Do I Have to Pay a Fee to Take Money Out of My Online Non Registered Self Directed Brokerage Account?

We’ve never had a non-registered brokerage account. Between the mortgage, RRSPs, RESPs and TFSAs we haven’t had that much extra cash punting around. We did occasionally buy GICs and we have a few shares we bought directly from the companies themselves, but we’ve had no need for a broker or a “non-registered” trading account. Now I’m considering opening one but I’m suspicious about any fees the brokerage may charge: I especially don’t want to have to pay a fee to take any money out of the non-registered account.

I want to check this detail because all brokerages charge a fee (in addition to withholding taxes) for withdrawing money from a RRSP. Most do not charge a fee for a withdrawal from a TFSA brokerage account but some seem to be considering doing so. I don’t like fees but I absolutely hate unexpected fees, so I’ll check the details first before I open an account.

I’ll check the situation at

  • BMO InvestorLine
  • CIBC Investor’s Edge
  • RBC Direct Investing
  • Scotia iTrade
  • TD Direct Investing

(And now I’ve done checking, I’m glad I did. There’s quite a variation between brokerages!)

Does BMO InvestorLine Charge a Fee for a Non-Registered Account Withdrawal?

If you aren’t a BMO bank customer, InvestorLine actually sets you up with a BMO bank chequing account and a bank card when you open your brokerage account. This bank account permits you to make 2 free withdrawals or transfers a month.

I needed to check whether it cost anything to transfer cash from a non-registered InvestorLine account into this free bank account though. Rats: no online live chat….I hate brachiating along telephone trees.

No fee! I suspected as much but it never hurts to double check—especially since BMO is the bank that now charges a $10 annual fee for buying mutual funds at their bank branches.

It turns out that this is the only brokerage that offers this service. I think it earns InvestorLine a Bonus Point. Having a (free) connected bank account makes moving money around much easier.

As with CIBC IE, if you have a minimum balance of $10 000 in the account or if you also have a RRSP account with them, there is no annual fee or inactivity fee.

Does CIBC Investor’s Edge Charge a Fee for a Non-Registered Account Withdrawal?

I used Investor’s Edge online live chat to ask.

The agent advised me that so long as I am transferring cash from my non-registered account to my CIBC bank account there is no fee.

She warned me that there is the usual commission fee if I have to sell some stocks or other investments to create the cash to withdraw.

If you didn’t already have a CIBC account and if you didn’t have free withdrawals from that account you would end up having to pay to actually get your hands on your money. We have a no-fee CIBC account though, so for us that would not be a problem.

In fact, to electronically transfer money from an Investor’s Edge account to another financial institution you have to pay a fee of $25! (Source: https://www.investorsedge.cibc.com/ie/benefits/fees-and-commission/fees.html)

I guess this means if you don’t bank with CIBC and if you plan to make regular withdrawals from your non-registered account, you might end up paying quite a large amount in fees. If I was in one of those situations, I would phone Investor’s Edge and discuss any options to get at the money for a lower cost *before* I opened an account.

If you keep a minimum balance of $10 000 or more in an Investor’s Edge brokerage account, there is no annual or inactivity fee. You can also get the annual fee waived if your balance is below $10 000 if you also have a RRSP account at Investor’s Edge.

Does RBC Direct Investing Charge a Fee for a Non-Registered Account Withdrawal?

RBC Direct Investing does not charge a fee for a withdrawal *IF* you have a RBC bank account.

But if you don’t, you have to pay a $10 fee to get a cheque issued to make a withdrawal!

Ouch!

I asked it there was some way to make an electronic transfer to another bank, but was told generally no, not for a one-time withdrawal.

It is possible to set up a regular automatic withdrawal and transfer, called an Automatic Funds Transfer, AFT. So if I wanted to transfer out, say, the money generated each month by a regular dividend payment, I could do that. That transfer can send the money to any Canadian financial institution.

I’m not sure if you can “game” the system by initiating a regular automatic withdrawal and transfer and then cancelling it after one withdrawal or not. If you accidentally opened an account not knowing about the $10 cheque fee, you might want to experiment and find out: if you do, please let us know how it goes with a comment.

Anyway, this does *not* sound like a good place to set up my account given that I don’t bank with RBC.

RBC Direct Investing requires you to have $15 000 in your non-registered account or in a combination of brokerage accounts to avoid paying any annual or inactivity fees. There are some other ways around the annual fee too, if you check their website.

Does Scotia iTrade Charge a Fee for a Non-Registered Account Withdrawal?

Well their ‘fee’ list is full of ambiguities. It says “cheque withdrawal fee: NO FEE” but it also says partial account transfer out “$150.” I believe that means when you try to transfer part of your account to another brokerage, but I’m not sure. I’d better check.

Yay! Another site with Live Chat.

This is interesting!

“There is no fee to move funds out of your account.”

Once you open a non-registered account at iTrade you can submit a completed “Easy Transfer” form along with a cheque from the bank account you wish to link with your iTrade account. They will then electronically link the bank account to the trading account. The bank account can be at any banking institution.

That’s better than any of the other brokerages so far.

Scotia iTrade also requires a minimum balance of $10 000 in the account to avoid an account inactivity fee. There are some other ways to get the fee reduced: see the website for details.

Does TD Direct Investing Charge a Fee for a Non-Registered Account Withdrawal?

It looks like TD charges $6.50 if you want them to issue a cheque from your non-registered account for you to pick up at a TD branch. (Source: http://www.tdwaterhouse.ca/document/PDF/forms/521778.pdf)

It looks like you can also transfer money out using an Electronic Fund Transfer service. I need to check whether that’s just to TD accounts, or to any account, and whether there is a fee.

OK, I had to go with verbal information from an Agent. He said there is no fee to make an electronic transfer out to another bank. However, he did warn me that it’s a bit “complex” to set up the transfer link. It sounded like there may be some aggravation getting it first set up but after that it should be fine.

He also said, though, that it’s free to get a cheque and it’s not, so I’m not sure how accurate his information is. If I (or you) was going to open an account, I’d try for written confirmation of this before proceeding.

He did mention that if you transfer part of your account to another brokerage there is a major fee. That’s the same for all brokerages though and not a surprise.

Scanning to the TD fees brochure, there’s another fee I would check into before opening a non-registered account. It says
“Summary of Annual Trading Activity Fee $50” This fee is waived for President’s Account members, accounts which generated at least $150 in trading commissions and accounts which earned $50 in interest. So it sounds like a Couch Potato investor might get stuck with this fee. Be wary and check before opening an account.

I don’t think I’m interested in an account at TD Direct Investing, so I won’t pursue these fee issues any further.

IF you have $15 000 or more if you combine the amounts in all of your TD Direct Investing accounts you do not have to pay their quarterly “custody” fee. The minimum is removed if you also have a RRSP account at TD Direct Investing. There are various other ways to reduce this fee: see their website for details.

Which Brokerages Are the Best (Well, Cheapest) for Withdrawing Cash from a Non-Registered Account?

So to recap

All will let you transfer money out to your bank account with the same bank for free.

  • BMO InvestorLine gives you a free BMO bank account and 2 free withdrawals or transfers a month.
  • Scotia iTrade lets you transfer cash out electronically for free.
  • TD Direct Investing should be free for electronic transfers out but charges $6.50 for you to pickup a cheque.
  • RBC Direct Investing charges $10 for a cheque and does not support electronic transfers out.
  • CIBC Investor’s Edge appears to charge $25 to electronically transfer money out.

Which Brokerage Will I Choose?

Based on this part I’m leaning towards InvestorLine or Investor’s Edge. Frankly I was surprised there was so much difference between the 5 brokerages. I guess they all intend to get you to open a bank account with them. Only BMO seems to realize you might not be interested in doing that.

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Have you ever been zinged with an unexpected fee just for taking your own money out of your own investment account? Did you have to open a new bank account just to manage your brokerage account? Please share any insights with a comment.

Which Self-Directed Brokerages Handle Which RESP Grants, Bonds and Incentives?

Most online self-directed brokerages offer RESPs within which you can receive the Canada Education Savings Grant, CESG. There are other grants and incentives available for some children, however, that not all brokerages are set up to handle. This is gradually changing as brokerages improve their offerings, so for the most up to date information, always speak with the brokerage you are considering. As of May 2014, however, this list summarizes which RESP grants, incentives and bonds are supported by which of the bigger self-directed brokerages.

What Government Grants, Bonds and Incentives Are on Offer for Children’s Education Savings?

I found information about the following federal and provincial government grants, bonds, incentives and programs to help save money for children’s higher education. There may be other programs: if you know of one, please add a comment to this article.

Federal Government Education Savings Programs

Provincial Government Education Savings Programs

Government Education Funds and Self-Directed Brokerages

In order for your child to get paid various government funds for higher education, the financial institution managing your child’s RESP must set up systems that meet the various government requirements. Not all brokerages have set up the required computer systems so they don’t all support all of the possible government programs available.
Before you choose a brokerage for your child’s RESP, one factor to consider is whether that brokerage supports the grants, bonds, programs and incentives your child is entitled to receive.

(Other factors may include things like

  • whether there is an annual fee for the account;
  • whether both parents can be subscribers and share rights to the account;
  • what the costs are to make various types of investments;
  • how easy or difficult it is to withdraw funds from the account when your child starts post-secondary education;
  • etc.)

The brokerages are listed in alphabetical order.

BMO InvestorLine RESPs Can Receive

the

  • Canada Education Savings Grant, CESG *
  • Additional Education Savings Grant, AESG *
  • Canada Learning Bond, CLB *
  • Alberta Centennial Education Savings Plan, ACES *
  • Quebec Education Savings Incentive, QESI, Basic and Additional Amount

Source: https://www.bmoinvestorline.com/home/getting-started/il/accounts/resp
*This information is also listed on the gc site.

There is no mention on the BMO website about whether they can receive the Saskatchewan Advantage Grant for Education Savings, SAGES. On the gc website, it does not report that InvestorLine can manage this grant.

CIBC Investor’s Edge RESPs Can Receive

the

  • Canada Education Savings Grant, CESG
  • Alberta Centennial Education Savings Plan, ACES
  • Quebec Education Savings Incentive, QESI

Investor’s Edge is not listed on the gc site at all.

I used the LiveChat feature to ask a CIBC Investor’s Edge representative what grants were supported. The agent replied: “CIBC Investor’s Edge currently offers the basic CESG, Alberta Centennial Education Savings Plan (ACES) and Quebec Education Savings Incentive (QESI).”

If you needed to receive the AESG or QESI additional amount I would suggest you confirm with CIBC IE before opening an account. It sounds like they may not be offered at this time (May 2014.)

Questrade RESPs Can Receive

the

  • Canada Education Savings Grant, CESG *
  • Additional Education Savings Grant, AESG *
  • Canada Learning Bond, CLB *
  • Alberta Centennial Education Savings Plan, ACES *
  • Quebec Education Savings Incentive, QESI

* This information is listed on the gc site.

The Questrade site only mentions the CESG, AESG and CLB. So I used Questrade’s online chat to ask an agent what is supported. He replied that all of the above government programs are supported and that they do not yet support the SAGES grant.

RBC Direct Investing RESPs Can Receive

the

  • Canada Education Savings Grant, CESG *
  • Quebec Education Savings Incentive, QESI

Source: http://www.rbcdirectinvesting.com/resp-account.html
*This information is also listed on the gc site.

I confirmed by sending a question via LiveChat that at this time in May 2014 those are the only grants RBC Direct Investing is supporting.

Scotia iTrade RESPs Can Receive

the

  • Canada Education Savings Grant, CESG
  • Additional Education Savings Grant, AESG
  • Canada Learning Bond, CLB
  • Alberta Centennial Education Savings Plan, ACES
  • Quebec Education Savings Incentive, QESI, Basic and Additional Amount

Scotia iTrade is not listed on the gc site at all.

I wrote an email to the iTrade support team. They don’t seem to have live online chat and I couldn’t find any details easily on their website. They replied 1.5 days later with the above information. The representative said that at this time (May 2014) they do not support SAGES.

TD Direct Investing RESPs Can Receive

the

  • Canada Education Savings Grant, CESG
  • Quebec Education Savings Incentive, QESI

Source: http://www.tdwaterhouse.ca/products-services/investing/td-direct-investing/accounts/resp/#content3 which states:
“TD Direct Investing offers only the Canada Education Savings Grant and the Quebec Education Savings Incentive, not any other federal or provincial grants or incentives.”

TD Direct Investing is not listed on the gc site at all.

The gc site is at: http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/jobs/student/promoters/list.shtml#B

The Master List of Banks, Credit Unions and Brokerages and Which Grants, Bonds and Incentives They Support

There is a massive online list available from the federal government of which institutions support which grants, bonds and incentives. It does not list the Quebec Education Savings Initiative, QESI, but it does list the CESG, AESG, CLB, ACES and Saskatchewan Advantage Grant for Education Savings, SAGES.

Transferring RESPs Between Institutions

Be VERY CAREFUL if you transfer RESPs between two institutions. There may be special paperwork required before the transfer is initiated to ensure the grant, bond or incentive monies do not have to be given back to the government that issued them. Discuss the move in detail with both institutions before you start it!

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Do you receive any grants in addition to the CESG for your child’s education? If so, is your RESP at a brokerage? Please share your insights into maximizing your RESP value with a comment.