RBC Direct Investing to offer 1% again

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Springbok
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Post by Springbok »

AltaRed wrote:
Springbok wrote:How is it paid out? Does it just appear in each account? Could not do that in registered accounts?? So, do they pay it in cash?
Last year, it was paid out directly into the accounts on the date they had previously indicated, including registered accounts. It was credited as a negative fee, attracting no taxable event either (does not appear on T slips). It may, or may not, be the same concept this year.
Hmm - a negative fee? You would think that would be like a contribution to the RRSP. Not sure how they get away with that.
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Post by BRIAN5000 »

BRIAN5000 wrote:
Yes I'm cheap.
Say that with pride, many are not, many just don't understand. Save a few bucks here and there and spend it on what you want.

Beer or bank fee's not a hard choice.

Ok 6:05 Nov 26 completed RBCDI online transfer lets see how bad this gets screwed up. Three items 2 separate GIC's, and a MM fund.
MM fund got transfered as of Dec 2 that was pretty quick, still waiting for the GIC's which they said would take longer.
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Post by AltaRed »

Springbok wrote:Hmm - a negative fee? You would think that would be like a contribution to the RRSP. Not sure how they get away with that.
I had a long discussion with RBCDI last year on the same issue. They claim fees (positive or negative) have no impact whatsoever on the data supplied to the CRA.
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Post by Springbok »

Most of our securities have now been transferred. Just the GICs and for some reason Loblaws, still outstanding. So really just 7 trading days in limbo.

I have verbal confirmation by two different agents that I did get my transfers in in time, but they won't put it in writing. I instead put it in writing myself and asked them to respond if my understanding was incorrect ;)

The fact that the bonus is essentially tax free means that by transferring we get an annualized pre-tax return of something over 3% just for filling in a few forms! I went for almost the max for three accounts. It will pay for our trip South this year! Hopefully by the time the CC bills arrive :)

IMO RBC Direct doesn't compare with BMO Investorline. They tell me they are going to do a site upgrade soon. They also made several mistakes in the setting up of the accounts that I have had to spend time getting corrected. BMO were usually more professional and accurate. The on-line reps at both places are courteous and helpful.

We still have a good size portfolio at BMO, so it will be interesting to compare the two going forward.
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Post by Bylo Selhi »

Springbok wrote:Most of our securities have now been transferred. Just the GICs and for some reason Loblaws, still outstanding. So really just 7 trading days in limbo.
They screwed up my RRSP, well, Royally. But now they seem to have fixed that -- and without managing to lose the 01Dec RRB interest payments :lol:

One of the stocks in the taxable account is still AWOL. So now, more than a month after embarking on this journey, while we're still at sea, the coast line is finally in view. I can live with that for a large tax free bribe.

My wife's transfers, which were given to RBC on 24Nov, have been received by RBCDI, but nothing has yet moved out of TDW.
I have verbal confirmation by two different agents that I did get my transfers in in time, but they won't put it in writing. I instead put it in writing myself and asked them to respond if my understanding was incorrect ;)
Don't worry. Be happy. From RBCDI's FAQ, "Transfers must be initiated and in the possession of RBC DI prior to or on November 28, 2008 and the Transferred Assets must be received into your Account no later than February 27, 2009 in order to qualify for this offer." You've still got nearly three months.
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Springbok
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Post by Springbok »

Bylo Selhi wrote:]Don't worry. Be happy. From RBCDI's FAQ, "Transfers must be initiated and in the possession of RBC DI prior to or on November 28, 2008 and the Transferred Assets must be received into your Account no later than February 27, 2009 in order to qualify for this offer." You've still got nearly three months.
It's wasn't the February date I was worried about. My transfers were faxed to RBCDI at about 3pm on Nov 28th! Account applications were made on Nov 27 and only one was open on 28th.

But, they tell me that they time-stamp the applications and transfers when they receive them and that is what counts. I hope so!
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Post by khatsalano »

Opened my first D.I. account and decided to go with RBC because of the 1%. So far it has taken 13 business days to transfer in 1 of my rrsp accounts from my bank and I'm still waiting for the cash to come from my other rrsp account with an insurance company. I was told to transfer "in kind" by the RBC rep but just found out that the insurance company will only allow cash transfers. So, I must resubmit all paper work. Probably another 2 weeks wait.

I'm finding that everything I learn, I learn from talking to a rep and not by using their website which seems to have very little real useful information. And it's not just the phone rep you have to talk to it's the trader that you get transfered to who actually has the answers.
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Post by Springbok »

khatsalano wrote:Opened my first D.I. account and decided to go with RBC because of the 1%. So far it has taken 13 business days to transfer in 1 of my rrsp accounts from my bank and I'm still waiting for the cash to come from my other rrsp account with an insurance company. I was told to transfer "in kind" by the RBC rep but just found out that the insurance company will only allow cash transfers. So, I must resubmit all paper work. Probably another 2 weeks wait.

I'm finding that everything I learn, I learn from talking to a rep and not by using their website which seems to have very little real useful information. And it's not just the phone rep you have to talk to it's the trader that you get transfered to who actually has the answers.
I now see that the final GICs have left BMO but not yet arrived at RBC. But I guess they will be there over the weekend. So, total of about 2 weeks for transfer of stocks, bonds and GICs for 3 accounts.

For some reason they opened a 4th account but no-one knew why - just closed it.

Now that we have had more time with the RBC site, we see that it has some positives and some negatives. BMO site looks cleaner, but overall I can't really say one is better than the other. Just different.

Don't have the Royal ring or whatever its called yet, so can't compare that with BMO 5-star where you get level II and no-delay quotes.

Looks like total transfer cost for 3 accounts will be $150 because they were partial transfers. RBC will reimburse this.
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Post by George L »

I have made two transfers to my new RBCDI account and now I have received statements for the transfer fees. How am I going to get reimbursement for these transfer fees? I can no longer find the instruction from the RBCDI site.

If my memory serves me well I think we can either send it by fax or by mail. Which way is more secure? Normally I wouldn't send this information with my name and address attached to it.
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Post by Bylo Selhi »

RBCDI FAQ wrote:Will I be reimbursed on the transfer fees charged by the other investment firm?
Yes, transfer fees of up to $125 will be reimbursed when $15,000 or more is transferred from an account held at an investment firm outside of RBC. To have the transfer fees reimbursed, clients must fax their request along with a copy of the statement showing the fees to 1-888-722-2388.
They reimbursed me within 24 hours of sending the fax.
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Post by ockham »

Bylo Selhi wrote: They reimbursed me within 24 hours of sending the fax.
Me too.
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Post by George L »

Bylo Selhi wrote:
RBCDI FAQ wrote:Will I be reimbursed on the transfer fees charged by the other investment firm?
Yes, transfer fees of up to $125 will be reimbursed when $15,000 or more is transferred from an account held at an investment firm outside of RBC. To have the transfer fees reimbursed, clients must fax their request along with a copy of the statement showing the fees to 1-888-722-2388.
They reimbursed me within 24 hours of sending the fax.
Thank you for the information.

In my case it would take more than 72 hours. I haven't been reimbursed three days after sending them the fax. But when I called they said they have received my request. So it will be OK.
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Post by jay »

I am not sure about your experience, but mine has been terrible so far. Only some of my stocks have been transferred, and none of my mutual funds. I have been on the phone with RBCDI at least 7-8 times since I initiated the transfer, which was a week before the deadline.

And I honestly think RBCDI's website is really weak. The user interface is unintuitive and the website is just sluggish. I am definitely switching to another broker (probably TD or BMO) as soon as I collect my 1% bonus.

And I haven't even received the 125 transfer fee after almost a week of faxing it.

And on top of it, RBCDI just placed a restriction on my ENTIRE cash account because they did not receive my signed W-8BEN form (related to US tax withholding). I can sell CAD and US stocks, but I cannot buy ANYTHING. So do other brokers do this and does it make any sense? I don't understand why the Canadian portion of the account is restricted as well.

Sorry for the rant. Just had to get it off.

Thanks
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Post by twa2w »

If some of the transfer has come in, but not all of it, then it is usually the broker who is losing the money that is holding things up. My friends at RBCDS who are being very successful at transferring money in from the competition say they have never experienced as many problems with getting other institutions to forward money and complete transfers. It seems like they all just want to hang on to it for a few extra days longer. No idea why.
There is actually an agreement as to how long institutions have to transfer funds once all the completed paperwork is rec'd. Companies are flagrantly ignoring this rule and doing anything they can to delay remittances. If you have any little thing off on the paperwork they are rejecting it etc etc.

Cheers
J
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Post by BRIAN5000 »

BRIAN5000 wrote:

Ok 6:05 Nov 26 completed RBCDI online transfer lets see how bad this gets screwed up. Three items 2 separate GIC's, and a MM fund.

MM fund got transfered as of Dec 2 that was pretty quick, still waiting for the GIC's which they said would take longer.
The two cashable GIC's finally showed up in my account today at RBC. SD said they were transfered Dec 9 took to Jan 2 to get to RBC.
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1% Bonus in Cad or Usd?

Post by minimalist »

Does anyone know if the max 1% bonus of $2500 is payable in USD if I transfer a USD account of 250K Usd or greater?
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Re: 1% Bonus in Cad or Usd?

Post by ockham »

minimalist wrote:Does anyone know if the max 1% bonus of $2500 is payable in USD if I transfer a USD account of 250K Usd or greater?
RBCDI will pay the bonus in the currency of the assets transferred to it. So my understanding is that the answer to your question is, yes.
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Post by Springbok »

jay wrote:I am not sure about your experience, but mine has been terrible so far. Only some of my stocks have been transferred, and none of my mutual funds. I have been on the phone with RBCDI at least 7-8 times since I initiated the transfer, which was a week before the deadline.

And I honestly think RBCDI's website is really weak. The user interface is unintuitive and the website is just sluggish. I am definitely switching to another broker (probably TD or BMO) as soon as I collect my 1% bonus.
:
:
Sorry for the rant. Just had to get it off.
I too am not too impressed. Everything was finally transferred, but there are errors on the website.

When I look at our combined holdings (Joint + 2 RRSPs), the numbers in the summary don't match the totals in the individual accounts. One of the My-Acoount summary totals is incorrect. It is my wife's RRSP. It was the last one to complete transfers and that was about 2 weeks ago.

I used the secure email to ask about this. I got a snarky email back saying that although I had trading authority, I had no right to ask this type of question. I had to have my wife call. Eventually she did and was told that it was due to some type of coding problem and that it would be fixed. A week later it had not been fixed. A further secure email asking about this has not been answered.

As a result of lack of communication from RBC, we placed our TSFAs with BMO - No problem with their 5-Star team as always.

We will see how it goes, but not impressed with RBC DI so far.
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Post by BRIAN5000 »

When I look at our combined holdings (Joint + 2 RRSPs), the numbers in the summary don't match the totals in the individual accounts. One of the My-Acoount summary totals is incorrect. It is my wife's RRSP. It was the last one to complete transfers and that was about 2 weeks ago.
Not sure if your problem is the same as mine or not. TheT-bill mutual fund I transfered showed up no poblem. I can now see the two GIC's but they are not in the total for my account. The excuse was they were still being transfered from SD into RBDDI. Name change of the costodain. So maybe something hasn't completely transfered over yet?
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Post by Springbok »

BRIAN5000 wrote:
When I look at our combined holdings (Joint + 2 RRSPs), the numbers in the summary don't match the totals in the individual accounts. One of the My-Acoount summary totals is incorrect. It is my wife's RRSP. It was the last one to complete transfers and that was about 2 weeks ago.
Not sure if your problem is the same as mine or not. TheT-bill mutual fund I transfered showed up no poblem. I can now see the two GIC's but they are not in the total for my account. The excuse was they were still being transfered from SD into RBDDI. Name change of the costodain. So maybe something hasn't completely transfered over yet?
It likely is the same problem. But a bit strange that the securities show up in the account but not in the summary.

Would not be as bad if they would answer emails and phone calls to properly explain why the discrepancy and when it will be fixed.

RBCDI site is poor compared with BMO - But, we have overcome this to some extent by setting up watch lists which in effect replicate the BMO style quote pages. We have watch lists for each account at both RBC & BMO setup at RBCDI so we can get a picture of overall portfolios with one log on.
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Post by SLeazebag »

Springbok wrote:
BRIAN5000 wrote:
When I look at our combined holdings (Joint + 2 RRSPs), the numbers in the summary don't match the totals in the individual accounts. One of the My-Acoount summary totals is incorrect. It is my wife's RRSP. It was the last one to complete transfers and that was about 2 weeks ago.
Not sure if your problem is the same as mine or not. TheT-bill mutual fund I transfered showed up no poblem. I can now see the two GIC's but they are not in the total for my account. The excuse was they were still being transfered from SD into RBDDI. Name change of the costodain. So maybe something hasn't completely transfered over yet?
It likely is the same problem. But a bit strange that the securities show up in the account but not in the summary.
The SLeazebag had the same problem..the summary balances not agreeing to the my account balances. It was puzzling and annoying but eventually (it took two or three weeks after the transfer) the issue went away.
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Max. cash bonus.

Post by minimalist »

I received an emailed reply from RBC confirming that the max bonus is $2500 CAD, NOT $2500 USD.
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Post by jay »

I could swear I once read something in this thread regarding the 1% bonus in one's RRSP account, but I tried to find it but couldn't.

Basically, if I am expecting x dollars in bonus in my RRSP, will it be regarded a contribution? i.e. do I need to worry about leaving enough contribution room for it?

Thanks, with apologies if this is a redundant question
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Post by ward »

Basically, if I am expecting x dollars in bonus in my RRSP, will it be regarded a contribution? i.e. do I need to worry about leaving enough contribution room for it?
Based on experience with the RBCDI offer last time round, no, the 1% payout to your RRSP account will not be considered a "contribution" for tax purposes.
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Post by Springbok »

SLeazebag wrote:
The SLeazebag had the same problem..the summary balances not agreeing to the my account balances. It was puzzling and annoying but eventually (it took two or three weeks after the transfer) the issue went away.
I have been having an on-going "discussion" with of the on-line RBCDI agents. I say their site has an error - the Summary has different numbers from the individual accounts. He would never acknowledge that there was anything wrong or even a difference in the numbers.

RBCDI now say that the numbers will be corrected once the transfer is complete (hold up is at transfer agent) - But why are the full amounts in the account, but missing from the summary? Not exactly what you would expect from a major bank.

I am sure this will correct itself, but we were concerned because of the deadline for having the transfers completed. Feb 28th or thereabouts?

I was also not happy with the particular agent - the guys we have spoken to by phone have been fine.
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