My dad, who doesn't frequent RFD would like to know if he can open up a US brokerage account because the fees are more competitive. He was taken aback though when he was told he cannot even trade when visiting Canada. He is not a permanent resident nor a citizen of Canada by the way.
He only buys calls but being able to make spread bets could be a possibility for him down the road.
"The restriction is placed on the broker that if we do not have offices located in Canada we cannot offer brokerage accounts to Canadian citizens or residents, we are also restricted in allowing orders to be executed from Canada. Believe me, I wish this was not an issue. These regulations are not set by TradeStation."
What is this restriction trying to achieve?
Thanks for any suggestions.
Interactive Brokers should be able to take care of him anywhere he lives in the world. If not out of the Canadian office, then out of the US.
Brokerages that aren't approved by Canadian regulations can't take on customers in Canada.
The rule came in roughly around the year 2000. The Canadian and US security regulators both agreed to enforce this rule, so US brokerages were forced to stop taking on Canadian customers and make them transfer their accounts back to Canada.
Although, I know customers that have an IRA or 401k account and then move to Canada are allowed to continue to use their accounts. I'm unsure what the laws are about trying to use regular accounts in Canada when they were opened in the US.
IB has everything I just described, plus an uncountable number of other features I haven't checked out yet. One-click order entry is available if you want it, you can set it in the preferences. Actually there are many possibilities for order entry; for example you can enter a multi-contract combo and then submit all legs with 1 click (including spreads, obv). You can set the default order type or combination to whatever you want. You can set conditions. You can even code your own more complex decision rules in visual basic, C++, java, etc and then plug them into IB as addons. Order entry is one of many things which is customizable depending on your needs, habits or strategies. Most of the other defaults in the platform can be customized too. Or you can disable all the extra features so that the platform has only the bare minimum needed for your stuff, with no bells or whistles. It's all left up to the user.
Big5 bank brokerages in Canada (which admittedly I have only briefly looked at) appear to me as below standard at best, mickey mouse at worst, with the primary reason being lack of customizability. The things I named in my post are basics. VaR, risk ladders, major greeks, and payoffs, are fundamental; the absolute basics for any brokerage hoping to be taken seriously IMO. IB has these, and a bunch of other risk management tools.
I think if you go to the IB website there's a section where you can try out the platform yourself. Not sure if it is full featured in the test-drive version, but maybe worth a look.
If you want more nuanced discussion on brokerages from people who trade a lot of options, go on google and look up a forum called Elite Trader. They have a whole section where people just rate their brokerages on a variety of categories. Hundreds, maybe thousands of reviews on loads of brokerages including IB.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
where to get PREPAID paypass
i really want one of these paypass credit cards, they look pretty cool. havent had one yet. but i have pretty bad credit, no one will give me a new credit card. which means i have to get a prepaid one. is there such a thing as a prepaid paypass? if so where do i get one from?
thanks
dan
ZoomPass (need a cell number to signup, no fee, load by paying as bill via online banking), the prepaid MC they send is PayPass enabled.
thanks
dan
ZoomPass (need a cell number to signup, no fee, load by paying as bill via online banking), the prepaid MC they send is PayPass enabled.
Transfer RRSP from CIBC to PCF: free or $100 fee?
I contemplate transferring my RRSP from CIBC to PC Financial. Does anyone know if CIBC and PCF are deemed same or different financial institutions for the purpose of such transfer? Thanks.
Not free. They are like Best Buy and FS althou pcf can use cibc atm's.
Not free. They are like Best Buy and FS althou pcf can use cibc atm's.
Quick question about credit cards
Applied for one not too long ago, and the bank teller was too pushy (have made a mental note to not deal with her ever again). So say my card has 19.99% interest, it's only applied to money that as yet to be paid back, right? It's not tacked onto the payment automatically like HST is? Yes I know it's a stupid question but the teller wanted me to get the hell out...
if you make a cash advance or make a cash advance like transaction then the interest will be accumulating right away.
for your regular purchases you have a grace period so when u get your statement within that period you can pay everything off by the due due and there won't be any interest on that.
if you just make your minimum payment and there's still a balance then u could get hit with that interest once you bought it, fair enough?
the way interest works is that it's calculated daily it's not really tacked on like tax.
if you make a cash advance or make a cash advance like transaction then the interest will be accumulating right away.
for your regular purchases you have a grace period so when u get your statement within that period you can pay everything off by the due due and there won't be any interest on that.
if you just make your minimum payment and there's still a balance then u could get hit with that interest once you bought it, fair enough?
the way interest works is that it's calculated daily it's not really tacked on like tax.
CPP Eligibility
How does working in the USA effect CPP? If I worked for 10-20 years in Canada then 10-15 in the US am I still eligible for something in Canada. I know I get US social security for those years. FYI...I live in Canada, commute to Detroit, file taxes every year in both countries.
Working in the US is going to reduce your CPP. Your CPP benefits are calculated based on how much you pay into the plan.
But as long as you make 1 payment to the CPP, you qualify for a CPP pension. Obviously though, in this example your pension would be extremely small.
And just to add to this, you would appear to qualify for full OAS (Old Age Security). OAS just requires living in Canada. To get full OAS you need to live in Canada for 40 years between the age of 18 and 65. I'm about 99.9999% positive the fact that you work in the US won't matter. They only care about the fact that you live in Canada.
And although it doesn't appear to apply to you, I might as well add that Canada and the US have an agreement about social security plans. This could come into effect if you just barely miss qualifying for one plan.
http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/i...fa/usa-i.shtml
For example you need 10 years of work to qualify for Social Security in the US. If have only worked for 9 years in the US, you could transfer some of your Canadian years to ensure you meet the qualification for the US.
The same is true of OAS in Canada. You need to live in Canada for 10 years to qualify for the minimum. If you lived in Canada for 9 years, you could transfer 1 year of residency in the US to reach the minimum in Canada.
With that being said, if you qualify for the minimum in both countries you can't do any transfers. So if you lived in Canada for 20 years and the US for 20 years, you can't transfer the 20 US years to qualify for the maximum OAS (which requires living in Canada for 40 years). You can only transfer years to reach the minimum.
But like I said I don't expect this will effect you, since you appear you will have reached the minimum in both countries.
Working in the US is going to reduce your CPP. Your CPP benefits are calculated based on how much you pay into the plan.
But as long as you make 1 payment to the CPP, you qualify for a CPP pension. Obviously though, in this example your pension would be extremely small.
And just to add to this, you would appear to qualify for full OAS (Old Age Security). OAS just requires living in Canada. To get full OAS you need to live in Canada for 40 years between the age of 18 and 65. I'm about 99.9999% positive the fact that you work in the US won't matter. They only care about the fact that you live in Canada.
And although it doesn't appear to apply to you, I might as well add that Canada and the US have an agreement about social security plans. This could come into effect if you just barely miss qualifying for one plan.
http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/i...fa/usa-i.shtml
For example you need 10 years of work to qualify for Social Security in the US. If have only worked for 9 years in the US, you could transfer some of your Canadian years to ensure you meet the qualification for the US.
The same is true of OAS in Canada. You need to live in Canada for 10 years to qualify for the minimum. If you lived in Canada for 9 years, you could transfer 1 year of residency in the US to reach the minimum in Canada.
With that being said, if you qualify for the minimum in both countries you can't do any transfers. So if you lived in Canada for 20 years and the US for 20 years, you can't transfer the 20 US years to qualify for the maximum OAS (which requires living in Canada for 40 years). You can only transfer years to reach the minimum.
But like I said I don't expect this will effect you, since you appear you will have reached the minimum in both countries.
Declaring wire transfer cash to/from foreign country over $10k
I am aware we are suppose to report transfer of funds to other countries over $10000. When we wire cash, does the bank automatically report it?
I am in a situation where I used Citizen Bank (used to be a subsidy of Vancity Credit Union) but they went under. I used citizen bank to wire $30K - lending my funds to my relative in Hong Kong and I did not report it.
My relative is ready to return my cash but I dont know how the records will look like. Since Citizen Bank is no longer active, I will need to use another financial institute to receive the cash. Will the CRA be up in my case since I dont have proper record of lending the money out in the 1st place?
Yes, the bank reports it. I can confirm as I work for a bank in the wire payments unit.
The reporting is not done manually. The banking system automatically identifies accounts with combined transactions of $10K or more per day. And reporting is nothing to be afraid of unless the source of your money is illegal or the money is used for sponsoring illegal activities. Combined transactions of more than $10k per day can consist of $2k withdrawal, $2k cheque deposit, $2k outgoing wire transfer, $2k internal transfer to another bank account, and $2k email transfer received into the account, all on the same day.
Even if your combined transactions per day is not more than $10k, your account may still be flagged and/or reported to the government if anyone in the bank from tellers to account internal audit people think your activities are suspicious.
I am in a situation where I used Citizen Bank (used to be a subsidy of Vancity Credit Union) but they went under. I used citizen bank to wire $30K - lending my funds to my relative in Hong Kong and I did not report it.
My relative is ready to return my cash but I dont know how the records will look like. Since Citizen Bank is no longer active, I will need to use another financial institute to receive the cash. Will the CRA be up in my case since I dont have proper record of lending the money out in the 1st place?
Yes, the bank reports it. I can confirm as I work for a bank in the wire payments unit.
The reporting is not done manually. The banking system automatically identifies accounts with combined transactions of $10K or more per day. And reporting is nothing to be afraid of unless the source of your money is illegal or the money is used for sponsoring illegal activities. Combined transactions of more than $10k per day can consist of $2k withdrawal, $2k cheque deposit, $2k outgoing wire transfer, $2k internal transfer to another bank account, and $2k email transfer received into the account, all on the same day.
Even if your combined transactions per day is not more than $10k, your account may still be flagged and/or reported to the government if anyone in the bank from tellers to account internal audit people think your activities are suspicious.
Gold Jewelry as Collateral
Hi Guys,
I need some advice regarding putting the jewelry as collateral. Can someone let me know as to what is the best way to use jewelry as collateral for a secured line of credit or loan. Any idea as which banks offer this product or what the good offers (in terms of interest rate or % of value given) might be?
Thanks.
No bank will take Gold Jewelry as Collateral. Maybe gold ingot... but that's a long shot.
What you're looking for is a pawn shop.
I need some advice regarding putting the jewelry as collateral. Can someone let me know as to what is the best way to use jewelry as collateral for a secured line of credit or loan. Any idea as which banks offer this product or what the good offers (in terms of interest rate or % of value given) might be?
Thanks.
No bank will take Gold Jewelry as Collateral. Maybe gold ingot... but that's a long shot.
What you're looking for is a pawn shop.
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