questrade inactivity fee

[McClane]

sell all, close account, buy at new brokerage. it'll save you money in the long-run (if you stayed with questrade). transfer fee is "only" $125 if you want to go that route too... think long term guys

Which one you'd suggest?

[pace]

brokerage? virtual brokers
transfer or sell all? depends on which one costs less... different for everyone

[Akitakara]

Wow. I saw the email too and I was quite surprised.

The Big 5 charge in activity fees totalling $25 per inactive quarter = $100 per year

Questrade charges $10 per inactive month = $120 per year

So really it's $20 more with Questrade BUT the trade commissions are $25 less, and the minimum balance requirement is lower.


On the flip side... Questrade DOES tend to get more complaints about its services...


Also, one thing to mention:

1. As of July 10th, 2012, an inactivity fee of $9.95 per month is charged to clients with under $5,000 in combined equity for any month in which the client does not complete one commissionable trade. Combined equity is all accounts owned by a client, including accounts linked by household or authorized trader. Clients are exempt from this fee if the account is open for less than 6 months.

Source

Does this mean that it's evaluated by household address?

[nightwing12]

I emailed them and you need to place one commissionable trade..

virtual brokers will take a small account (RRSP) and charge $50 dollars a year (4.16 cents a month).. so questrade is now more expensive..

[matt88]

For those who have a TFSA with them, remember: You can incur TFSA penalties if you withdraw your contributions and re-contribute them elsewhere.

See here for some examples: http://www2.canada.com/saskatoonstar...b-a05d56cb0d5e


EDIT:Those thinking about transferring to another brokerage may want to read this: http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/tfsa-...er-strategies/

[Akitakara]

For those who have a TFSA with them, remember: You can incur TFSA penalties if you withdraw your contributions and re-contribute them elsewhere.

See here for some examples: http://www2.canada.com/saskatoonstar...b-a05d56cb0d5e


EDIT:Those thinking about transferring to another brokerage may want to read this: http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/tfsa-...er-strategies/

Technically, same thing for any other registered account, such as RRSP

[aznmafia]

F*** I was just about to sign up for a TFSA account and put my 5k for this year there....

Now that that's not an option, what does one recommend to buy and sit there?

Planning to buy REIT's in the TFSA for 5k.

[mornhavon]

It's probably wishful thinking, but could the TFSA be immune to this? Their website still states that there are no inactivity fees for the TFSA.

No fees: no annual fee, no fee to open, no inactivity fees.
Source: http://www.questrade.com/trading/tax_free_savings.aspx

I suspect they just haven't updated the page to reflect the inactivity fee yet, or will only do so on July 10, but I'm holding out hope for the time being.

EDIT: Never mind, it doesn't look like any of their product pages have been updated, they all still state "no inactivity fees".

[nightwing12]

virtual brokers seems to have no fee TFSA so I'd check them out.. they also offer 100 commission free ETFs

[Soda Popinski]

A dirty fee

I couldn't agree more.

[cadave]

Wow. I saw the email too and I was quite surprised.

The Big 5 charge in activity fees totalling $25 per inactive quarter = $100 per year

Questrade charges $10 per inactive month = $120 per year

So really it's $20 more with Questrade BUT the trade commissions are $25 less, and the minimum balance requirement is lower.


On the flip side... Questrade DOES tend to get more complaints about its services...


Also, one thing to mention:



Does this mean that it's evaluated by household address?

I've never been charged an inactivity fee by TD Waterhouse... my portfolio has been sitting for over a year now with no transactions.

[corezz]

I am annoyed with this new fee by Questrade but for those who were thinking of opening a new account just remember that the 1st 6-months isn't charged a fee. It seems to apply to accounts with equity less than $5,000. And also, it is a combined equity that has to be $5K or more. So if you hold two accounts (e.g. RRSP and Margin) and at least one of them (or the combined) is equal to at least $5,000 then you are fine (no inactivity fee). What a shame. Questrade was always known as the discount broker with no hidden/inactivity fees. Ah well.

[Sampson]

I've sent Questrade a formal complaint saying I expect either:

1. My account is grandfathered and I won't be subject to the minimum trade/balance requirement.

2. The plan de-registration fees be waived so I can close my account without a penalty aside from the commission required to liquidate my positions.

For a product specifically marketed as an account with "no inactivity fees", I'm not sure on the validity of introducing exactly that fee and then charging someone to discontinue the service if they don't like it. The account agreement says it can be amended at any time but in my mind at that point I should have the option to either continue or reject the amendments. No different than a change to a cellphone plan...

I'll see what they say, probably no, after that I'll file it with OBSI if needed.

[FunSave22]

I've never been charged an inactivity fee by TD Waterhouse... my portfolio has been sitting for over a year now with no transactions.

From the fee schedule:

A quarterly inactivity fee of $25 will be applied to your non-registered investment account when your total account balances with TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage are less than $10,000 CDN.

This fee will be waived when you meet any of the following conditions:
• You are registered for TD Waterhouse eServices®
• You also hold a TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage registered
account
• Your account has been open for less than six months
• You have completed two or more tradesI in the preceding six
months which incurred a commission or fee.
• You are a Senior (60 years of age or older)
• You are enrolled in a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP)

http://www.tdwaterhouse.ca/apply/forms/521778.pdf

[blitzkrieg]

I've sent Questrade a formal complaint saying I expect either:

1. My account is grandfathered and I won't be subject to the minimum trade/balance requirement.

2. The plan de-registration fees be waived so I can close my account without a penalty aside from the commission required to liquidate my positions.

For a product specifically marketed as an account with "no inactivity fees", I'm not sure on the validity of introducing exactly that fee and then charging someone to discontinue the service if they don't like it. The account agreement says it can be amended at any time but in my mind at that point I should have the option to either continue or reject the amendments. No different than a change to a cellphone plan...

I'll see what they say, probably no, after that I'll file it with OBSI if needed.

I think this is excellent. Let us know their response please.