Author Topic: Setting up a Vanguard Account - Canada  (Read 10838 times)

The Fake Cheap

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Setting up a Vanguard Account - Canada
« on: June 06, 2017, 06:15:29 PM »

Just wondering what kind of experience anyone has with setting up a new Vanguard Account?  I'm planning on opening one (RRSP) later this year to take advantage of the deliciously low fees.

lostamonkey

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Re: Setting up a Vanguard Account - Canada
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2017, 06:32:43 PM »
Unfortunately you cannot buy Vanguard mutual funds directly as a Canadian. You have to use a self directed account to buy Vanguard ETFs. You can open a self directed account at any of the big banks or on Questrade, or Interactive Brokers.

damyst

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Re: Setting up a Vanguard Account - Canada
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2017, 12:23:58 AM »
As lostamonkey mentioned, there is no such thing as a "Vanguard Account" in Canada (yet).
However, Canadians can buy either US-listed or Canadian-listed Vanguard funds via our domestic brokerages. If you're interested in that path, this article is indispensable.

Investing in the Canadian-listed funds is pretty straightforward.
If you have read the article above and decided that your RRSP deserves US-listed funds, do your research properly - the fee structures for US dollar accounts/transactions are all over the map, and it's annoying to discover that what you saved in management fees you then lost to wire transfer charges or currency conversions.

I found Questrade to be a good option for trading in USD. Free inbound transfers using the auto-deposit feature, no maintenance fees, and no commission when buying ETFs.
For some reason, they don't seem to carry Vanguard mutual funds however - only ETFs. So you can't buy e.g. VTSAX, but you can buy VTI, which is functionally equivalent.

daverobev

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Re: Setting up a Vanguard Account - Canada
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2017, 08:02:28 AM »
+1 for Questrade until you have 'serious' amounts of money. Free ETF buying is great.

Heckler

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NorthernDreamer

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Re: Setting up a Vanguard Account - Canada
« Reply #5 on: June 12, 2017, 09:34:34 AM »
Another +1 for Questrade.

My husband I broke up with our fat cat big bank "advisor" and switched all our investments to Questrade almost a year ago (RRSPs, TFSAs, and RESP). It did take a few weeks to get everything signed and sent in, but they assigned us a customer service rep to help. I spoke with him via phone and email and he made sure everything got done properly. They want your money, remember! I found it pretty smooth. You can initiate the process online or over the phone (I did online).

Depending on how much you are depositing, there are bonuses you can get when opening accounts. Either x number of free trades or a cash bonus. I opened a margin/unregistered account recently and use RichMoose's referral bonus code for a few hundred extra bucks.

dreadmoose

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Re: Setting up a Vanguard Account - Canada
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2017, 12:40:06 PM »
+1 for Questrade until you have 'serious' amounts of money. Free ETF buying is great.

Can you elaborate for me a little bit, what would the benefit to leaving Questrade after stockpiling "serious" amounts of money be? (And what ballpark is serious..)

Thanks!

daverobev

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Re: Setting up a Vanguard Account - Canada
« Reply #7 on: June 13, 2017, 03:48:18 PM »
+1 for Questrade until you have 'serious' amounts of money. Free ETF buying is great.

Can you elaborate for me a little bit, what would the benefit to leaving Questrade after stockpiling "serious" amounts of money be? (And what ballpark is serious..)

Thanks!

Lots of reasons. The big banks will probably give you all the freebies under the sun with enough cash (expedited this, free premium banking, free premium credit cards, better rates on lines of credit).

Interactive Brokers are a lot more global, and a damn site cheaper than everything except free; for people with feet in more than one country they offer unsurpassed forex costs. You can trade on a lot of stock exchanges.

To get the monthly fee waived with IB you need >$100k USD. For the big banks, I don't know. Half a million maybe. But that could be combined with mortgage stuff and so on.

lostamonkey

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Re: Setting up a Vanguard Account - Canada
« Reply #8 on: June 13, 2017, 06:58:20 PM »
FYI, to get account fees waived for self directed RRSP accounts at the big banks, you need $25K. For TFSAs, and taxable self directed accounts, there are generally no account fees at the big banks. You do have to pay $7-$10 when buying or selling ETFs though.

daverobev

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Re: Setting up a Vanguard Account - Canada
« Reply #9 on: June 13, 2017, 07:34:08 PM »
FYI, to get account fees waived for self directed RRSP accounts at the big banks, you need $25K. For TFSAs, and taxable self directed accounts, there are generally no account fees at the big banks. You do have to pay $7-$10 when buying or selling ETFs though.

Oh I was talking about the perks other than just the basics with the big banks. There's no good reason, IMHO, to have an account with them for investing stuff unless they are going to make it worth your while.

No reason at all to go with anyone other than Questrade until you hit... well, as I said, IB can be an exception IF you have foreign investment stuff or foreign income and want cheap forex, or super cheap margin... that aside, $250k? $500k? I doubt you'd get many perks from the banks before that.

"Oh look we'll give you $700 in free trades!" yeah but that's... only 100 trades... and they expire in 3 months...