Canadians using Vanguard and or Questrade

[dess1313]

I am interested in starting with Vanguard as soon as possible.  I have been following the Canadian couch potato, and am still new to this.  Unfortunately we Canadians can not buy direct funds here from vanguard

One of the biggest problems is the costs involved in each trade.  It was always recommended that anyone using services like questrade trade in larger amounts less frequently, and have at least $50k in investments before going this route to avoid a lot of the costs associated with it

It seems like questrade has changed some of their fee structure, and i am wondering if this make it more appropriate for me to switch over.  they currently have commission free ETF trading. 
I currently do tangerine funds as recommended by the canadian couch potato for those starting out with smaller amounts. 
I would look at purchasing funds every month which sounds like it should prevent any inactivity fees as well. 
If i were to move over today, i do not have the full $5000 yet to invest, but it sounds like i should still be able to avoid the fee structure.  I was hoping that in 6 months i would be ready to move over with more than the minimum they require.  I understand the markets could move, which could potentially drop be slightly below the minimum amount.  I am hoping to have enough to not have to worry about that unless there is a huge change in the markets

Am i missing something?  Or did the change in fee structure open up Questrade to make it more accessible to people starting out?

Me - I have a question. I am looking at buying ETFs in small amounts monthly.  They are supposed to be commission free. But there is an inactivity fee i read about that seems to kick in after 3 months of not having any "commissioned" trades.  Even if i bought the ETF's every month, would i be faced with an inactivity fee continuously? I would be using the DIY trading

Questrade -
Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting Questrade, I will be happy to help you with this.
Please be advised that we charge an inactivity fee, but you can avoid the inactivity fee by placing just one commissionable trade per quarter, or by having more than $5,000 in total combined account equity between all of your accounts. A commission free ETF buy does prevent the inactivity fee from being charged. I would also like to take this time and introduce you to "The Exchange" here you will learn about trading knowledge and how to navigate our trading platforms. You can also interact with Questrade clients on the Exchange. Thank you for choosing Questrade. 

Me - So as long as i have $5000 or more in equity, there will be no inactivity fees charged?   Even if i am buying commission free ETF funds?

Questrade - That is correct. However, keep in mind that your equity is measured at the end of each quarter to determine if it is above $5,000. So long as it is above $5,000 at the end of each quarter, then you would not be charged an inactivity fee.

[Retire-Canada]

Am i missing something?  Or did the change in fee structure open up Questrade to make it more accessible to people starting out?

Nope. I don't think you are missing anything. Maybe I am too new to QT, but nothing has changed AFAIK since late 2014.

[nobodyspecial]

I think the $50K couch potato recommendation is simply that if you are under this it was easier to invest in the Tangerine/ING mutual funds because the 1% fee is less than you would pay in commision for buying a few $100 of each of 3-4 funds every month and rebalancing.

Now that QT has fee free buying and assuming that you rebalance by simply buying more of whichever is low rather than selling I think that it is worth doing QT+Vanguard from $0 

I think QT has a minimum of $1000 to open a new account but that could be only for registered accounts.
 

 

[eric77]

I think QT has a minimum of $1000 to open a new account but that could be only for registered accounts.

It is not only for registered accounts. It is $1000 minimum for any account.

[dess1313]

Thanks everyone. eric77 does that mean each account of vanguard would require a minimum $1000 in it.  so if i was using VAB, VCN, VXC each would require a minimum $1000.  (plus some extra to account for market variations)

I think i will start migrating things in a few months.  I will focus on one account at a time.  I'll make sure to add to accounts in the effort to rebalance, not selling then rebuying stocks or bonds

[snacky]

Thanks everyone. eric77 does that mean each account of vanguard would require a minimum $1000 in it.  so if i was using VAB, VCN, VXC each would require a minimum $1000.  (plus some extra to account for market variations)

I think i will start migrating things in a few months.  I will focus on one account at a time.  I'll make sure to add to accounts in the effort to rebalance, not selling then rebuying stocks or bonds

My Qtrade accound requires $1,000 to open, but there is no minimum for each fund. I can split my money as many ways as I want.

[dess1313]

So more reading was done.  I don't have enough funds (25k) to qualify for free transfers

The CCC portfolio mentioned suggests the vanguard (VAB, VXC, VCN) funds through questrade with fees of .06%, .27% and .13% MERs
Tangerine currently has a MER of 1.07%

The more i read the more i understand how high expense MERs and other fees eat into my savings.  One of my tangerine accounts is a RRSP.  Has a whopping $1k in it currently.  I am going to guess the expense of moving it over will be high.  I have been unable to find the cost associated with it yet, but other sites quote $100 or more to move funds

Would it be best i just continue to fund my RRSP here until i find a free transfer offer?  Or should i keep it with tangerine, but stop funding it and fund my questrade RRSP account?  Most of my investing i want to do in the TFSA

And do i understand correctly that its more bonds in the RRSP, and more equities in the TFSA?  so much of the investing material i read is american based, and i'm not as familiar with the in and outs of their system

I was going to pull my TFSA's out near the end of the year, and then reinvest them in questrade after the new year starts.  I have more than enough room to allow for the contribution if i wanted to do it before the years end though.  i thought i would wait for the distribution in the tangerine account

[rocketpj]

You can transfer funds to your questrade from your bank account for nothing.  Set it up as a bill payee and you can move money into it whenever you choose - I make a transfer every paycheck.

I had no cost when I transferred my RSP cash from Vancity over to Questrade, but I did pay a fee when I finally pulled the plug on Credential (Boo), who charged me something to make the transfer.  More than worth it, as they were also charging me $17/transaction.

I also keep a bit at Tangerine in the CCP recommended fund, all in a TFSA - which functions as part of our FIRE cash but an emergency fund if we need it.

Questrade has been excellent with me so far, and it's been a few years.

[plainjane]

The more i read the more i understand how high expense MERs and other fees eat into my savings.  One of my tangerine accounts is a RRSP.  Has a whopping $1k in it currently.  I am going to guess the expense of moving it over will be high.  I have been unable to find the cost associated with it yet, but other sites quote $100 or more to move funds

The last time I checked Tangerine said they charge $45 to move an RRSP to another financial institution.

[fullpampers]

Once you open your rrsp with questrade, you will need to transfer at least 1000$ to start trading.

Since the inactivity fee is either no trades in 3 months OR less than 5000$ balance; as long as you buy funds at least once every 3 months you are good.

If you are like most here, you will buy every paycheck/month, so you don't even need to worry about the balance.

And the "activity" (buying, selling, whatever) is for the over all account. So if in your account you have an rrsp, tfsa, un registered; and you only buy once a month in your rrsp, you still won't have inactivity fees.

Go with questrade in all confidence!

[nobodyspecial]

You can have multiple RRSPs with different institutions as long as you keep to the annual limits.
You can open an RRSP with a $1000 cash at QT - it doesn't have to be a transfer

So you would (once you had $1K) open the QT RRSP and start contributing and just leave the other money in Tangerine.
It is paying more fees than you would at QT but only by a few $/year

[PharmaStache]

So more reading was done.  I don't have enough funds (25k) to qualify for free transfers

The CCC portfolio mentioned suggests the vanguard (VAB, VXC, VCN) funds through questrade with fees of .06%, .27% and .13% MERs
Tangerine currently has a MER of 1.07%

The more i read the more i understand how high expense MERs and other fees eat into my savings.  One of my tangerine accounts is a RRSP.  Has a whopping $1k in it currently.  I am going to guess the expense of moving it over will be high.  I have been unable to find the cost associated with it yet, but other sites quote $100 or more to move funds

Would it be best i just continue to fund my RRSP here until i find a free transfer offer?  Or should i keep it with tangerine, but stop funding it and fund my questrade RRSP account?  Most of my investing i want to do in the TFSA

And do i understand correctly that its more bonds in the RRSP, and more equities in the TFSA?  so much of the investing material i read is american based, and i'm not as familiar with the in and outs of their system

I was going to pull my TFSA's out near the end of the year, and then reinvest them in questrade after the new year starts.  I have more than enough room to allow for the contribution if i wanted to do it before the years end though.  i thought i would wait for the distribution in the tangerine account

Tangerine is only $45 I think, and they actually changed me nothing when I recently moved 3 accounts over. 

[Space Pickle]

I've been doing Questrade for...1 month. So far so good.

[Mattzlaff]

Been using QT since Feb this year. No fees to buy ETFs just sell.

Additionally

I'm pretty sure that if you make no trades within a quarter they have a fee, not 3 months as previously stated.

[TravelJunkyQC]

Just opened a taxable account with Questrade this week. Looking forward to buying my first ETFs. I'm going to have to check what it means to make trades within a quarter. If I buy only, does that count, or do I have to sell as well? Silly question perhaps.

[rocketpj]

Just opened a taxable account with Questrade this week. Looking forward to buying my first ETFs. I'm going to have to check what it means to make trades within a quarter. If I buy only, does that count, or do I have to sell as well? Silly question perhaps.

I have almost never sold anything in my QT account, but I buy almost every week.  I haven't sold anything in over a year and haven't paid any inactivity fee, so I suspect any trades count.

[dess1313]

This quote below is direct from one of their emails regarding their inactivity fee.  this is what makes me excited that i can finally purchase vanguard

Questrade -
Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting Questrade, I will be happy to help you with this.
Please be advised that we charge an inactivity fee, but you can avoid the inactivity fee by placing just one commissionable trade per quarter, or by having more than $5,000 in total combined account equity between all of your accounts. A commission free ETF buy does prevent the inactivity fee from being charged. I would also like to take this time and introduce you to "The Exchange" here you will learn about trading knowledge and how to navigate our trading platforms. You can also interact with Questrade clients on the Exchange. Thank you for choosing Questrade. 

Me - So as long as i have $5000 or more in equity, there will be no inactivity fees charged?   Even if i am buying commission free ETF funds?

Questrade - That is correct. However, keep in mind that your equity is measured at the end of each quarter to determine if it is above $5,000. So long as it is above $5,000 at the end of each quarter, then you would not be charged an inactivity fee.[/i]

[/quote]

[JAYSLOL]

Been using QT since Feb this year. No fees to buy ETFs just sell.

Additionally

I'm pretty sure that if you make no trades within a quarter they have a fee, not 3 months as previously stated.

Isn't 3 months what a quarter is though?  :)