3.15% Interest - Simplii Financial - to Feb. 28, 2019

[Shwa Girl]

Got a message that there is a promotional interest rate available from Simplii Financial.
Works for
high interest savings accounts
RRSP accounts
TFSA accounts

3.15% interest on new deposits
ends February 28,2019

YMMV

[lilo0003]

I do love this shell game. Savings is now at TD earning 3.2% until Jan 1 2019. note in the calendar to move it over to Simplii on that day assuming Tangerine does not do one better & I had depleted the account so the start is 0, there is no shame in my game.

[johnb56789]

Got this offer too. Have about $6,800 I will be moving from Meridian (1.5%) to Simplii (3.15%) until Feb 2019, then (unless something better comes up), I will move my money back to Meridian

[tjthemanto]

Now the offer is open to everyone. Need not be targetted via email.

Just call in and it will be applied to your account.

Remember the bonus interest will be paid in 1 lum sum in March for all the 4 months combined. Regular interest will be paid each and every month.

[Shwa Girl]

I do love this shell game. Savings is now at TD earning 3.2% until Jan 1 2019. note in the calendar to move it over to Simplii on that day assuming Tangerine does not do one better & I had depleted the account so the start is 0, there is no shame in my game.

Yes, it's nice to have some choices in getting a higher interest rate at a few banks.

[StrawberryCheesecake]

I saw this today and actually had a question about this. I'll make up some random numbers for the scenario I am in and hopefully someone can help.

Lets say I have a 2018 contribution room of 50K.

Lets then say I have $5,000 in my TFSA prior to this new promotion.

My question is could I potentially transfer the 5K and put it in my chequeing account and then the next day transfer it back to my TFSA and therefore earn 3.15% on it from then until February 28? I understand my contribution for that year would then count as $10,000 despite there only actually being $5,00 in there. Am I correct in all this?

[lilo0003]

if Simpli functions like Tangerine no because Tangerine counts all the money you have and its the money added beyond that amount that gets the promo interest. So if that 5000.00 is already with Simplii even in a different type of account they have taken it into consideration. This is why I have three savings accounts, so currently both my Tangerine and my Simplii are at 0 and I move the money hence my shell game.
Hopefully this makes sense.

[StrawberryCheesecake]

if Simpli functions like Tangerine no because Tangerine counts all the money you have and its the money added beyond that amount that gets the promo interest. So if that 5000.00 is already with Simplii even in a different type of account they have taken it into consideration. This is why I have three savings accounts, so currently both my Tangerine and my Simplii are at 0 and I move the money hence my shell game.
Hopefully this makes sense.

I get the shell reference now!

Now I wonder if I transfered the $5,000 to my chequing account and then e-transfered or wrote a cheque for the $5,000 in DH's name, he then deposits it into his TD account. Then a couple days later writes a cheque from his TD account to my simplii for the original 5k if that would work.

[Shwa Girl]

I get the shell reference now!

Now I wonder if I transfered the $5,000 to my chequing account and then e-transfered or wrote a cheque for the $5,000 in DH's name, he then deposits it into his TD account. Then a couple days later writes a cheque from his TD account to my simplii for the original 5k if that would work.

It might. I am not sure how Simplii will look at this.

[brunt]

If you are looking at chasing returns, then you should at least consider bank stocks.

As of today, Scotia is paying 4.81%, CIBC 4.79%, National 4.15%, Royal 4.09%, BMO 3.9% and TD 3.67% dividends. (link: https://www.dividendyields.org/tsx60...vidend-stocks/)

If you earn enough that you are paying income tax and are investing outside of a registered account, then the dividends are taxed at about one half of the rate of interest.

Beats playing musical chairs with accounts.

[Shwa Girl]

If you are looking at chasing returns, then you should at least consider bank stocks.

As of today, Scotia is paying 4.81%, CIBC 4.79%, National 4.15%, Royal 4.09%, BMO 3.9% and TD 3.67% dividends. (link: https://www.dividendyields.org/tsx60...vidend-stocks/)

If you earn enough that you are paying income tax and are investing outside of a registered account, then the dividends are taxed at about one half of the rate of interest.


Beats playing musical chairs with accounts.

Good point brunt.
What are the fees like for buying bank stocks?

Wanted to post these rates especially for SC who are earning 0.25% interest in their savings accounts.

[brunt]

Good point brunt.
What are the fees like for buying bank stocks?

Wanted to post these rates especially for SC who are earning 0.25% interest in their savings accounts.

I think that CIBC is $7 per trade. If you don't jump in and out all of the time, it really does not cost that much.

And yes, I didn't mean to come across as looking down my nose at the accounts. They most definitely have their use - especially if it is money that you may need in a pinch. But if return is what you are after, the bank stocks are likely a better bet.

[tjthemanto]

If you are looking at chasing returns, then you should at least consider bank stocks.
As of today, Scotia is paying 4.81%, CIBC 4.79%, National 4.15%, Royal 4.09%, BMO 3.9% and TD 3.67% dividends. (link: https://www.dividendyields.org/tsx60...vidend-stocks/)
If you earn enough that you are paying income tax and are investing outside of a registered account, then the dividends are taxed at about one half of the rate of interest.
Beats playing musical chairs with accounts.

But what happens, when the bank stock goes down? There is NO guarantee that the bank stock will increase in price or will remain the same price after you buy it.

Sure a $ 80 bank stock might be paying 5 % dividend and dividends are taxed at a lesser rate than interest income.

But when the $ 80 stock becomes $ 60 that's when you lose lot of your capital & money.

You can't really compare stocks & mutual funds, with Savings accounts & GIC's . There are no guarantees in the former 2 and the risk tolerance levels are different.

[brunt]

But what happens, when the bank stock goes down? There is NO guarantee that the bank stock will increase in price or will remain the same price after you buy it.

Sure a $ 80 bank stock might be paying 5 % dividend and dividends are taxed at a lesser rate than interest income.

But when the $ 80 stock becomes $ 60 that's when you lose lot of your capital & money.

You can't really compare stocks & mutual funds, with Savings accounts & GIC's . There are no guarantees in the former 2 and the risk tolerance levels are different.

I am certainly not trying to compare the two. Quite the contrary - I want to contrast them. It all depends on what you are looking for. Both have their place. And it is important to at least consider the two options.

If you are looking for a short term place to park a bit of money because you are likely to need it in the near future, then a bank account is the ideal place to put it. And if you are going to put it in a bank account, then you may as well go for the highest possible rate.

If you don't have a decent cash buffer that could tide you over in case of a short term financial crisis, then you should most definitely put some money in a bank account for this specific purpose.

However, if you are to the point where you have investable capital, and you are looking to make some money on that money, then you should at least consider the possibility on investing in stocks - even if it is just some of your money. If you are looking to set money away for some time in the future, then stocks will tend to beat a savings account pretty well hands down. And if you are going to invest, then (in absence of other factors) dividends are superior to interest due to income tax issues.

And if you own a stock that is paying 4 to 5% dividend, and the stock goes down, you will still be receiving 4 to 5% on your original investment if they do not reduce the dividend. And one should consider stocks that have proven track records of maintaining their dividends, not reducing them. The Canadian Banks have a very long history of maintaining their dividends, and furthermore, operate in a business that is very difficult to enter, thereby maintaining a small group of highly profitable businesses. If you have to sell while it is down, then yes, you will incur a capital loss. But as far as stocks go, the banks are pretty solid.

And absolutely, if you are what economists call "risk averse", then you might want to avoid all stocks, let alone bank stocks. But you should at least understand what the flip side of the coin is. If you cannot handle the possibility of having the stock go down, then by all means, you should not purchase stocks. But if your reason for avoiding stocks is a lack of how to buy stocks, then it is critical to understand that there are other options out there, and you should make an effort to learn to understand if you want to make such investments.

Yes, I value the ability to sleep over every other factor when it comes to making financial decisions. What I do may not work for you. But one of the things that helps me sleep is to examine possibilities - even if I decide that it is not for me.

[Rescuer]

I saw this today and actually had a question about this. I'll make up some random numbers for the scenario I am in and hopefully someone can help.

Lets say I have a 2018 contribution room of 50K.

Lets then say I have $5,000 in my TFSA prior to this new promotion.

My question is could I potentially transfer the 5K and put it in my chequeing account and then the next day transfer it back to my TFSA and therefore earn 3.15% on it from then until February 28? I understand my contribution for that year would then count as $10,000 despite there only actually being $5,00 in there. Am I correct in all this?

You don't say what interest you are earning currently. But lets say it is 2%. Your strategy seems like an awful lot of work to make about $18 in interest?