Wealthsimple Promotion - anyone tried it?

[erp]

Hi folks, looks like wealthsimple has a promotion where they'll give a 2% match on RRSP amounts, plus 1% on TFSA and non-reg. I'm normally disinclined to chase deals, but that seems like it could get up to five figures (over two years) pretty easily.

A couple questions:
-anyone had any experiences, either positive or negative, with wealthsimple?
-is there some sort of cap or reason that this matching isn't as good as I think it is?
-can anyone confirm that you can, in fact, transfer ETFs in-kind (thus avoiding the capital gains until you actually sell)?

Not linking to the offer because I'm not an SEO bot, but it's easy to find with a google.

[okits]

I am also interested in hearing other people's experiences!

[Metalcat]

I'm also curious about this

[Retire-Canada]

The thought of changing all my accounts to chase a 1% - 2% promotion over two years isn't all that appealing. Despite it, potentially, being a significant amount of money. My tolerance for jumping through more administrative/PITA hoops has decreased sharply as my NW has increased and it was low even when I was not wealthy. Now that each incremental $ has less and less value to me it's pretty hard to get motivated for something like this.

I will be interested to see if WS pays out as planned/expected or if there are some snags in the process. The higher the actual payouts the harder it will be for WS to profit from the program so they are incentivized to find ways to reduce the payouts through process technicalities.

[Metalcat]

The thought of changing all my accounts to chase a 1% - 2% promotion over two years isn't all that appealing. Despite it, potentially, being a significant amount of money. My tolerance for jumping through more administrative/PITA hoops has decreased sharply as my NW has increased and it was low even when I was not wealthy. Now that each incremental $ has less and less value to me it's pretty hard to get motivated for something like this.

I will be interested to see if WS pays out as planned/expected or if there are some snags in the process. The higher the actual payouts the harder it will be for WS to profit from the program so they are incentivized to find ways to reduce the payouts through process technicalities.

I'm looking to move all my accounts, which is why I'm so curious.

[Prairie Moustache]

I progressively moved my entire portfolio over from Questrade taking advantage of previous promos and also back when you could haggle with them about transfer bonuses. Everything transfered in-kind. No issues on standard ETF's. Last year they even transferred over some DRS shares I was holding at ComputerShare. The classic enshittification will ensue, and I have observed it occurring over the last few years in terms of their customer support. Otherwise if you're just looking for a place for your ETF's to sit without doing anything too fancy it's totally fine. Their app is leaps and bounds above Questrade's.

[thriftyc]

I just completed mine, moved from TDDI.  I like it so far, some nice features of the platform.  One example, easy to turn on and off drips with the click of a button.  Seamless transition and they gave me updates along with way via the Gold Glove transition team.  I've called their customer service a couple times with very little wait time and a great experience. In terms of the 2%/1% reward they give, it’s all tracked on your profile, very transparent in how much I'm getting back. That said, I'm a generation client, generation clients have access to a higher level of service, a separate customer support line etc. Would recommend.

Edit: No cap on the reward, and all in kind etf transfer with zero issues. The reward is paid out over 24 months, will be tracking that closely. But I have 100% confidence there won’t be any issues based on my experience thus far.

[meghan88]

Does anyone know offhand if the 2% matching needs to be factored in when calculating remaining contribution room when topping up?  I would guess that it does.  I think I will swing a small-ish self-directed RRSP over.  WS pays the transfer fees if over a certain amount.

Regarding WS generally:  I got the cash card and I must say it's working great.  As a test when I was in Europe, I took 100 out of my Big 6 bank account and then 100 out of WS at the same ATM minutes apart.  My WS account was debited $148.83 and my Big 6 account was debited $153.95.  Quite the difference.  I've also been using it instead of my Big 6 points travel card and I like the lower FX conversion fees there, too.  Plus I earn interest on my balance and get 1% cash back on my spend.  When in Canada though, it makes more sense to use the travel points card, IMO.

[erp]

The thought of changing all my accounts to chase a 1% - 2% promotion over two years isn't all that appealing. Despite it, potentially, being a significant amount of money. My tolerance for jumping through more administrative/PITA hoops has decreased sharply as my NW has increased and it was low even when I was not wealthy. Now that each incremental $ has less and less value to me it's pretty hard to get motivated for something like this.

I will be interested to see if WS pays out as planned/expected or if there are some snags in the process. The higher the actual payouts the harder it will be for WS to profit from the program so they are incentivized to find ways to reduce the payouts through process technicalities.

I'm looking to move all my accounts, which is why I'm so curious.

I hear this, I don't think I'd be interested at all if I weren't already considering moving my accounts.

Thanks for the feeback everyone!

[PoutineLover]

I transferred my RRSP, main TFSA and FHSA. The only one I couldn't transfer in kind was the FHSA. So far so good, was easy to transfer, they reimbursed the transfer fees and it shows me how much I will get in bonus.

I still have Questrade for the RESP because it gets the Quebec incentive and WS doesn't.

The perks at WS are pretty good too, some are for things I pay for now so it'll be nice to get for free. The app seems good and I haven't had to contact customer service yet but hopefully it'll be easy with the premium access.

[Lews Therin]

I did it last year for a measly 0.5% bonus, it was pretty hassle-free.

Generation client too, so unsure what the lower level of services are, but everything was very easy.

***
For the previous questions, promotional bonuses like this don't count as anything for tax purposes. Doesn't get reported, doesn't affect anything.

I.e. if you don't open a cash account at WS, they will transfer the bonus to your TFSA.... Without affecting contribution room. @meghan88
***


It was an excellent hourly rate for me to transfer at .5%... if it was 2/1% I'd be even happier!

I'm planning on moving my portfolio the moment the clock runs out and heading to another institution to get another large bonus.

[PoutineLover]

@Lews Therin there's a 3% bonus at Questrade for the first 10k and 1.5% on the rest. Might be worth it to move depending on the remaining term of your WS bonus. Annoying to move stuff around but it's basically free money.

[Lews Therin]

My WS runs out after QT promotion is ended.

I'm currently looking at Webull, they have a 1.5% match on everything too. Only 8 months for the payout.

It's not that annoying to move around I find. I keep the hourly pay rate in mind... And for less than 10hrs work, it's a pretty high return!

[AJDZee]

Thanks for starting this thread, I'm now interested in this promo after calculating the cash I'd get. I've used Questrade for 20 years and had no intention on moving up until now.

In doing some research I'm a little disappointed WS doesnt support norbert's gambit. That could easily wipe most of the cash back promo benefit if I needed to convert my USD in the next 2 years.

for the MMM users that use WS, you're generally happy?

[Lews Therin]

Its ridiculously simple, and well built.

Also nice to get push notifications when dividends come in.

I barely use it, so having it be the simplest possible works for me.

[erp]

Thanks for the input everyone!

I think I might make the switch. I'll decide in the next few days. I'm always so thankful that smart people weigh in on so many diverse topics here :)

[FLBiker]

I'm planning to move my group RRSP from Manulife.  I'm getting laid off on March 7th, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get in under the wire on this bonus.  If not, I'll look for a different bonus.  Regardless, it'll be good to get it away from Manulife where the offerings are pretty lame.  DW's spousal RRSP is already with Questrade, and I don't think we'll bother switching it.

[DualFIRE]

We moved just over $100K to WS last year for the iPhone 15 promotion. I got it on schedule, tried it for 6 hours, hated it, then sold it for $1000.

We are now moving a few more accounts over from Questrade to WS to snag this new bonus. I don't plan to chase future transfer bonuses unless there is something particularly attractive about the brokerage offering the promo.

WS Pros:
- Cash account at Premium or higher status, with $2K monthly direct deposit, pays among highest non-promo interest rates in Canada (only PC Money is higher, afaik)
- Instant transfers from Cash accounts to investment accounts
- "Milestone" rewards when you hit various balance thresholds (we are using the initial ones to do our wills on Willful for free)
- Can pool household balances to hit Milestone rewards and Premium/Generation faster (both of which have other small perks)

WS Cons:
- Can't currently do self-directed investing in RESP
- Can't buy GICs (like in Questrade)
- No mobile cheque deposit (like EQ offered)
- Can't execute trades from Passiv

Neutral:
- Will be keeping an account open at Questrade in order to preserve Passiv Elite
- WS has told me they will issue 1099 slips for US accounts (key for me as a dual citizen). Fingers crossed. Questrade did this well.

[AJDZee]

I am hesitating to transfer over my questrade account...

Of the accounts I would transfer over about 50% is in USD. Depending what happens with Fx in the next few years, I may want to convert it all back to CAD. Staying at questrade that can be done with NG.
If I were to do it in WS, no NG, and I believe the conversion fee is 1.5% (? Still not entirely sure how WS works with their USD accounts), which would wipe out the promo cash.

Does it make sense to transfer to WS, and *if* I want to exchange back to CAD in the next 2 years, I move it back over to Questrade and lose the promo cash from that point forward?

[Freedomin5]

PTF. We are currently with TDDI, but may be looking to transfer because TDDI is causing us a lot of hassle.

[elaine amj]

With encouragement from Mustachians, I transferred my RRSP to WS for this promo.

Generation status is pretty nice. I added DD to my household (she has a WS cash account she had never used after getting the sign up bonus) and she is now Generation as well. She already started using her allotment of 10 lounge passes and enjoyed her meal in Fort Lauderdale airport.

I have mine set up to use as I am travelling extensively right now .

I plan to give my additional allotment of 4 lounge passes to my brother (just got to figure it out).

Got a ski lift ticket for DS but without a second one for a buddy, he’s not sure if he will go. Was going to look into how I could hack another one but I have so many other things going on right now, that’s on the back burner and may not happen.


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[Lews Therin]

If someone sees something beter than 1%, other than the wealthsimple offer, please let me know.

I'm stuck waiting for the next one as I did WS last year, and all the newest offers for 1.5%+ just ran out end of Feb.

Waiting for the next season of offers...

[DualFIRE]

I am hesitating to transfer over my questrade account...

Of the accounts I would transfer over about 50% is in USD. Depending what happens with Fx in the next few years, I may want to convert it all back to CAD. Staying at questrade that can be done with NG.
If I were to do it in WS, no NG, and I believe the conversion fee is 1.5% (? Still not entirely sure how WS works with their USD accounts), which would wipe out the promo cash.

Does it make sense to transfer to WS, and *if* I want to exchange back to CAD in the next 2 years, I move it back over to Questrade and lose the promo cash from that point forward?

Conversion amount per transaction (amounts based on currency you are converting from) and currency conversion fee

Under $10,000: 1.5%

$10,000 - $24,999.99: 1.0%

$25,000 - $99,999.99: 0.5%

$100,000 and over: 0%

This fee is applied to the WSII Corporate Exchange Rate explained above. There is no currency conversion fee when trading US-listed securities from your USD Account.

https://www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/legal/fees/trade?lid=kkauxk3mc5r0&utm_source=braze&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=26be0952-15a0-4e48-9fce-e576ecd92897

[Prairie Moustache]

If someone sees something beter than 1%, other than the wealthsimple offer, please let me know.

I'm stuck waiting for the next one as I did WS last year, and all the newest offers for 1.5%+ just ran out end of Feb.

Waiting for the next season of offers...

I'm not aware of anything at the moment, but if you transfer your RRSP over to me I'll send you 2.5% back.

[Lews Therin]

If someone sees something beter than 1%, other than the wealthsimple offer, please let me know.

I'm stuck waiting for the next one as I did WS last year, and all the newest offers for 1.5%+ just ran out end of Feb.

Waiting for the next season of offers...

I'm not aware of anything at the moment, but if you transfer your RRSP over to me I'll send you 2.5% back.

Keeping 97.5 for yourself?

[Prairie Moustache]

If someone sees something beter than 1%, other than the wealthsimple offer, please let me know.

I'm stuck waiting for the next one as I did WS last year, and all the newest offers for 1.5%+ just ran out end of Feb.

Waiting for the next season of offers...

I'm not aware of anything at the moment, but if you transfer your RRSP over to me I'll send you 2.5% back.

Keeping 97.5 for yourself?

Dang you're too smart for my scams.