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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