Hey all, bit of a novel for my backstory here, but I promise I'll get to the question!
19 year old Canadian College student here. I'm finishing up year 2 of my 3 year program at community college. It's great because every year we get a paid 4 month work term. While I'm slowly trying to embrace this lifestyle, I'm not in a position to be maxing out my TFSAs and RRSPs quite yet due to having to pay for schooling and rent while in school. Last semester I did get a part time job, but it was difficult going to school 8-4:30 then working 5-10 all but one or two nights, plus working weekends. Also my course is notorious for its heavy course load (Went from 30 students to 14 in the first year), so that just added onto the stress. I recently met with a financial advisor and set up a TFSA and RRSP with them (Investors group, my mom has her money from my dads half-pension there), but have yet to pull the trigger to start sending money. But my concern now is my problem (and my girlfriends, we live together) problem of seeing the money just sit in my savings account and figure, well its there we can spend it. Having it somewhere further out of reach (Not be able to see everything I log in to check my bank account) would help solve this problem. Also, being able to check up on it and watch it sit there and grow ourselves would add to the satisfaction, and would give my girlfriend the drive she needs to save even more. Reading here, I see a lot of people saying open up an account with Vanguard and start investing, but although there is Vanguard in Canada, you cannot make an account through them.
So here are my questions -
Who do I open up an account with to start purchasing Vanguard ETFs? (Or what ETFs should I be buying)
Also, where could I set up a free unlimited checking account? I tried tangerine, and they need a check to be able to open, and I can't justify $100 (Smallest set of checks is $50, 1 for me, 1 for GF) to open it.
Thanks!
Wil
P.S. - No debt yet except for 2 years worth of student loans ($20k). Hoping to not have to get any for this year as my work term is the first 4 months of school, plus 2 extra months of summer to work full time. I do have 2 CCs, one through TD (my bank) for $1000 as backup emergency funds, and a Capital One Platinum through Costco for $1500 (Membership is free, use this for cash-back incentives)