# ING TFSA rate dropped to 1.5%?



## peterk (May 16, 2010)

This happen for anyone else, or am I imagining that the rate was 2% last month?
I just transferred a good chunk of my cash from unregistered to TFSA to take advantage of the higher interest so needless to see I'm rather annoyed...

Where are these creeping up interest rates the fed et.al. keep talking about??


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## benjiman84 (Aug 23, 2011)

Yeah, you're right. I see 1.5% too.


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## cannew (Jun 19, 2011)

Invest in solid cdn dividend growth stocks in your tfsa. You'll get 3.5% to 4.5% or more and growth in the future.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Yea I fell for that teaser rate when TFSA first came out. ING had a kick start TFSA 3 months before everyone else and then dropped the rate down later

Now I use the TFSA for dividends and ING for free banking and savings. Unlike others, ING won't charge to transfer out though if you want


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

I don't have a TFSA set up yet, but that's where my $ is sitting in a regular account which has always been 1.5%. 

Their childrens account is 2% still, so i put my investment/mad money in their accounts to get the extra interest.


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## mesaana14 (Apr 4, 2009)

Fyi, ING puts their historical rates online. So you can always make sure you are not imagining things 

http://www.ingdirect.ca/en/accounts-rates/ourrates/historicalrates.html


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## peterk (May 16, 2010)

cannew, this is short term cash.

Thanks mesaana, that is a very handy tool that I (clearly) did not know about!

I'm just annoyed because I put $5000 into tfsa a couple weeks ago, at the expense of contribution room in my stock-tfsa account. Now it clearly wasn't worth while because if there's another market crash I won't be able to take advantage of my tfsa stock trading account since my contribution room is (nearly) maxed out.

Such is life..


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

mode3sour said:


> Yea I fell for that teaser rate when TFSA first came out. ING had a kick start TFSA 3 months before everyone else and then dropped the rate down later
> 
> Now I use the TFSA for dividends and ING for free banking and savings. Unlike others, ING won't charge to transfer out though if you want


Hmmm .... do you mean a transfer from ING's TFSA to another institution's TFSA? Or do you mean a withdrawal from the TFSA?

PCF doesn't charge for withdrawals. A TDW brokerage TFSA allows one withdrawal per year free then charges for any additional withdrawals.


Cheers


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Eclectic12 said:


> Hmmm .... do you mean a transfer from ING's TFSA to another institution's TFSA? Or do you mean a withdrawal from the TFSA?
> 
> PCF doesn't charge for withdrawals. A TDW brokerage TFSA allows one withdrawal per year free then charges for any additional withdrawals.
> 
> ...


Transfer is different than withdrawal. A withdrawal means you lose that contribution room until Jan 1st

The standard big 5's charge $50-75 for a transfer, which is probably fair. TD charging you to withdraw your own money from a brokerage account more than once a year is the epitome of why I can't stand Cdn big banks


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

Pretty sure ING has been 1.5% for awhile. You can double check your statements though.

Ally is 2% currently.

Hubert Financial is 2.5%. https://www.happysavings.ca/

Related G&M article on yield:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...unting-high-and-low-for-yield/article2139248/


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

mode3sour said:


> Transfer is different than withdrawal. A withdrawal means you lose that contribution room until Jan 1st
> 
> The standard big 5's charge $50-75 for a transfer, which is probably fair. TD charging you to withdraw your own money from a brokerage account more than once a year is the epitome of why I can't stand Cdn big banks


Yes - a transfer is different than a withdrawal. Too many people are using the terms as if they were the same. Then too, the fees can be substantially different.


As the fee for multiple TFSA brokerage withdrawals, is this specific to the big 5? I don't recall a brokerage that didn't have this but I haven't done a complete (or recent for that matter) survey.


In any case, I'm trying to make sure my TFSA withdrawals are all late in the year to have a short time before re-contributing (and short time "out of the market"). For this strategy, one withdrawal works fine. 


Cheers


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Eclectic12 said:


> In any case, I'm trying to make sure my TFSA withdrawals are all late in the year to have a short time before re-contributing (and short time "out of the market"). For this strategy, one withdrawal works fine.
> 
> 
> Cheers


That's all fine and dandy, until someday you have a big stockpile and the big bank takes a chunk on every withdrawal

I have "Select Service" and they charged me $30 to receive a wire from the US today.. B&M suck


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

People's Trust has a 3% TFSA account right now. This is not a teaser rate. (but I'm sure they can change rates when they want without notice). There is no transfer out fee, withdraw fee or admin fees. 

Only catch is they do not have an online banking interface. Everything is old school paper and phone. They are CDIC insured.


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## R.O.V. (May 16, 2010)

Hey Cal:

Thanks for the info...I just came in to a substancial windfall and am very risk adverse. I just deposited $20K with Hubert Financial and will be using them on a go forward basis.


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## bobwatford123 (Aug 9, 2011)

Not sure why anybody uses ING....their rates just don't compare to others. Stick with Ally, Canadian Direct Financial, Hubert etc. Especially when TFSA are so low limits anyway...with ING the full current $15,000 deposit limit would earn you a whopping $225. Who cares if you don't have to pay tax on $225. The only way to use the TSFA effectively is for stocks trading.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

mode3sour said:


> That's all fine and dandy, until someday you have a big stockpile and the big bank takes a chunk on every withdrawal
> 
> I have "Select Service" and they charged me $30 to receive a wire from the US today.. B&M suck


Huh? What does the size of the stockpile have to do with paying fees?

For a big or small withdrawal, as long as it is a single withdrawal per year, there is no fee. Note that I have my emergency fund already so likely all TFSA withdrawals are at my leisure. 


Secondly - Is there an institution that offers a TFSA brokerage account with multiple withdrawals free? [ With what limited time I spent, it was not clear if Questrade or IB offered this. ]

If not, the disadvantage of the "free unlimited withdrawals" TFSA is the low income of 1.5% (or max 2%) . The brokerage TFSA investments I have setup are paying at 8.4% and 10.5% for the dividends, ignoring capital gains.

So in the rare event that I did have to pay the $25 fee for a second withdrawal, say once in ten years - do I really care when the yearly income is $400 compared to $100, or better? Choosing a lower income to compensate for a fee that can be minimized with planning does not seem all that good a choice, IMO.


Don't get me wrong - if you can point me at a brokerage that has a TFSA with unlimited free withdrawals, I'm interested and will evaluate it. 


Cheers


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Eclectic12 said:


> Huh? What does the size of the stockpile have to do with paying fees?
> 
> For a big or small withdrawal, as long as it is a single withdrawal per year, there is no fee. Note that I have my emergency fund already so likely all TFSA withdrawals are at my leisure.
> 
> ...


I also use TFSA for stocks, but I use ING for savings because I couldn't care less about chasing an extra 0.5% that's taxed

My point about the withdrawal fee is that it's a BS gotcha fee, and I don't support that. I'm sure lots of people save up a big stockpile and someday assume they will start living off this money, innocently withdrawing at their leisure. This is when your bank surprises you with random $25 bs fees

IB and Questrade certainly do not charge for withdrawal, unless it's a wire. Do you pay $25 fee to pay a bill? Then why would you pay $25 to withdraw your own money? Only in Canada


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

mode3sour said:


> I also use TFSA for stocks, but I use ING for savings because I couldn't care less about chasing an extra 0.5% that's taxed
> 
> My point about the withdrawal fee is that it's a BS gotcha fee, and I don't support that. I'm sure lots of people save up a big stockpile and someday assume they will start living off this money, innocently withdrawing at their leisure. This is when your bank surprises you with random $25 bs fees
> 
> IB and Questrade certainly do not charge for withdrawal, unless it's a wire. Do you pay $25 fee to pay a bill? Then why would you pay $25 to withdraw your own money? Only in Canada


Agreed it is a crappy fee - though I would question the wisdom of someone investing in stocks in a TFSA, without having a good understanding of the fees. 

IB does not look like it fits the bill. A quick review of their web site makes no mention of TFSA accounts and the review at the url below indicates only non-registered accounts are offered.
http://www.milliondollarjourney.com/interactive-brokers-review.htm

When I get a chance, I'll phone Questrade (work is busy right now).


As to why put up with the $25 fee - it appears that Questrade is the only option to avoid it.


Unless your comments have moved beyond the TFSA accounts to non-registered brokerage accounts and/or banks accounts. If so, for non-registered brokerage accounts, my broker does not charge a fee and for bank accounts, there are several no-fee options.


Cheers


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