The Official RFD TFSA thread for Savings Accounts! (2013 TFSA SEASON IS HERE!)

[rilhouse]

I would think PCF would allow you to... but it would be a liability as you'd be subjected to a 1% tax/month on the excess, so the "interest" would be 3.75% - ~ 12% = -8.25%

thanks, i wasn't aware of the penalty.

[zigie]

i've put my $ into PC @3.75%. since i also have a regular savings account @ 2.75% would i be able to move more then 5K into the TFSA just to get the higher interest but not the tax benefit?

You can move more than $5000 limit, but "contribute too much and pay a penalty of 1% per month on any excess until you withdraw that excess".

I already knew we had that option... but what if we wanted to change say in the 1st or 2nd quarter of the year because of the rate drop..?

For most banks it won't be worth it to move, because of the high transfer fees. The interest difference has to be really high to warrant the switch during the course of the year. Since the difference between interest rates is usually pretty small, it's better to be careful when you choosing your TFSA provider the first time around.

IMHO, the best TFSA right now, and I'm talking about simple variable rate savings accounts, not GICs or self-directed, is PCF since they have the highest interest rate and no fees for regular usage, but after the rate drop Achieva or Outlook Financial will be the TFSA of my choice, since they have had consistently higher interest rates than any other bank I know for years.

There are of course many other variable such as, convenience: do you already have accounts with any of the institutions? What are you planning to do with money in your TFSA: are you gonna keep it in cash, GICs, mutual funds or other investments. Do you want to be able to choose your investments or use prepackaged funds. Many options to consider.

My needs are simple: emergency cash that isn't taxed by the man. It has to be liquid, yet I want the highest interest rate available. To me choice is clear: PCF and then Achieva or Outlook.

[sklm]

Yep, PCF is a 50 buck transfer fee. Click 'legal stuff' on the bottom of any of their pages. Hiding it away like that is pretty crappy of them, I think.

Here the link that doesn't require you to be logged in:
http://www.banking.pcfinancial.ca/a/...anking.page#12

Indeed. Here is a screenshot:

[d_jedi]

PCF sounds way too scammy to me (and I have PCF accounts already). They bury the HUGE $50 service charge.. when some reps have been quoted as saying there are NO FEES on it.

And don't think they won't hesitate to increase the fee, either - I put some $ in an RRSP there.. and they promptly decided to up their service charge from $25 to $50 a few months later (although, incidentally, I did come out ahead in the end.. given how the stock market has performed since..)

Are there any TFSAs with NO fees whatsoever? I'd be willing to sacrifice a bit of interest (and who believes PCF won't just drop their rate once they've got your money locked away? Bait and switch, I say..) for greater flexibility and piece of mind.

[angel_wing0]

Thank you for putting this together. I'm thinking about using Outlook Financial myself although they have nothing posted yet.

indeed, i m still waiting on it too...

[Octavius]

Anyone know how much HSBC would charge to transfer funds to another financial institution?

[sklm]

indeed, i m still waiting on it too...

Each day waiting means losing $0.51 This is what you could've got if you put $5,000 in PCF TCFA today

[angel_wing0]

Each day waiting means losing $0.51 This is what you could've got if you put $5,000 in PCF TCFA today

OMG i should go kill someone for that

so i guess u are in pcf already?

to be honest, nothing is attractive..not even the GICS.

[angel_wing0]

Anyone know how much HSBC would charge to transfer funds to another financial institution?

i cant find anything on their website about that...i think/hope its free...call them and ask.

[tng11]

to be honest, nothing is attractive..not even the GICS.

Better than nothing- but the GIC/Savings options look pretty mediocre from the first day and it's not a good sign as you would think banks would have their best offers out now to woo people.

That's why I'm likely going for investment options over Savings.

[Octavius]

i cant find anything on their website about that...i think/hope its free...call them and ask.

Yeah, I was gonna do that tomorrow - I was just wondering if anyone knew about it beforehand.

Anyway, I'll report back if I can with the answer

[sklm]

OMG i should go kill someone for that

so i guess u are in pcf already?

Nope, not yet. But I've been thinking, let's say some institution will offer the interest rate which is always 0.25% higher than PCF. E.g. PCF is 3.75%, Outlook Financial is 4.00%. For the duration of one year, extra 0.25% on $5,000 would give you additional $12.50 in interest.
Now, if you invest in PCF today you'll get this $12.50 in 25 days. But if you keep waiting, chances are that even higher rate from another institution will never make it up for you. E.g. if you wait for three more weeks and then invest in OF at 4%, at the end of the year you'll get the same $187 in interest as if you invested in PCF today. After that, if you wait for some more days, you'll end up with less. And this is based on the best case scenario when OF is always 0.25% ahead of PCF, which is not guaranteed...

My point is, every day of waiting for higher rates lowers your chances to come out ahead at the end of the year... There should be some really, really high interest account coming to make it worth waiting.

[angel_wing0]

Are there any TFSAs with NO fees whatsoever? I'd be willing to sacrifice a bit of interest (and who believes PCF won't just drop their rate once they've got your money locked away? Bait and switch, I say..) for greater flexibility and piece of mind.

ING afaik...

[watungga]

Nope, not yet. But I've been thinking, let's say some institution will offer the interest rate which is always 0.25% higher than PCF. E.g. PCF is 3.75%, Outlook Financial is 4.00%. For the duration of one year, extra 0.25% on $5,000 would give you additional $12.50 in interest.
Now, if you invest in PCF today you'll get this $12.50 in 25 days. But if you keep waiting, chances are that even higher rate from another institution will never make it up for you. E.g. if you wait for three more weeks and then invest in OF at 4%, at the end of the year you'll get the same $187 in interest as if you invested in PCF today. After that, if you wait for some more days, you'll end up with less. And this is based on the best case scenario when OF is always 0.25% ahead of PCF, which is not guaranteed...

My point is, every day of waiting for higher rates lowers your chances to come out ahead at the end of the year... There should be some really, really high interest account coming to make it worth waiting.

FFS, are we talking about earning difference of $12.50 a year?

[sklm]

FFS, are we talking about earning difference of $12.50 a year?

I'd be glad to learn about better options...