Not sure if you guys have noticed the recent change in February yet, but Questrade is getting revamped and is getting a facelift (yes, not just a simple Botox injection you can do on your lunch break at the dentists’ office, but real major changes!) to make it easier to use.

One of my friends (who lives overseas teaching English) told me she wanted to open up a Questrade account but she found it too difficult (I agree, it was a pain in the butt with the multitude of passwords they send to you, the different websites (my Questrade vs Questrader.com).  Even I (who has a TFSA, RRSP, non-registered account with Questrade) found it difficult to navigate and find the information I needed.  So Questrade listened to people’s complaints and are updgrading to Questrade 2.0.

Here are some of the changes (so if you’ve been sitting on the fence about whether or not to open up an account, now’s the time to do it, because it’s 10x easier to):

• New account numbers- Instead of the BS43921 number they gave you (which was really confusing and likely contributed to the SAGA of me depositing to the wrong account- thought the “5″ was an “s” and it took 6 months for me to get my money back), you get a nice and clean 8 digit NUMERICAL number.  None of the alpha-numeric stuff that was so confusing.  Now I have to update my account numbers for internet banking when I deposit money into my accounts- don’t forget to do that, guys!
• Increased security- When I called today to correct the information from the conversion of the Income Trust to corporation (they often input the incorrect cost per share price during changes like this- which irks me to high heaven, but it’s a simple fix…), they actually asked me for my information to verify that I am the correct person.  Which is always nice
• Easier to apply for an account- It’s easier to apply for an account now.  So if you already have a non-registered account, it will be easier for you to apply for a additional TFSA account.  You also won’t get your passwords emailed to you (which is also good for security purposes) with the new changes.
• My Questrade is easier to navigate- It was really annoying trying to find my account balance information  (for my TFSA, RRSP, non-registered account) all in one place.  Now it’s much easier.. seriously a BAZILLION times better. It’s like night and day… seriously.
• Keeping you informed of the changes-  They have a little mini-blog that keeps you updated on the changes.  It’s called Go Questrade. Go check it out if you’re confused at all about any of the changes.

Onto some PF Blog Love.

PF Blog Love

• Sunil from Easy Extra Money Online has a really poignant vignette about a Mexican fisherman and an American MBA Harvard graduate.  It’s about life balance (and not killing your soul trying to bust your ass to make money) and I really liked it.
• Do Not Wait has a great post detailing 9 Tactics for the Young Investor.  One of them is my favourite principle of all time- Pay yourself first.
• Retire by 40 writes about  How to Retire By 40- the quintessential guide (I added the quintessential guide part- I think it has a good ring to it)
• Squirrelers has a thought provoking post getting us to stop and think about how many HOURS of work it really costs us for that car we are buying.  Thinking about the big picture is helpful to prevent lifestyle inflation.
• Financial Samurai has a question to ask ourselves on Valentine’s Day.  Growing old alone can be lonesome, but often those who are single have extensive support networks that include friends and other family… so hopefully it isn’t that bad.  If I ever become single, I’ll probably end up becoming a dog lady with 6 dogs in my house.
• Invest it Wisely has a guest post on The “Tiger Mom” Approach by Amy Chua.  Financial Samurai also had a post in the past about this book.  Sounds like this book and her parenting strategies are stirring up a lot of controversy/ interest.
• HowtoSaveMoney.ca has a detailed post on The Best Shopping Comparison sites in Canada (good resource- all these sites I didn’t know about!)
• A special “shout out” to Krystal who blogs at Give Me Back my Five Bucks.  In her Moneyville (through the Toronto Star) article, she mentions little ol’ me as one of her 8 favourite personal finance blogs! What an honour- thank you Krystal!
• Fabulously Broke has a REALLY cool post showing the average faces of different nationalities- go take a look and see if you can see yourself (sorry guys, female pictures only, but these females are all really pretty so it’s worth a look).

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Just wanted to quickly update you in a new post to point out changes to the old posts, namely the HISA (high interest savings account) post and the Questrade USD Transfer post.

Extra Interest, say what?

Canadian Tire bank has recently unveiled a limited-time bonus interest rate incentive on two of its personal banking services (you get an extra 1%).

April (a Y&T.ca reader) wanted me to let you guys know about this new promotion going on a Canadian Tire bank:

The Canadian Tire High Interest Savings account and the Canadian Tire Tax Free High Interest Savings account are perfect for people who are looking for the flexibility of earning interest on their savings, with no monthly fees, no lock-in period and 24/7 online banking. For the first 90 days from when money is deposited into a new account, customers will earn a special interest rate of 2.50% (if the account is a Canadian Tire High Interest Savings Account) or 3.50% (if the account is a Canadian Tire Tax Free High Interest Savings Account).

After the 90 day period, the extra 1% they gave you won’t be applicable anymore (so it will go back to 2.5% for a HISA TFSA and 1.5% interest earned for a regular HISA).

Just remember not to over-contribute to the TFSA (e.g. don’t withdraw and think you can put it back in immediately) like the 70,000 other Canadians that accidentally did this year.

Questrade USD Transfers:

A reader and subscriber (thanks for writing to me!) wrote to me about her experience with the USD Transfer with Questrade.  I also had the same experience, but the amount I transferred was quite small, though I was still peeved about it.  Looks like we shared the same issue.  She had started up a registered account (just like I did) and had specified the currency preference to Canadian dollars (because who wouldn’t, it IS an RRSP/TFSA after all).  She then proceeded to transfer the USD as a pre-authorized deposit.  Then, checking to see how the deposit went, it turns out that the USD was automatically converted back to CAD dollars at the end of the day.

The same thing happened to me.  I was befuddled.  It didn’t make sense that the reason someone WOULD transfer USD to a trading account is to avoid the currency conversion, but they screwed that up by transferring your money back into CAD, hence you the investor, will have to pay the currency conversion twice.  Which sucks big time- can you say OUCH?  The thing is, they don’t have a pop up box that warns you or cues you to tell you your money will be transferred back to Canadian dollars at the end of the day.

The lesson learned here is that you need to set your currency preference to NEUTRAL when you first register for your account (and if you don’t know how to do this, ask! They are pretty accessible by their online chat option or by phone) to avoid the currency hits!

It is pretty awesome that Questrade allows you to trade with USD (I believe the only registered account in Canada that lets you hold foreign currency) but you just need to make sure it’s not converted back to Canadian money, which beats the point of wanting a USD registered account in the first place.

Happy Trading and Saving, guys!

Readers, any other mishaps like this happen to you?

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I transferred some money over to my non-registered margin account on Questrade today from my non-registered BMO investorline account.  It took me a few days of procrastination, one day of trying to figure out why I couldn’t do a USD bill payment from my BMO bank account, and finally another day figuring out that in order to transfer USD, you need to do a pre-authorized deposit.

I actually searched my own blog on how to transfer USD and couldn’t find anything (I’m not narcissistic I swear! I just remembered that I posted about how long a USD transfer took back in January).  I finally figured it out today (after wasting about a total of 45 minutes of my life that I will never see again).  I thought I would actually post it and help you save 45 minutes of your precious time… and if I have a memory lapse again, I can search my blog with “great success”, as Borat would say.

The reason why you might do a USD transfer is because you won’t have to exchange your Canadian dollars into US dollars when the exchange rate isn’t favourable.  I don’t like losing money to currency hits AND conversion charges.  It’s a win-win situation.

So here is the low-down on how to transfer your USD to Questrade from your USD account, step by step:

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Hope everyone’s having a great weekend so far.  It’s beautifully sunny here in Vancouver and I can’t wait to get outside to enjoy some of that rare sunshine.

I finally got my act together and signed up for a self-directed RRSP Questrade account.  I’m transferring over the BMO investorline RRSP account to Questrade.  I found that I was hesitant to rebalance my portfolio in the BMO Investorline account because of the $29 trading commissions.  Also, I was getting sick of paying the $100 yearly administration fee (that the guy neglected to tell me about when I signed up a few years back) that they charge if your portfolio is less than $25,000.  I’m not even allowed to contribute more than $25,000 in RRSPs because of the pension adjustment I get.  I should have done this a long time ago, oh well- hindsight is always 20-20, right?

LOL I might as well change my middle name to Questrade.  I now have a non-registered margin account, a TFSA account, and an RRSP account with them.  You really can’t beat the $4.95 trades.

And the winner is…

youngandthrifty.ca had a giveaway of the book “Enjoy Your Money; How do Make It, Save It, Invest It, and Give It” by Steve J. Miller. I used random.org and drew the winner of the book giveaway.

And the winner is….Kevin! From Financiallypoor.com. Congrats, Kevin!

Some weekend Links:

• CanadianFinanceBlog examines how frugality can lead to happiness
• DeliverAwayDebt talks about how hiring someone to cut your grass isn’t really worth it (as I hear my neighbours getting their grass mowed)
• FinancialSamurai tries to give some reasons why East Coast living isn’t that bad (sorry, can’t give examples here because I’m a west coast girl!)
• Million Dollar Journey gives some tips on how to attract the best tenants
• The Financial Blogger calculates how you shouldn’t be scared into a fixed mortgage because of media hype
• Couple Money considers whether now is the time to by BP (let’s just say I feel bad for people who were holding BP before this disaster struck! Can you say.. OUCH?)
• MoneySmartsBlog (previously Four Pillars) tells you to Under Promise, Over Deliver
• Money Reasons reveals his Movie Secret Frugal Weapon
• Well Heeled Blog talks about how sushi can be an expensive culinary habit (mmmm me hungry now)

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A few months back, I was perusing on Questrade’s site and saw a free workshop for “Learn to Trade” with Online Trading Academy.  I thought it would be helpful to pick up some tips as there was a free lunch.  I have trouble passing up free lunch and education! Online Trading Academy is an affiliate of Questrade.  One of the main reasons I went was that they said that the Professional Trader course is free and paid for by Questrade through a tuition rebate.  More on that later.

The Online Trading Academy has been educating traders since 1997.  They have multiple locations throughout the world.

So I signed up for their Power Trading workshop (a half day session).  In the workshop, we got to meet with a professional trader and an instructor of their Professional Trader 3-7 day course.  It was a good half day session.  The trader tells us that he does his thing on the market for 30 minutes before he goes to work, and then he’s done for the rest of his day (and goes to his regular job- that’s the great thing about living on the west coast–the time difference!).  I found that for myself, I’m more of a swing trader.  I hold stocks and trade them in a matter of days to weeks.  The Online Trading Academy was more advocating for a daily trade- they encourage not to hold overnight because you never know what might happen.  They exert a lot of control with their trades.  They teach you technical analysis and how to trade in any type of market (up, down, sideways).

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