# risk free with minimal interest (td waterhouse business account)



## dnames (Apr 14, 2012)

Hi there,
What are some risk free (or relatively low risk) investment account I would be able to purchase through td waterhouse?

Basically, I have a td warterhouse account for my business (I only widthdraw a portion through dividend and leave the rest in the business after paying business tax)

I have both cad/usa, together about 150k currently after paying taxes last year .. and they are all sitting in a regular business checking account.

I think I can do better, would like to move a portion (which I don't need for my business immediately) and hold it in something that generates some interest at least. 

Is there something equivalent to a hisa or GIC I can purchase for my business? 

To clarify, my TDW account is opened under my business name. 

any help appreciated !


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## fatcat (Nov 11, 2009)

dnames said:


> Hi there,
> What are some risk free (or relatively low risk) investment account I would be able to purchase through td waterhouse?
> 
> Basically, I have a td warterhouse account for my business (I only widthdraw a portion through dividend and leave the rest in the business after paying business tax)
> ...


you should be able to buy their hisa ... you purchase it like a mutual fund through the fund order screen and it is cdic insured and i think i am getting 1.2% ... it's easy to get in and out of quickly ... i own it but i can't think of the number


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

The HISA MF is talked about at these links ...
http://canadianmoneyforum.com/showthread.php/13168-Where-should-I-park-cash-within-TFSA-RRSP
http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/high-interest-savings-accounts-at-discount-brokers/

It's available through a regular cash account TDW account or an MF account. I seem to recall another thread talking about the US version being at a much lower rate. If I recall correctly, the CAD version was payiny 1.3% while the thread said the US version paid 0.3% or so.

The MF codes are TDB8150, TDB8155, TDB8159 with info at ...
http://www.tdassetmanagement.com/Content/Products/p_LandingPage.asp?PID=27


Cheers


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## Marko Vidovich (Nov 1, 2012)

Hi dnames, My name is Marko and I am the savings expert at tdhelps.

@fatcat and @Eckectic12 are right on the money. For a low risk and liquid investment, the TD Investment Savings account is ideal and the link offered by @Eclectic12 (http://www.tdassetmanagement.com/Content/Products/p_LandingPage.asp?PID=27 ) is where you would go to find the current interest rate. For larger amounts, you can even split the investment through the four different product codes to maximize on CDIC coverage. A note on liquidity: trades to withdraw from the TD Investment Savings Account will need 1 business day to clear and can be done through WebBroker or a by calling a trading specialist at TD Direct Investing (formerly TD Waterhouse) at 1.800.465.5463. If you don't require your investment to be liquid and can lock it up for a longer amount of time - try calling the trading specialist to review what Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) rates are being offered (short maturities may be lower while longer maturities may be higher).

I'd also recommend to review your Small Business Account package to ensure that you are keeping the appropriate minimum monthly balance to waive the monthly service plan - you can find that here: http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/products-services/small-business/serv-plans.jsp 

Good luck with your small business!


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## dnames (Apr 14, 2012)

Thank you fatcat, electric12, marko for your reply !

I had a look at the list of TD saving accounts. 
Any idea why the F-series has a higher interest rate than its counterpart ? (for example 1.5% vs 1.25% for most account) ?
http://www.tdassetmanagement.com/Content/Products/p_LandingPage.asp?PID=27

Both seems to be cdic insured so I might just go with the f-series.


As for the USD account it seems low at 0.45% .... what would be some term options for usd with possibly a higher rate and lock in time? 
I am also considering splitting up my usd cash between something with a little more risky as well.

Since this is a business account, I understand investment gains will be taxed at a higher rate (than investment gains in personal tax)


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## Retired Peasant (Apr 22, 2013)

The F-Series is only for advisors.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

dnames said:


> What are some risk free (or relatively low risk) investment account I would be able to purchase through td waterhouse?


You should definitely put that 150k in a mix of high interest savings account and GICs. This combination gives you good liquidity (the savings account) and higher rates (in GICs, a ladder that you can keep updating perpetually) all while being CDIC insured and with zero risk of loss.

High interest savings account as mentioned, code TDB8150 etc (1.25% cash deposit)

For GICs, in the TDW under the 'fixed income' section you can click and browse GICs. Here are the current best rates for big five bank GICs, because they're a GIC broker the actual issuer is Scotia or Royal, etc.

```
Date        1 Year  2 Year  3 Year  4 Year
2013-06-28   1.40%   1.75%   2.10%   2.30%
```
Personally I would leave about half the money in the ISA @ 1.25% and maybe put some in the 2 year and 3 year GICs. It all depends on how long you expect this account to be around. If this is a long term business account then after considering your dividend needs, you can just fill in a GIC ladder and keep re-investing the amounts as they mature. Always leave a good chunk in cash, ISA!


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## dnames (Apr 14, 2012)

Hi James, thanks for the input.

Lockig in a portion in gic at a higher rate is something I'm certainly considering.

I found the GIC rates here: https://fibondoneselfserve.tdwaterhouse.ca/FIP_GICLinkWeb/GICLink?language=en

The rates from Canadian western bank and a few other trusts seem to offer a more competitive rate.


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## dnames (Apr 14, 2012)

thx Retired, the higher rate makes sense ... phoned tdw and they told me getting an advisor makes sense for a portfolio of about 500k .... i'm still quite far from that so will dyi for now.


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## MoreMiles (Apr 20, 2011)

For business assets, your options are more limited.

You may consider Meridian 1.35% business savings. You don't need GIC or mutual fund settlement delays. You need the money? You can get it the same day.
http://www.meridiancu.ca/rates/accounts/Pages/default.aspx


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

dnames said:


> To clarify, my TDW account is opened under my business name.





MoreMiles said:


> For business assets, your options are more limited ...


The limits I've heard of in the past have been around getting the account opened (ex. business chequing account fees are typically not the same as a personal one). Once the TDW account is opened, what limits are there for business assets? .... just curious.


Cheers


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## dnames (Apr 14, 2012)

On a similar note while I was looking into this, 
do you know why the GICs or HISAs rates are so low when held in USD instead of CAD ?

Is there more overhead for the canadian banks to handle the funds ? 

I'm looking at the rates at tdw and most of the usd products have significantly lower interest rates.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

It is related to FX risk. It is the same as peso accounts in Mexico giving higher rates. The risk is not in the USD accounts but in the C$ accounts.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Beware that deposits in US dollars won't have any CDIC insurance, which suddenly makes them very risky.

If you absolutely must hold US $ amounts, I suggest you hold the money in US government t-bills which is intrinsically safer than depositing money with the bank. This way it's the US government that owes you money, rather than a bank.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I recommend you speak to your accountant to assist you in this ,we are currently sitting on 7 figures in cash and although we have not done anything yet our accountant has told us we can transfer funds from corp to purchase the stocks and I did speak to my td bank adviser and she said we could buy TD mutual funds for the business directly from the business account.


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