Investing

Which broker to use?

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  • Jul 20th, 2014 2:13 pm
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izzyzz wrote: I'd recommend RBC. You won't pay any "maintenance" fees if you have $15K+ in your account and you're pretty close to that. They're well reviewed by various websites I've researched compared to other major banks.
It's all fine and dandy until your account balance goes below 15k, then you need to do 3 trades/qtr which means 12 trades/year. With NBDB you are not bound to trade qtrly or semi-annualy. You can make 5 trades anytime in a year.
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MehtabS wrote: It's all fine and dandy until your account balance goes below 15k, then you need to do 3 trades/qtr which means 12 trades/year. With NBDB you are not bound to trade qtrly or semi-annualy. You can make 5 trades anytime in a year.
Yea, if you don't plan to grow your investment portfolio, this situation might be a concern. :)
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Khichdi wrote: Questrade is the most economical one IMO.
Ya, cheap trades and for those with lower equity only need $5000 in all your accounts to waive any quarterly inactivity fees. Have used them for years with margins and TFSA account, and no problems at all.
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izzyzz wrote: Yea, if you don't plan to grow your investment portfolio, this situation might be a concern. :)
It's not only that. The investments may turn south anytime. Get a broker that gives you freedom to trade anytime in a year.
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You need to do minimum of two trades every six months. You can do 3-4 at once if you like but you have to do another two after 6 months.
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crystallight wrote: But according to the link that Aethean provided, that's not necessary unless you fulfill at least one of the other criteria, no?
Yea, if you fulfill other criteria then there should be no annual fees. RRSP has admin fee of 100/yr though (unless it is more than 25K). TFSA is free but I am not sure if it is counted as registered account.
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I don't really bank with any of the big boys as I just use a credit union + Tangerine. So for a broker Questrade is usually my best bet overall.
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I am with CIBC Investor's Edge and RBC Inviesting. I have a TFSA with CIBC which is free and since I have my mortage with them, I qualify for $100,000 household accounts and each trade is $6.95. However, if you do not have investment over $15,000, RBC is very convinient. The maintainance fee for each quarter is $25 and if you have 3 accounts, i.e RRSP, TSFA and Regural Investment account, each account is charged $25 divide by 3 per quarter. You can waive the fee by 2 other ways (1) Preauthorized deposit of $100 per month or have at least $300 every quarter, i.e in March, June, Sept and Dec. The advantage with RBC is that there is no separate fee for an RRSP Account. The other plus with RBC is that it has a true US; hence you buy US securities in US$
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Lena100 wrote: I am with CIBC Investor's Edge and RBC Inviesting. I have a TFSA with CIBC which is free and since I have my mortage with them, I qualify for $100,000 household accounts and each trade is $6.95. However, if you do not have investment over $15,000, RBC is very convinient. The maintainance fee for each quarter is $25 and if you have 3 accounts, i.e RRSP, TSFA and Regural Investment account, each account is charged $25 divide by 3 per quarter. You can waive the fee by 2 other ways (1) Preauthorized deposit of $100 per month or have at least $300 every quarter, i.e in March, June, Sept and Dec. The advantage with RBC is that there is no separate fee for an RRSP Account. The other plus with RBC is that it has a true US; hence you buy US securities in US$
I really don't see what advantage these big bank brokers have over one like Questrade. With Questrade the min amount to waive any inactivity fee is only $5000, there are no fees for registered accounts, and trades are cheaper.

What do the big bank brokers really bring to the table that make it worth all this extra hassle and possible fees to pay?
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rob444 wrote: I really don't see what advantage these big bank brokers have over one like Questrade. With Questrade the min amount to waive any inactivity fee is only $5000, there are no fees for registered accounts, and trades are cheaper.

What do the big bank brokers really bring to the table that make it worth all this extra hassle and possible fees to pay?
Interest rate on margins plus the security of the bank.
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MehtabS wrote: Interest rate on margins plus the security of the bank.
How does a big bank broker have "more security" than a discount broker? Most of the news articles I see on client info leaks... are with big banks. This sounds like an unfounded claim.

True, rates if borrowing on margin could be a factor, although I imagine to most average investors this is not even an issue since most people don't borrow from their broker to invest. In my case I borrow from an outside (HELOC) source.
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rob444 wrote: How does a big bank broker have "more security" than a discount broker? Most of the news articles I see on client info leaks... are with big banks. This sounds like an unfounded claim.

True, rates if borrowing on margin could be a factor, although I imagine to most average investors this is not even an issue since most people don't borrow from their broker to invest. In my case I borrow from an outside (HELOC) source.
By "Bank Security" I meant the financial security. It is more likely to stand the test of time than small firms such as questrade and vb. I don't use heloc but the money can't be transferred instantly from heloc to trading account when the opportunity arises.
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MehtabS wrote: By "Bank Security" I meant the financial security. It is more likely to stand the test of time than small firms such as questrade and vb. I don't use heloc but the money can't be transferred instantly from heloc to trading account when the opportunity arises.
Personally I don't think worrying about QT going under is a valid concern. Not sure about other small brokerages.

No it's not an instant transfer, but with QT they give you 3 days to settle the account after doing a trade on margin before any interest is charged. My usual process is to buy stock, immediately transfer the necessary amount from HELOC to my PCF chequing account, and then do a bill payment from PCF to QT. Have done this countless times and never had it take over 3 days so have never paid interest.
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rob444 wrote: With Questrade the min amount to waive any inactivity fee is only $5000, there are no fees for registered accounts, and trades are cheaper.
Say I want to trade 1,000 shares of BCE. From what I see on the Questrade site for pricing, that would cost me $9.95

Democratic pricing. No matter how much you trade or the size of your portfolio, you get great rates and lots of freebies: Trade stocks for 1¢ per share, $4.95 min / $9.95 max

How is that cheaper than my current $6.95 rate?
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rob444 wrote: Personally I don't think worrying about QT going under is a valid concern. Not sure about other small brokerages.

No it's not an instant transfer, but with QT they give you 3 days to settle the account after doing a trade on margin before any interest is charged. My usual process is to buy stock, immediately transfer the necessary amount from HELOC to my PCF chequing account, and then do a bill payment from PCF to QT. Have done this countless times and never had it take over 3 days so have never paid interest.
That is news to me :lol: I thought with most brokers you have to pay interest if you hold the stock over night.
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Sauerkraut wrote: Say I want to trade 1,000 shares of BCE. From what I see on the Questrade site for pricing, that would cost me $9.95

Democratic pricing. No matter how much you trade or the size of your portfolio, you get great rates and lots of freebies: Trade stocks for 1¢ per share, $4.95 min / $9.95 max

How is that cheaper than my current $6.95 rate?
Look at "the advantage" trading option: http://www.questrade.com/trading/servic ... _advantage
Stocks: 1¢ per share, 1¢ minimum / $6.95 maximum
Options: $6.95 plus 75¢ per contract
OR
Stocks: $4.95 flat
Options: $4.95 plus 75¢ per contract


For smaller trades you would pay less than 6.95.

edit. Actually the "advantage" is with a paid data plan. The other regular way you posted could come out to over 6.95, but only in cases you bought over 695 shares of something. Anything less and you'd pay less than 6.95.
Also with other "big bank" brokers, is there any minimums or anything required to get 6.95 flat fee for all trades?
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rob444 wrote: Also with other "big bank" brokers, is there any minimums or anything required to get 6.95 flat fee for all trades?
CIBC...minimum $100K in business which is not an issue for me. In fact it's per household, so my daughter can also get the same rate for her small (but growing) TFSA account
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Sauerkraut wrote: CIBC...minimum $100K in business which is not an issue for me. In fact it's per household, so my daughter can also get the same rate for her small (but growing) TFSA account
So there you go, hardly fair comparing a $100K+ account with a discount broker's everyday account offered to all clients. Obviously for people with lots of equity, there are perks offered at big bank brokers that the little guys won't be able to compete with. For you there is no reason to even consider QT. Similarly one with a $100K+ business account probably gets no-fee service at big banks too, so would never consider any no-fee bank like PCF or Tangerine.

But for the typical person beginning to invest and slowly building their portfolio... who may not have $100K for years to decades... I don't see how QT's low trading fee plus low minimum ($5K) to waive all inactivity fees, can be beat.
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rob444 wrote: So there you go, hardly fair comparing a $100K+ account with a discount broker's everyday account offered to all clients. Obviously for people with lots of equity, there are perks offered at big bank brokers that the little guys won't be able to compete with. For you there is no reason to even consider QT. Similarly one with a $100K+ business account probably gets no-fee service at big banks too, so would never consider any no-fee bank like PCF or Tangerine.

But for the typical person beginning to invest and slowly building their portfolio... who may not have $100K for years to decades... I don't see how QT's low trading fee plus low minimum ($5K) to waive all inactivity fees, can be beat.
I did some research on QT too, it does seem to be the best broker for small investments. Would it be ideal to transfer either USD or CAD into QT first, leave it there until I buy stocks? If I don't transfer it first, it would take too long, and the price for the stock might already changed until the money has transferred. Also what would be the best way to transfer CAD to USD? Normal checking account from the major banks don't give best currency exchange rate.

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