Author Archives: BetCrooks

How to Sell a Mutual Fund in a CIBC Investor’s Edge Account

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When we transferred our RRSP account from CIBC to CIBC Investor’s Edge, we transferred in several mutual fund holdings. These had been bought in the days of the Wealthy Barber, but now in the days of the Wealthy Barber Returns it is time to admit they are not an optimum investment and sell them. Here’s how we sold a mutual fund inside our Investor’s Edge account.

Check for Any Deferred Service Charges or Early Redemption Fees

Any time you consider selling a mutual fund, be sure to check a recent copy of the Fund Facts for the product. Make sure you will not have to pay a fee for the sale.

In particular, many funds have an “early redemption fee.” Basically that means if you sell the fund within a certain number of years after buying it, they will charge you money. The number of years can be up to 7!

If you can’t find the information you need online, call the financial institution that offers the fund and ask. For example, you could phone BMO and ask what the fees are for the BMO TSX Composite mutual fund. The description of the holding on your Account Holdings screen should include the fund’s number which will help the agent know exactly which fund you are asking about.

Investor’s Edge staff will not know whether you have to pay any “early redemption fees” or “deferred service charges.” They are a discount broker (unlike a full service broker) and they do not help you with these types of questions.

We bought our mutual funds before the turn of the century so there were no fees to sell them.

Enter Your Order before the Mutual Fund Daily Trading Deadline

Mutual fund orders must be placed before the cutoff time each day or they will be processed on the next business day.

As of September 2013, orders have to be placed by 3 p.m. Eastern Time.

Some funds may have an earlier cutoff time. If it is critically important to you, phone Investor’s Edge to discuss the cutoff time, or ensure you place the order at the start of the trading day.

Selling a Mutual Fund at Investor’s Edge

  1. Sign In to your Investor’s Edge account.
  2. From the link list on the left side of the page, select Account Holdings.
  3. Review your assets. Decide which mutual fund you wish to sell.

Review the Dividend Information

  1. Click on the Code for the fund of interest. It will open the Fund Centre facts for that holding.
  2. If your fund is about to pay a dividend in the next few days you may want to delay the sale till after the dividend is paid. I know that, in theory, the fund’s NAV should drop when the dividend is issued by the exact same amount. I also know that some mutual funds end up being worth more if you cash them 2 days after the dividend is paid than if you cash them 2 days before the dividend is paid. You’ll have to decide what’s best for your fund and your investments.

Enter the Request to Sell

  1. On the Account Holdings screen, click on the downward pointing arrowhead at the end of the line for the mutual fund you want to sell.
  2. From the list, click on the link: Sell
  3. The Mutual Fund Order Entry screen opens.
    Review the pre-filled fields. Is the information in the

    • Account number and type
    • Action: Sell
    • and Mutual Fund name and code

    fields correct?

  4. If desired, click on Get Quote to see the last day’s price.
    You will not know exactly what you are selling a mutual fund for because the price will be set at the end of today.
  5. In the Amount area select one of:
    • Dollars, and type in the value you want to sell
    • Units, and type in the number of units you want to sell; or
    • Sell All

    Conveniently, it will tell you the approximate value in $ of your holding based on the last day’s price and the number of units you hold.
    I selected Sell All.

  6. For non-registered accounts you may be able to choose where the proceeds of the sale are deposited. For an RRSP account, the only choice is to Pay to: CAD RRSP Account.
  7. Click on the Next button.

Check Your Order and Sign Off

  1. Review the order information on the Verify Order screen.
  2. If it’s correct, in the Trading Password field, type your password.
  3. Click on the Submit Order button.
  4. Make a note of your Order Tracking Number or copy and paste the confirmation into a document and save it.
  5. Click on the View Order Status button.
  6. The Status should be listed as Pending under the Mutual Fund tab.
  7. Click on the Sign Off button.
    For increased security, close your browser session.

When Will I Get My Money?

According to the Investor’s Edge Mutual Fund tutorial:
“The standard settlement period for mutual fund trades is the transaction date plus three business days (T+3). The settlement period for money market funds is the transaction date plus one business day (T+1).”

So I won’t expect to see any money deposited until the third morning after today.

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Did you ever experience any quirks when selling a mutual fund within Investor’s Edge? Or did you just wonder why you bought the fund in the first place? Please share your experiences with a comment.

Why I Have No Interest in Renting a Property as an Investment or Income Source

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I’m sure there are many people who make a reasonable income from renting residential properties. There are probably others who find it a worthwhile investment. I know I’m never going to be a landlord though. I’m just too nervous to try it. Here are some examples of why I have no interest in renting out a property.

This story has been reported on various websites, including in this article by CBCNews: A woman rented half of a duplex to a seemingly nice man. Within months, he had declared HER duplex unit an “Embassy” changed the locks, gutted some of the rooms, painted the bedroom black, and arbitrarily told her he was only going to pay half of the agreed monthly rent in future. Oh, and he also slapped a lien on her property and sent her a bill for $26,000. While finally the police are getting involved it has taken months and the landlady has spent hours looking for assistance and has been physically and mentally harassed.

How often does this kind of thing happen? Hopefully only once every few years. However, with my kind of luck, I would be the one finding myself housing a “Freeman” for free.

Here on the Canadian Money Forum, a landlord discovered that if a piece of his equipment failed unexpectedly (in this case a water heater) his tenants can make a claim on their tenant insurance for damages and if he (the landlord) doesn’t have his own insurance, he may be held personally liable to pay the tenants’ insurance company back for the alleged damage. In this particular instance, the landlord will probably be able to resolve the issue by involving his own insurance company. But the hassles. And the increased insurance premiums….Not for me.

I’m not as sure I’d get caught in this trap because I believe in insuring but I still wouldn’t enjoy the hefty premium increases that are almost sure to follow.

On Red Flag Deals there was a heated and long discussion of a case where a landlord claims he was not paid the rent and a tenant claims the payment was made in cash put in the landlord’s mailbox. According to the discussion, the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board sided with the tenant.

I would be caught off-guard by a problem like this because I would mistakenly think that the tenant would have to provide some kind of receipt or canceled cheque to prove payment.

On Timeless Finance, Sara posted about  tenants who through neglect caused an incredible (and expensive) mess. It was bad enough reading that the water heater failed and wondering how I as a landlord would cope with a phone call about that, without reading on to find these tenants never even told her. As you can imagine, leaving a leaking water tank in place for months makes trouble. And do I really want to try to dispose of someone’s months’ old garbage?

And a town in Maryland has decided to hold landlords accountable for renting their properties to drug dealers. I can understand why they are trying this approach, but frankly it discourages me from wanting to ever be a landlord. I don’t think I’d cope very well if I visited my property and found the nice young couple I thought I had rented to had morphed into criminals.

I’m sure there are many people who rent properties and enjoy it. But after reading tales like these, I know I’m not one of them.

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Do you like the idea of owning a rental property? Do you already own one? Please share your views with a comment.