Personal Finance

Need some advice... switching to TD & investment options...

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  • Jan 2nd, 2012 9:19 pm
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Newbie
Dec 31, 2011
36 posts
17 upvotes

Need some advice... switching to TD & investment options...

Hi there,

Been shadowing this forum for a while now as it is a great resource and finally decided to create an account and ask some questions ;)

I guess I'll start off with a mini-introduction... I'm 29, self-employed, and I've done quite well for myself over the past 5 years -- well enough anyway that I'd really like to get my finances in better order. It's not that they're in a bad way right now per say, but I do know that my money could probably be organized a bit better.

I'm currently with CIBC (have been my whole life, grandfathered in by my parents) and am currently with their Imperial Service program (Chequing, Savings, 2 Credit Cards) along with 20k in a TFSA mutual fund and 15k in a non-registered mutual fund, both of which are (as you probably guessed) nothing special in terms of returns. I also have ~25k in a RRSP but it's a group plan with Great West Life but I'll leave that there for now. It's not that I'm particularly displeased with CIBC or their service (I never deal with them anyway), but after looking at TD's offerings I think I can probably get a better deal in terms of less fees.

I guess my questions are as follows:

1) Having never switched banks before, I'm not really sure how complicated the procedure is? Would it be as easy as walking into my local TD branch, opening up a chequing & savings account, and then moving the funds over and closing the CIBC accts?
2) I was looking at the TD e-Series funds, and after reading about them on this forum as well as elsewhere they seem like the way to go. Would I benefit from just opening a TD Waterhouse account given the size of my investments? I'd like to have a TFSA investment account as well as a non-registered account, I'm sure that's not an issue. I'm not a hardcore trader by any stretch of the imagination, but I was reading about the "Couch Potato" approach that's been championed here with regards to the TD e-Series funds and I think I could probably handle that.
3) Anyone else make the switch from CIBC (or any of the other majors) to TD and are pleased with the results?

Thanks for your time, I do appreciate it!
5 replies
Deal Addict
Mar 10, 2010
1595 posts
589 upvotes
I can't comment on the switching between banks but as far as TD Waterhouse vs TD when I ran the numbers for myself it made more sense to stick with TD and do the e-series until I hit ~$75 000 in invested assets. You should run the numbers yourself especially if you're thinking of doing a couch potato using ETF's (that's what I compared to which would require a TDW or discount brokerage account).
Deal Fanatic
Mar 24, 2008
6278 posts
2753 upvotes
Toronto
wheaty wrote: Hi there,

Been shadowing this forum for a while now as it is a great resource and finally decided to create an account and ask some questions ;)

I guess I'll start off with a mini-introduction... I'm 29, self-employed, and I've done quite well for myself over the past 5 years -- well enough anyway that I'd really like to get my finances in better order. It's not that they're in a bad way right now per say, but I do know that my money could probably be organized a bit better.

I'm currently with CIBC (have been my whole life, grandfathered in by my parents) and am currently with their Imperial Service program (Chequing, Savings, 2 Credit Cards) along with 20k in a TFSA mutual fund and 15k in a non-registered mutual fund, both of which are (as you probably guessed) nothing special in terms of returns. I also have ~25k in a RRSP but it's a group plan with Great West Life but I'll leave that there for now. It's not that I'm particularly displeased with CIBC or their service (I never deal with them anyway), but after looking at TD's offerings I think I can probably get a better deal in terms of less fees.

I guess my questions are as follows:

1) Having never switched banks before, I'm not really sure how complicated the procedure is? Would it be as easy as walking into my local TD branch, opening up a chequing & savings account, and then moving the funds over and closing the CIBC accts?
2) I was looking at the TD e-Series funds, and after reading about them on this forum as well as elsewhere they seem like the way to go. Would I benefit from just opening a TD Waterhouse account given the size of my investments? I'd like to have a TFSA investment account as well as a non-registered account, I'm sure that's not an issue. I'm not a hardcore trader by any stretch of the imagination, but I was reading about the "Couch Potato" approach that's been championed here with regards to the TD e-Series funds and I think I could probably handle that.
3) Anyone else make the switch from CIBC (or any of the other majors) to TD and are pleased with the results?

Thanks for your time, I do appreciate it!

1) For non registered accounts, it can be as simple as closing account at CIBC and opening corresponding accounts at TD. For TFSA, you'll need to fill out forms and transfer - talk to TD about it.
2) You don't need TD Water house to buy e-series. Given the amount you want to invest, TD water house may have fees. Just get TD investments account until you have more money. Open a TD Water house account when you have over 50k invested. It is easy to move investments to Water house in kind.
3) No comments about CIBC but I don't think e-series funds are available through them so you have no choice. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.
Deal Fanatic
Aug 21, 2007
6055 posts
853 upvotes
Markham
ksgill wrote: 1) For non registered accounts, it can be as simple as closing account at CIBC and opening corresponding accounts at TD. For TFSA, you'll need to fill out forms and transfer - talk to TD about it.
2) You don't need TD Water house to buy e-series. Given the amount you want to invest, TD water house may have fees. Just get TD investments account until you have more money. Open a TD Water house account when you have over 50k invested. It is easy to move investments to Water house in kind.
3) No comments about CIBC but I don't think e-series funds are available through them so you have no choice. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

just a couple comments

2. My understanding is that you can avoid fees with TD waterhouse if you sign on for eservices (ie no paper statements, all electronic)
3. eSeries is TD only

*This is based on responses to my own thread about 2-3 weeks ago, not sure how correct info is
Deal Fanatic
Mar 24, 2008
6278 posts
2753 upvotes
Toronto
adeel wrote: just a couple comments

2. My understanding is that you can avoid fees with TD waterhouse if you sign on for eservices (ie no paper statements, all electronic)
3. eSeries is TD only

*This is based on responses to my own thread about 2-3 weeks ago, not sure how correct info is

I believe the condition to waive fee is 25k investment + eservices.
Deal Addict
Mar 10, 2010
1595 posts
589 upvotes
ksgill wrote: I believe the condition to waive fee is 25k investment + eservices.
That appears to be correct see here for a full list of the TDW fees (there are a LOT of them).

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