Search found 554 matches

by gouthro
21 Feb 2024 10:02
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Bribes from Discount Brokers
Replies: 301
Views: 24259

Re: Bribes from Discount Brokers

Mordko wrote: 20 Feb 2024 17:19
BRIAN5000 wrote: 20 Feb 2024 16:33 Has everyone got their iPhones now, our second one arrived today.
We got one a couple of weeks ago but not the second one. Apparently its to do with he choice of colour, they said a 2 week delay.
We received ours yesterday. We must be a couple of antiquarians because i can’t see what it does for me than our other phones don’t. I suppose we are not very sophisticated in our phone use. Also, we have prepaid mobile with PC mobile, which doesn’t support esim ! My next stop is to look at the threads here dealing with prepaid mobile plans.
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by gouthro
21 Jan 2024 16:11
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Recommended Care Home In Montreal
Replies: 8
Views: 582

Re: Recommended Care Home In Montreal

Good luck with the search. Westmount is a wealthy area not too far from the center of the city. I knew people who lived here several years ago. They said it was a very good place. It is a bit older. But, well kept. Quite nicely situated next to a large park and a library. I don’t know if it was as good as people said it was or whether it was the prestige of living there that appealed to them:
https://manoirwestmount.ca/
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by gouthro
18 Jan 2024 19:29
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Recommended Care Home In Montreal
Replies: 8
Views: 582

Re: Recommended Care Home In Montreal

There is one, both French and English, which although I don’t have any close personal experience with it, i know four or five people who have lived there for about ten years. So, it can’t be too bad. They moved there mainly, i suppose, because it was in the same neighborhood they had lived in all their lives. Probably worth a look:
https://residencescogir.com/en/retireme ... eal/vista/
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by gouthro
12 Jan 2024 20:53
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: WealthSimple Cash
Replies: 38
Views: 2836

Re: WealthSimple Cash

I found wealth simple very rasy to use and responsive in relation to the big bank brokerages. They seem to be doing a lot of things right. I would be tempted to move everything there. But, i suppose we all have some kind of bias to the tried and true. Even if they sre not that great.
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by gouthro
11 Jan 2024 13:03
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: WealthSimple Cash
Replies: 38
Views: 2836

Re: WealthSimple Cash

I've been using WS as my "main" bank for a year now. I love the automations and synthetic fractional drip, I only invest into an all-in-one allocation ETF. I ditched BMO and their nickel & diming ways last year. I live in SW Ontario so I also have a free chequing account at YNCU for when I occasionally do cash deposits (shout out to mom and dad for the Christmas money). Using Amex SimplyCash, Tangerine World MC, and the Canadian Tire World Elite MC for basically all of my transactions, save the occasional foreign ones (WSJ, professional association membership dues, etc.) that I use the WS Cash card for. I'm allergic to fees, so I'm quite happy with my situation. Getting 2% back on: grocery, gas, recurring bills, restaurants. ...
by gouthro
08 Jan 2024 13:39
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: flying in comfort - business class?
Replies: 82
Views: 3897

Re: flying in comfort - business class?

I was searching the forum and this thread seems to come closest to what I am looking for. I have learned many things on this forum other than about investing. One of the members recently changed my mind about travel. He said something like, “someone is going to fly first class with your money. And it would be better if it is you than your inheriting nephew. “ I don’t know if i have overcome cheapsville enough to travel first class when we go to Paris and Ireland this spring, but i would like to be more comfortable. I can’t seem to figure out all the possibilities, though. Last year we used aeroplan miles ( referred to this site on how to do it) and we only got another type of economy class, I think, one with more leg room. Nice, but hardly ...
by gouthro
08 Jan 2024 13:12
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: Securities Lending
Replies: 7
Views: 332

Re: Bribes from Discount Brokers

The above was written a few months ago, but allow me to correct a common misconception: Canadian brokerages are not allowed to lend fully paid securities, even when held in a margin account. So if you do not borrow money on margin, your securities cannot be lend , period. WS does it, not sure about others. https://help.wealthsimple.com/hc/en-ca/articles/9509140050587#:~:text=Wealthsimple's%20Stock%20Lending%20feature%20will,other%20investors%20for%20a%20fee. I guess I wasn't expressing myself clearly: Canadian brokerages are not allowed , without your express consent , to lend fully paid securities, even when held in a margin account. So if you do not borrow money on margin, and you do not explicitly consent to lending, your securities can...
by gouthro
31 Dec 2023 23:15
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Bribes from Discount Brokers
Replies: 301
Views: 24259

Re: Bribes from Discount Brokers

My wife and I are (second) joint holders on each other's taxable accounts. We both got a separate bonus in a previous round. However, I think hers was a new account and mine was an existing account. It didn't matter that our names also appeared as secondary holders. That is the way it should work. Tax-wise, her account is her money, not mine. I doubt you could get a bonus for two accounts where you are primary , like a taxable account and a TFSA. I believe the bonus would be for all the money you have as a primary account holder. Yes, i am sure you are right there. They are two seperate accounts that we have rhere. Not primary on two. Regarding bylo’s concerns about correct acb, in the past i have copied my old account ant the new one into...
by gouthro
28 Dec 2023 16:00
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Bribes from Discount Brokers
Replies: 301
Views: 24259

Re: Bribes from Discount Brokers

I remember the BMO offer from my Wealthsimple research, and just looked at it again now. It seems fairly clear that your wife is the primary and the one eligible for the bonus award. If you open a TFSA account for yourself, and are not eligible for an award on any other account (you aren't), you should be eligible for the bonus on the TFSA account. There's no wording anywhere that says one becomes ineligible for the promo by dint of being a secondary on some other joint account, and no-one is breaking the "one client, one award" terms. You could do a brief email or uploaded doc (or however you can communicate in writing with BMO) outlining your situation clearly and ask them to respond in writing with their interpretation. I susp...
by gouthro
28 Dec 2023 13:48
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Bribes from Discount Brokers
Replies: 301
Views: 24259

Re: Bribes from Discount Brokers

I don't want to weigh too much on your kindness here. But, perhaps this is my last question. Today I am working on setting up the accounts and I have two opinions from two different bmo agents. I was wondering if anyone had experienced something similar to this and knows the truth of it: 2. Limit of one Award per client. In the case of a joint account, only the primary account holder will be entitled to receive the cash Award. Now, the question surrounds the joint account. It seems the primary holder of the account is my wife. We we were planning on transferring enough to get the bribe from it, under her name. Then, I was going to open a tfsa account4 in my own name and receive the second bribe. One agent tells me that since I am also an ow...
by gouthro
25 Dec 2023 15:24
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Bribes from Discount Brokers
Replies: 301
Views: 24259

Re: Bribes from Discount Brokers

all of you seem to know a lot about the ins and outs of this manoeuver. i was wondering whether switchung woud make tax time harder. for instance, a coupe owning a joint account at td decides to put half now in bmo and half later on you may have to open an individual account, or maybe even two at bmo. then when you receive the bribe convert them back into a joint account it is the holidays, so i dont know for sure, but so far have only succeeed in setting up an individual account.
by gouthro
23 Dec 2023 20:04
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Bribes from Discount Brokers
Replies: 301
Views: 24259

Re: Bribes from Discount Brokers

They seem to want to have the name of the pricipal holder in the joint account. In our case it is my wife. When i called to ask about how that came to be they said that it was just the way we signed the forms. Interesting. But you confirm that i donot have to move the whole account over, eh?
Thanks g
by gouthro
23 Dec 2023 16:51
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Bribes from Discount Brokers
Replies: 301
Views: 24259

Re: Bribes from Discount Brokers

As I understand it, these bribes are generally based on transfers of specific amounts (cash or in-kind) rather than on transfers of entire accounts. So if you have say $3M in assets at one broker you could transfer $1M at a time to another broker in order to qualify for three bribes. Or transfer $1M each to three different brokers, etc. Does that mean that you could transfer one million this time. And if the account, say, held two million, transfer the other million later from the same account and thus get double the bribes? I e thus keeping one million in your original account and one million in the new account? I sam not too interested in going into too many brokerages. Once i move into this one i hope to stay there. That is, unless ther...
by gouthro
21 Dec 2023 18:13
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Bribes from Discount Brokers
Replies: 301
Views: 24259

Re: Bribes from Discount Brokers

BMO-IL is offering another bonus, deadline January 8th. I note the bonus for existing accounts is missing all the tiers under 250k. The new-account bonus gives rewards for lower contribution levels. Existing: https://www.bmoinvestorline.com/selfDirected/pdfs/TC-SDFall2023Bonus-en_A.pdf New: https://www.bmoinvestorline.com/selfDirected/pdfs/sd_2023_sdcash-e.pdf They have bumped each payout up a little for inflation, though! Edit: Sorry, I see that I already posted this a while back. The new-account info is worthwhile, though. thanks for the heads up. I was thinking of taking advantage of the earlier offer but I missed it somehow. Nice to know that I can still have a chance to make a bit of money. Also, I might prefer to be at bmo. I imagine...
by gouthro
07 Dec 2023 17:51
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: willful [online Will and POA service]
Replies: 58
Views: 3380

Re: willful [online Will and POA service]

I thought I would post an update on this question. In this thread i said that i find no problem in using willful on line will kit. That’s because, even though we have a fairly large asset base, the dispersion should be fairly simple. Well, i am not always convinced by my own poitiveness and so i consulted a lawyer. In speaking with him, came to realize that there are a lot of little twists and turns which may not be too obvious. It was enough to convince me to go with a lawyer.
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by gouthro
06 Nov 2023 16:58
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: to buy new or used car?
Replies: 1590
Views: 126842

Re: to buy new or used car?

https://ritholtz.com/2023/11/electric-cars/ Interesting topic, but IMO that is a very poorly written text. All over the place, completely disorganized, and I'm not even sure what the author's message is (except that he does not like Elon M.). Anyway, the way I remember it, film cameras did not become obsolete overnight. There was a long transition period. At some point, yes, film cameras became nearly worthless (and film was not readily available anymore), but that was because you could get a basic compact digital camera for a few hundred dollars. You can't get an electric car for a few hundred dollars... With cars, if you were already planning to drive each car until it becomes unreliable (about 13-15 years of age for many Toyotas) and ha...
by gouthro
06 Nov 2023 14:05
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: to buy new or used car?
Replies: 1590
Views: 126842

Re: to buy new or used car?

I think it was on this thread that there was an earlier conversation about electric vs gasoline cars. If i remember correctly one of the main points was that ice cars will be on the roads for decades to come. I am in the market for a car but shy away from electric, mainly because of the limited driving range. I have expressed fears, though, about gas cars going the way of the lovely pentax film cameras that i have in my drawer. Not a big worry, if ice is really around for decades. But, a several thousand pound paper weight if not. Well, we don’t know when all electric is going to happen. But, it could change suddenly, in the same way my cameras became obsolete. I thought people might be interested in reading an article that discusses these ...
by gouthro
03 Nov 2023 20:05
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Bribes from Discount Brokers
Replies: 301
Views: 24259

Re: Bribes from Discount Brokers

I think i am going to go for it. Do you think it is crazy? Afterall, it is a bit of work and trouble. I switched over to TD from bmo a couple of years ago. Mostly for the bribe and also because I didn’t like the way bmo charged for options assignments. I don’t find td to be any better than bmo, except for the aforementioned option prices, but i like banking at bmo better. Now that I know how it works, i should be able to avoid any possible pitfalls. I am not sure i understand the bribe, though. If i bring a couple of accounts with one million and several lesser accounts, will i get paid for each of them? Or is there a maximum?
Thanks g

just checked it. Only $3500 maximum, I believe. i think i will pass on this
by gouthro
23 Oct 2023 08:58
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: willful [online Will and POA service]
Replies: 58
Views: 3380

Re: willful [online Will and POA service]

Yes, Québec has a different legal system. Here is a quite from the Willful website: However, only a will that complies with the requirements for a notarial will that is executed by a notary can be deemed a notarial will, thus avoiding probate after you pass away. And a lawyer or notary are the only people who can give you legal advice as you create your will. Some people may benefit from advice on a complicated matter (i.e. what to consider when dealing with foreign property, how to address complex business needs, etc.) and might need customized language beyond what is offered on Willful. Regarding percentages, like yourself, the only other way i could think of distributing the estate was through dollar amounts. Which doesn’t make sense. I ...
by gouthro
22 Oct 2023 15:24
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: willful [online Will and POA service]
Replies: 58
Views: 3380

Re: willful [online Will and POA service]

For a lot of people all the will is doing is memorializing the same distribution as would happen if they were intestate so that nobody has to apply for letters of administration. For those people this online service should be fine. That makes sense to me. Spouse, no divorces, no 2nd marriages, no common-law relationships, adult children that can and will talk to each other, no trust funds, no personal businesses, no foreign property. Most assets held jointly, or in registered accounts with beneficiaries. We can't be the only couple like that ... It seems to me that this covers the situation pretty well. If this is your situation, what could a lawyer or a notary provide other than something that could be prepared bt Willful? I think that sa...
by gouthro
21 Oct 2023 17:59
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: to buy new or used car?
Replies: 1590
Views: 126842

Re: to buy new or used car?

"At 20 000 km per year, the Prius wins by about $300 a year. At 30 000 km a year it wins by about $500 a year.

This is of course a purely financial comparison. Factors such as environmental impact, can also play a role, but it would be psychologically very difficult for me to pay more upfront for a 5 year old car (a 2018 Prius) than for a brand new one (a 2023 gas Corolla).
[/quote]

i can certainly agree with you on the psychological difficulty there. thanks for the links, by the way, they are very handy. i was trying to figure all of this out with my own calculations. For instance, i calculated the Sienna gas mileage from wome toyota forums. But, what I calculated doesn<t match up with what I get on CAS site.
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by gouthro
21 Oct 2023 12:23
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: to buy new or used car?
Replies: 1590
Views: 126842

Re: to buy new or used car?

COVID messed up everything (used cars prices are up). I normally buy five year old Corollas with about 100 000 km on the counter, automatic transmission, gas only, as our second car. We still own a 2010 model that was purchased in 2015 for $8.5k plus tax, from the local Toyota dealership. However it is now rusty so I've been following the used car market. It is probably OK for another 1-2 years. Based on Autotrader.ca, the cheapest 2018 Corolla that fits my criteria, from a dealership in a 50 km radius, costs $21k plus tax, and the next down the list is $21.5k, and then $22.5k. Based on toyota.ca the cheapest 2023 model is $25.5k plus tax. There is even a nice looking 2023 hatchback for $26.3k. So if I had to buy now, I would go for the ne...
by gouthro
19 Oct 2023 21:30
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: willful [online Will and POA service]
Replies: 58
Views: 3380

Re: willful [online Will and POA service]

Not sure what to think of it myself. Good points about penny wise and pound foolish were made here. On the other hand, they do seem to offer access to notaries. And they say themselves that they would not be suitable for complex wills. Here is a blurb from their site: You do not need to visit a lawyer or notary to make a will in Quebec. As long as your will complies with the provincial requirements for signing/witnessing, a will created through Willful carries the same legal weight as one created by a lawyer or notary. Willful's $99 plan is what's called a "will in front of witnesses," which does not require any involvement by a lawyer or notary. The most common type of will in Quebec is called a notarial will - this type of will ...
by gouthro
09 Oct 2023 15:22
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: A Final Financial Thread [from Shakespeare]
Replies: 70
Views: 6639

Re: A Final Financial Thread [from Shakespeare]

Shakespear was an extremely generous man. I learned a lot from him. Always generous and gracious. Just found out about it and offer my belated respects.
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by gouthro
30 Sep 2023 09:53
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Google sheets question
Replies: 5
Views: 720

Re: Google sheets question

Thanks for the reference. I don’t know what I did wrong but i googled yahoo finance. Can’t remember now what symbol I got. But I tried many combinations, as i googled other places as well, and some of them had different combinations of symbols. Perhaps i just became confused after a time.
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