Weekend Reading: A Money Grab Edition

Canada’s big banks rollout new fee increases every year or two. These fee hikes may seem innocuous at first – 50 cents here and $1 there – but they collectively (and annoyingly) add up to big bucks over time. 

My advice for Canadians who want to remain with a big bank but don’t want to pay excessive fees is to downgrade to a basic chequing account, maintain a minimum balance, and use a cash back or travel rewards credit card for everyday spending instead of using debit (which can incur more fees).

But that’s becoming more and more difficult as banks continue to hike monthly fees, increase the minimum balance requirement, tie the account fee reduction to holding multiple (fee-based) products, and in some cases not even offer the option to waive the fee with a minimum balance.

For example, TD’s all-inclusive plan costs $29.95 per month and requires a minimum monthly balance of $5,000 to waive that fee. Their Everyday chequing account costs $10.95 per month and includes 25 transactions. The fee is waived when you maintain a $3,000 minimum balance. 

Canada’s largest banks (and others) have all signed a public commitment to offer low cost and no cost accounts. Youth, students, seniors, and RDSP beneficiaries may be eligible for a no cost account that includes basic features.

Consumer advocates will call these fee hikes a money grab (as I did in this Global News column) and they’re right. Big banks get away with increasing fees because they know that most Canadians will begrudgingly accept them. Chequing accounts are ‘sticky’ products and customers simply don’t want to go through the hassle of switching banks, or don’t know that free options exist outside the big bank environment.

I recognize that it’s not practical for some people to hold a basic account with a low number of transactions, or to keep thousands of dollars tied-up in a chequing account just to waive monthly fees. In that case I think you can make one last-ditch effort to negotiate your monthly fee down to an acceptable level (as I’ve done) before you need to seriously consider moving to a no-fee bank account.

For no-fee banking options that come with a debit card I’d look at Tangerine, Simplii, Motive, or a local credit union. You’ll get access to a limited number of ATMs (Scotia, CIBC, or the Exchange network of ATMs) and can typically get unlimited free transactions, including bill payments and e-Transfers.

The one downside to moving away from a big bank environment is the lack of branch access. For example, if you need a bank draft to make an offer on a house you may not be able to get one for 48 hours or more if you deal primarily with an online bank.

Canada’s big banks continue their relentless assault on our wallets by nickel-and-diming us to death with fee increases. It doesn’t have. to be this way. In the age of FinTech, there is a better and cheaper option available outside the big banks in every line of business in which they operate. It’s time to explore those options if you haven’t already.

This Week’s Recap:

I recently shared with readers what’s in my wallet and looked at some excellent rewards credit card options.

On Wednesday I took a deep dive into BMO’s line-up of fixed income ETFs.

Over on Young & Thrifty I explained exactly how to transfer your RRSP or TFSA to Questrade.

We’re getting our minds back into travel mode (finally) and so here’s my Airbnb versus hotels comparison on Rewards Cards Canada.

Promo of the Week:

Our friends at Credit Card Genius have outdone themselves with this one. Sign-up for Canada’s top cash back credit card – the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card – and you’ll also get a free $100 Amazon.ca gift card.

The card still offers an incredible 10% cash back bonus for the first three months, 4% cash back on groceries and recurring bills, 2% back on gas and daily transit, and 1% back on everything else. All of this, and the $120 annual fee is waived in the first year.

Weekend Reading:

Purpose Investments introduced a new mutual fund for seniors that targets an initial lifetime income payment of 6.15% (for investors aged 65 to 67). It’s an annuity wrapped up in a mutual fund, with a pooled structure that takes advantage of mortality credits to meet its long-term goals.

Fee-only planner Jason Heath shares the top mistakes that do-it-yourself retirement planners most often make:

“Life expectancy is easy to misjudge for a retiree. The current life expectancy is age 80 for a Canadian man and age 84 for a woman. However, those are the average ages of men and women at death. A 65-year-old man has a 50 per cent probability of living to age 89, and for women, it is age 91. For a 65-year-old husband and wife, there is a 50 per cent chance that one of them will live to age 94, so at 65, they should plan for a 30-year retirement.”

Here’s why retirees need to heed the sequence of returns risk in their portfolios.

This Globe and Mail article explains when it makes sense to withdraw funds early from your RRSP.

An interesting post at Money We Have looks at collecting CPP and OAS when retiring abroad.

Michael James on Money explains how to lie to yourself about a stock crash with statistics. This is in a response to a particular advisor who has been beating the drum about a stock market bubble for the past 15 months.

PWL Capital’s Shannon Bender explains how to calculate your investment returns using the Modified Dietz Method:

The Monevator blog explains how self-directed investors can keep their investment portfolios on track.

Nick Magguilli (Of Dollars and Data) explains how we become so obsessed with millionaires?

A Wealth of Common Sense blogger Ben Carlson digs into 200+ years of asset class returns to find some interesting nuggets:

“There is a very good case to be made that returns over the next 50-100 years will be lower than they’ve been over the past 50-100 years.”

If being a landlord is part of your retirement plan, read this first. Agree 100% – I would not recommend owning rental properties in your retirement years.

Finally, here’s the Blunt Bean Counter with a must-read article on estate planning: “My kids will never fight over my estate.”

Have a great weekend, everyone!