling me they had the top tier President's Choice Financial one the other day! Assuming this is still the case? I'm firmly in a "gently caress CIBC" mood right now and am contemplating ditching my "oh we'll waive your annual fee for your Visa Dividend if you go Infinite HAHAHA JUST KIDDING...unless you open a new account with a minimum balance of $6k" bait and switch card. Only thing preventing me from doing it immediately is that it's my oldest card by far but man has their customer service nosedived into the centre of the earth over the past decade.
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Sep 17, 2020 17:55
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Bilirubin posted:Assuming this is still the case? I'm firmly in a "gently caress CIBC" mood right now and am contemplating ditching my "oh we'll waive your annual fee for your Visa Dividend if you go Infinite HAHAHA JUST KIDDING...unless you open a new account with a minimum balance of $6k" bait and switch card. Only thing preventing me from doing it immediately is that it's my oldest card by far If your oldest card is a fee-based card, I believe you can change it to a free tier without closing the account and keep it alive by just buying something once per year and paying it off.
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Sep 17, 2020 18:08
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Bilirubin posted:Assuming this is still the case? I'm firmly in a "gently caress CIBC" mood right now and am contemplating ditching my "oh we'll waive your annual fee for your Visa Dividend if you go Infinite HAHAHA JUST KIDDING...unless you open a new account with a minimum balance of $6k" bait and switch card. Only thing preventing me from doing it immediately is that it's my oldest card by far No change at all - pandemic must have derailed some plans to release new high end travel reward cards or something.
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Sep 17, 2020 18:13
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Sassafras posted:No change at all - pandemic must have derailed some plans to release new high end travel reward cards or something. Not two minutes ago I did a survey for CIBC (I'm in some advisory panel thing) for travel rewards card and I basically said "NO DO NOT ADVERTISE OR LAUNCH TRAVEL REWARDS CARDS NOW WTF" to every question haha.
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Sep 17, 2020 19:56
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Cold on a Cob posted:If your oldest card is a fee-based card, I believe you can change it to a free tier without closing the account and keep it alive by just buying something once per year and paying it off. yeah I should probably keep it alive. Stepping back to the free tier is probably what I will do. Is the king of cash back cards still the MNBA World Elite? Its been a few years since I last did a side-by-side comparison
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Sep 17, 2020 20:05
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Tangerine is offering a VISA debit upgrade to client cards. Don’t accept it. When a credit card incurs fraudulent transactions you have a lot of protection and aren’t out the money. If your client card/chequing account/savings account gets a fraudulent transaction then you’re hosed until the investigation concludes in your favour (it wont). Never use VISA debit. Only use your client card at bank based ABMs.
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Sep 17, 2020 20:49
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Someone make a prepaid credit card co-op that simply provides cash back after paying for expenses. Make the merchant fees variable so we can go easy on local stores and extract 4% from the big corporations.
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Sep 17, 2020 21:12
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cowofwar posted:Tangerine is offering a VISA debit upgrade to client cards. Don’t accept it. When a credit card incurs fraudulent transactions you have a lot of protection and aren’t out the money. If your client card/chequing account/savings account gets a fraudulent transaction then you’re hosed until the investigation concludes in your favour (it wont). Never use VISA debit. Only use your client card at bank based ABMs. Good tip, I got that email and was like “nah” because I never use debit due to cash back visa etc. But it is a good reason to be wary. On the visa front, any tips on getting annual fees waived? I have a cibc dividend infinite with the first year free but that is up in december. Any good options to potentially jump to to avoid the fees? I do get a lot more in cash back than what it’ll cost, but I just hate fees on CCs..
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Sep 17, 2020 21:16
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yippee cahier posted:Someone make a prepaid credit card co-op that simply provides cash back after paying for expenses. Make the merchant fees variable so we can go easy on local stores and extract 4% from the big corporations. Pretty sure visa controls the fees and negotiates them with merchants, and that's why wal-mart pays much less than your favourite local store. If you give a poo poo about your favourite local store, pay cash or at least debit.
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Sep 17, 2020 22:05
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cowofwar posted:Tangerine is offering a VISA debit upgrade to client cards. Don’t accept it. When a credit card incurs fraudulent transactions you have a lot of protection and aren’t out the money. If your client card/chequing account/savings account gets a fraudulent transaction then you’re hosed until the investigation concludes in your favour (it wont). Never use VISA debit. Only use your client card at bank based ABMs. Ah poo poo too late for me. That said I don't ever use the visa debit feature tbh. I don't think there's any marginal risk. Covids got me so bored I said yes for the excitement of getting mail.
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Sep 20, 2020 02:36
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So despite the world ending I'm once again moving to Vancouver in December. You all were pretty helpful before so figured I'd ask some questions again, ones I'm sure you already answered. For banks, is there any major difference between the big Canadian ones? Ultimately I'd prefer a credit union but I think it might be easier to get one set up at a major bank ahead of time to help pay for things (if nothing else to get a paypal set up in with CAN money and not pay the crazy exchange rates they charge). I've read the thread title and I know all banks suck, but any advice on what to look out for or avoid with the banks would be helpful (or just scare me into a credit union anyway, especially if you have recs for one in Vancouver). For rainy day savings, etc, is there a good option up there? We use an online only bank here that is giving us a whopping 0.8% return but still better than brick and mortar banks. I might keep our current US one for some things and probably not a rush to set up a new account, but would rather have rainy day money in CAN eventually. As far as transferring in our money, I see a lot of stuff online about Wire Transfer which appears to charge less than banks, etc (right now they have a ~1.32 rate and are charging ~0.84% as a fee). I know not to use the banks internal transfer rates, etc but if there are better options people know about again I'd love any recs. I'm sure I'll have plenty of other questions. Edit: looks like WireTransfer isn't exactly fixed, went down to ~0.51% when I did $30k instead of $10k in their quote calculator Voodoofly fucked around with this message at 16:40 on Sep 20, 2020 |
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Sep 20, 2020 16:34
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Voodoofly posted:Holy poo poo your big banks suck Yeah I remember going through this again. I think I've already scared myself into using a credit union in five minutes of research, so definitely any recs are appreciated. I remember VanCity and Coast Capital being recommended before.
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Sep 20, 2020 16:48
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The big banks all suck equally, my only recommendation is to have zero loyalty. I think I've had accounts at three of them over the years. Refuse to pay any fees and you'll do ok. Sometimes you gotta go for the "no fee" brand owned by a big bank, like Simplii (CIBC) or Tangerine (Scotiabank), but beyond monthly fee they're all the same these days. Guessing you mean TransferWise? Because the banks will gouge you on wire fees if you do wire transfers (though it's a fixed cost, so a one-time big move may be ok). For exchanging US dollars, TransferWise is indeed decent. You can go cheaper with Norbert's Gambit but it's more hassle. In between is something like KnightsbridgeFX. High-interest accounts are listed at https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/chart/ take your pick. I've actually switched to EQ Bank for day-to-day (not just parking my emergency fund) and it's going well. They have some integration with TransferWise, though I don't think there's any discounts involved. You may already know but just in case: you can get US dollar bank accounts at Canadian banks. Could simplify some logistics, especially if you don't want to exchange all your dollars up front? I know nothing about credit unions so hopefully someone else can share.
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Sep 20, 2020 17:09
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You’re free to pick the credit union of your choice, as all banks use the same processing networks. You’ll be able to email transfer to anyone and withdraw cash from a random ATM in a different province from any of them. I think Vancity is relatively popular, but google around for bank branches if that’s important to you. Good luck and be prepared for experiencing the thread title when you get a phone plan.
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Sep 20, 2020 17:16
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Thanks for the recs. Looking into it yes all the banks suck pretty equally and the credit unions look much better. Thankfully our work is paying for both of our phone plans, so now I just need to discover how bad your internet service is (I mean, it can't be worse or more expensive than here, right?)
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Sep 20, 2020 21:30
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I don't know where "here" is, but yes, it can be worse.
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Sep 20, 2020 21:42
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Voodoofly posted:(I mean, it can't be worse or more expensive than here, right?) Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha
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Sep 20, 2020 23:56
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Voodoofly posted:(I mean, it can't be worse or more expensive than here, right?) Yes.
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Sep 22, 2020 21:18
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Vancity is decent enough, I know a few people who work there and it seems as pleasant as a bank/CU can be. It's a super "normal" bank/CU to use, so if their systems/ATMs are down or there's a big change for the better/worse, it affects half the city in some way and you'll know about it. Lots of branches. If you happen to be living right next to the branch of a smaller CU, give them a chance. Far less churn in account managers so you might actually get a human you can call/email with issues who actually knows who you are. Smaller CUs can still use Vancity ATMs with no fees. If you're under 45, find an account with 5/10/unlimited Interac transfers, it's the default method of sending each other money for splitting a meal or whatever. They used to cost $1.50 each but a couple years ago everyone started offering accounts with free transfers. There are still plenty of legacy accounts that still charge $1.50 though.
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Sep 23, 2020 23:09
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I really, really hope this happens. It won't benefit me directly but I think it's about time we stopped forcing people to jump through hoops when the government already has everything they need to calculate most people's tax returns and give them benefits they qualify for. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/free-automatic-tax-returns-benefits-1.5739678 quote:The federal government says it will soon introduce a free, automatic tax filing system for simple returns — a policy change meant to provide government benefits to qualified people who don't collect them now because they skip filing their taxes. Cold on a Cob fucked around with this message at 17:13 on Sep 27, 2020 |
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Sep 27, 2020 17:11
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Hell yes. They run free tax, uh, clinics? for easy returns through the public library here. It's CRA-organized, with CRA people, but it's up to the library to take names and organize logistics. They fill up basically immediately, it's insanely popular. And there is zero reason for any manual involvement whatsoever. One of those infuriating programs that shouldn't have to exist. Hopefully they don't gently caress this up with an upper limit on income for automatic returns. The thing through the library requires you make less than $X, which I get because they have limited availability. But there's no reason for that limit on automatic returns, and if rich people with simple returns also benefit, maybe it won't be reversed by the next government?
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Sep 27, 2020 18:26
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pokeyman posted:But there's no reason for that limit on automatic returns, and if rich people with simple returns also benefit, maybe it won't be reversed by the next government? Yeah, and it would gently caress HR Block/Intuit a bit, which I'm all about.
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Sep 27, 2020 18:33
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A GIC matured containing money that I'm eyeing for a possible downpayment one day. I have no idea when I'll be accessing this money - unlikely sooner than 5 years but I honestly don't know. To make sure I'm not missing anything, my safe options are basically a high interest savings account or another GIC? The rates are so terrible right now that I'm tempted to put it into government bonds or something but I'm not knowledgeable enough to understand the risk of that.
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Sep 27, 2020 20:47
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Shofixti posted:A GIC matured containing money that I'm eyeing for a possible downpayment one day. I have no idea when I'll be accessing this money - unlikely sooner than 5 years but I honestly don't know. An eq savings account is your best bet. If they tank the rate (1.7%) it's liquid so you can go to your next best option then. I think there are some competitors with tfsa alternatives that might be better, but you'd need to check. Besides, even after tax that 1.7 will be better than most. That is better than any government bond you could get right now.
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Sep 27, 2020 22:30
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Jenkl posted:An eq savings account is your best bet. If they tank the rate (1.7%) it's liquid so you can go to your next best option then. I think there are some competitors with tfsa alternatives that might be better, but you'd need to check. Besides, even after tax that 1.7 will be better than most. Thanks! I should have mentioned the funds are in a TFSA. Seems like EQ Savings doesn't offer TFSAs. But in principle, seems like I should just look for the highest interest rate TFSA savings account.
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Sep 28, 2020 00:09
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Is this the thread to bellyache about possibly buying a home in Toronto?
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Oct 6, 2020 04:16
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Welcome, friend.
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Oct 6, 2020 04:38
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I had the good luck of finding out my wife's parents are super keen on getting her into a home. They've pledged 220k and we've put together another 200k. I never thought I'd have anywhere near this kind of money so I learned NOTHING about real estate and put everything extra into a TFSA. And I live pretty lean, so we started to put together decent savings for retirement. But with her parents offering to jumpstart us, it seems like we could finally jump out of nightmarish 1 bedroom apartment living. I'm awake at night and now that she's working at home we have to tiptoe around to not cause noise while the other is sleeping and it's just no way to live, man. Can't even do our hobbies. Or barbecue. And both of our jobs are only ever going to be in the city, so we're here to stay. We're looking at houses in the 700-850k range, all in, on a 130-150k joint gross income. So a mortgage of 300-450k, at historically low rates (for at least a while). I mean, I know we can afford it without just being house poor and we can absorb a downturn, but I have questions. One: am I insane? Two: it's easy to look at the 25 year amortization number, but is there any benefit other than forced savings and early equity for going lower, like 20 or even 15 year? I read about early payment penalties and it's pretty foggy. If I wanted to put another big payment towards the mortgage, where do I find the exact maximum number you can put towards it each year? Three: what kind of barbecue and lazyboy should I get? edit: also, I feel like someone somewhere is going to call me a lucky rear end in a top hat to have this problem, and you're right, and I'm sorry in advance. But I wanted to be honest and get good advice. So please look past that and know that I will get karmically hosed somehow. redbrouw fucked around with this message at 05:35 on Oct 6, 2020 |
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Oct 6, 2020 05:17
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What a coincidence, my landlord says they have to sell so I might have to finally buy a place again. :\ We could stay and make the new owners go through the trouble of getting rid of us but we're ready to move on anyway. At least prices in Mississauga for condos are on par to last year right now and I pulled my money out of the market at the recent peak so yay for that. Definitely gonna get a free month of rent out of this though, either they'll give it freely or I'll get it via section 48 by refusing to leave without a legal section 49 or section 48 eviction. redbrouw posted:I had the good luck of finding out my wife's parents are super keen on getting her into a home. They've pledged 220k and we've put together another 200k. I never thought I'd have anywhere near this kind of money so I learned NOTHING about real estate and put everything extra into a TFSA. And I live pretty lean, so we started to put together decent savings for retirement. But with her parents offering to jumpstart us, it seems like we could finally jump out of nightmarish 1 bedroom apartment living. I'm awake at night and now that she's working at home we have to tiptoe around to not cause noise while the other is sleeping and it's just no way to live, man. Can't even do our hobbies. Or barbecue. And both of our jobs are only ever going to be in the city, so we're here to stay. A lot of mortgages will let you pay quite a bit extra up front without penalties so it can be worth keeping your monthly obligations low if you're disciplined enough to take advantage of those options. Read here for more info: https://www.ratehub.ca/mortgage-pre-payment Cold on a Cob fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Oct 6, 2020 |
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Oct 6, 2020 05:24
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Cold on a Cob posted:A lot of mortgages will let you pay quite a bit extra up front without penalties so it can be worth keeping your monthly obligations low if you're disciplined enough to take advantage of those options. Ah, I see that now, some of the prepayment stuff is up to 10% of the original principal which is more than we'd likely be able or want to pay. Thank you. How much bargaining power does a 50% downpayment give you with mortgage lenders? Am I going to be able to lock in a lower rate for longer, or anything like that?
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Oct 6, 2020 05:50
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There isn't much wiggle room between the current rates and zero, so you probably won't get them to budge much. When I got my mortgage (5 years ago), TD had some sort of deal where you could get some kind of life insurance for a discounted rate. I signed up for that and canceled it before payments kicked in and still kept the lower rate. It was like 0.3% lower.
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Oct 6, 2020 10:10
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Get a broker - you'll get a better rate if you don't go to the big banks, but yeah larger down payment doesn't mean much once you hit 20% unless you want to buy >1M. Maybe someone in the thread can recommend one if you mention the city you're looking in.
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Oct 6, 2020 14:02
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