# Please suggest a Best Bank/trading firm for RRSP, TFSA and RESP



## saleemjosh (Feb 7, 2014)

Hi, 
I am from US and moving to Canada in April. I asked my employer about RRSP, TFSA and RESP savings. They mentioned to me that I need to check with the relevant bank. 

1. Can anyone please suggest which bank is best for these saving accounts/investments.
2. Which trading firm is the best for stock and ETF investments.

I am going to move to Hamilton, ON.
Any suggestion would be very helpful.

Thank you.
Saleemjosh


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

First off - it doesn't need to be a bank, it can be a brokerage or other financial institution.

For example, for the TFSA like an RRSP, one can have as many different accounts as one likes (thought too many adds to one's work to keep track), as long as one obeys the rules & stays under the contribution limits. Since I use part of my TFSA for emergency cash, I have one TFSA that is a savings account with President Choice Financial (PCF) and I use the rest for long term investing so I have a brokerage account that allows investments such as GICs, bonds, mutual funds, stocks, REITs, options etc.

Second - the RRSP probably is not an option to start with as RRSP contribution room is earned based on one's Canadian income. So if you are moving to Canada in April 2014, you probably won't have any RRSP contribution room until Jan 1, 2015 (unless you are originally from Canada, have earned some RRSP contribution room and have not used it yet).


Moving on to your questions - the answer is it depends. So compare what is available versus what you plan on doing.

Using me as an example, I'm comfortable using the phone/internet/ATMs for my banking - so PCF does not have branches like the big 5 banks do is fine with me. The trade off is that by paying attention to where the ATMs are, I have gone something like six years at a time, with no fees for anything including cheques. IMO, PCF is 90% virtual as there are booths in the Loblaws grocery stores so there is a limited ability to talk to someone. ING Direct, now named Tangerine also offers chequeing/savings but they don't have any booths - it's all phone/internet.

Most other banks have branches.

As an example of "know what you need" - my mom was excited about the no fees but for whatever reason couldn't understand that the money in the savings account could only be used the next day. So she opened her PCF chequing and savings account, transferred everything the savings account despite my father/I recommending she keep some cash in the chequing account and then was upset that she couldn't pay using her debit card from an empty chequing account. The part that baffles me was at the time, ING Direct did not have a chequing account so their savings account was the same "next day", which mom could understand as "it takes a while to transfer" to her regular chequing account.

A lot of banks have fees so it's good to have an idea of what your bank needs are so that a good cost/benefit choice can be made.

http://www.thestar.com/business/per...and_no_frills_chequing_accounts_compared.html


As the trading ... it does not have to be attached to your bank. For example, 99% of my banking is PCF and my brokerage account is with a completely different bank. There's a sticky in the "Investing" section that has info about selecting a brokerage firm/account.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...ne-brokerage-survey/article15499322/?page=all

Again - confirm what you plan to do and match up the priviledges/costs to what you plan to do. For example, if you don't have a ton of money, some will go with Questrade for their cheap (for Canada) commissions while others will setup a TD eSeries account where low cost index tracking Mutual Funds can be purchased with no fees (the trade off is that you have to do everything online and the account setup isn't as simple as a regular brokerage account).

Each brokerage has things it does better than others so look before you leap.

If you search CMF, there are lots of comments about the good/bad/mediocre of the different brokerages. (ex. want a USD RRSP? There's only something like five that offer a true USD RRSP but there are ways around the currency conversion fee that work for some brokerages).


Cheers

*PS*

Are you a US citizen?

If so, the advise at this point is to avoid a TFSA and RESP as the IRS could considersthem taxable making them of no benefit.

http://business.financialpost.com/2...r-americans-living-in-canada/?__lsa=b23c-4a0a


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## Butters (Apr 20, 2012)

It depends how much money you have.
TD and Royal bank both offering 9.95 trades, likely have other gimmicks like hold 5k or so, for no fees in your chequings account.. or get mortgage//credit card//chequing//investments, and free banking (at royal bank) and you get access to a teller
Those would likely be the easiest option!


I'm very cheap

Presidents Choice Banking offers NO FEE's and free Cheques! You can withdraw money at any CIBC ATMs for free, or do cash back at some select stores...
I use the MBNA Smart Cash Credit card, and use PC banking online to pay it off

For Broker, Questrade is the cheapest. 4.95 trades for 495 stock, up to 9.95 for 995 or more stock. Free to buy ETF, (still costs 4.95 to sell)


PC Banking
PC HISA
PC TFSA (for emergency cash)
---> PC is slowly starting to get GIC and other investment options
Questrade Margin(if you have loads of money)
TFSA
RRSP

Questrade also allows you to hold USD

Find out if you even have any TFSA room I believe you need to be a canadian resident with a SIN number


Honestly for simplicity I would choose Royal Bank
9.95 brokerage fees
tellers
multiple products you can get free banking (assuming you're getting a mortgage)

If you are cheap like me do PC / Questrade and everything is over the phone no one to meet


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

SheaButters said:


> ... Presidents Choice Banking offers NO FEE's and free Cheques! You can withdraw money at any CIBC ATMs for free, or do cash back at some select stores...


To be accurate, there are some services that have fees or uses (ex. use a TD bank ATM or white label ATM and there is a $1.50 fee). Compared to what most other banks charge, most banking can be done for no fees.

To technically - it's not completely "no fee".




SheaButters said:


> ... Find out if you even have any TFSA room I believe you need to be a canadian resident with a SIN number ...


Yes ... and over 18 ... as I understand it, as soon as one becomes a Canadian resident, one is granted that year's full TFSA allotment. I believe the SIN part is more about opening the account with the financial institution. If in doubt, after arriving in Canada, the OP can make a call to the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) and I'm sure it can be sorted out.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/tfsa-celi/lgbl-eng.html
http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/tax-free-savings-account-tfsa-refresher/


Note: The two most common misconceptions about the TFSA seem to be that it has to be a savings account, when like the RRSP, a TFSA can hold a wide range of investments (depending on the account rights) and that withdrawals in this year won't be given back until the following year (ex. withdraw in 2014 $5K, in 2015 the $5K becomes fresh contribution room that is added to the yearly amount and any unused previously earned contribution room).


Cheers


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## saleemjosh (Feb 7, 2014)

*Thank you*

Eclectic12 and SheaButters thank you so much for your help and suggestions. I really appreciate it. Now I got a clear picture what I have to do. 
At the same time, I need to mention that I am not American citizen, I am Indian working in US. 
Thank you once again for your help. I may be bringing around 20K with me for investment. 
S


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## Longwinston (Oct 20, 2013)

"If so, the advise at this point is to avoid a TFSA and RESP as the IRS could considersthem taxable making them of no benefit."

Didn't they get an exemption from this in the agreement between the IRS and CRA?


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

That's what is listed in limited terms in some news reports ... however, until the details are confirmed, I'm not sure I'd take the risk.


Cheers


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