ING Direct, now Tangerine.ca, offers a great service for quickly making a new RRSP contribution. You can make the contribution into a daily interest savings account RRSP, a cashable RRSP GIC, or a RRSP “Streetwise” Mutual fund by simply logging in to your online account and “moving” your money from your chequing or savings account into the RRSP investment you want. You can print your RRSP receipt immediately if the cash was already in your account, or as soon as the hold clears if your cash has to be transferred in from another non-Tangerine bank account. This convenience means we often make our new RRSP contributions to our ING Direct Tangerine RRSPs. Sometimes, though, a better investment opportunity comes up later and we want to move some of that RRSP money elsewhere. When that happened recently, I contacted ING Direct Tangerine to check whether it costs anything to move part of my RRSP to another institution.
Tangerine To Start Charging a Fee to Transfer Out RRSPs and TFSAs!
UPDATE: Please be aware that as of January 2015, Tangerine has started charging a fee if you transfer your RRSP or TFSA from Tangerine to another bank, credit union, brokerage or financial institution.
ING Direct Tangerine Does not Charge Transfer Out Fees for RRSPs
Here’s a direct quote from ING Direct Tangerine: “We don’t have unfair fees, so there’s no charge from us to transfer out your RSP funds. Before making the move, check with your other bank for any unfair fees they may charge you for an RSP transfer in the future. You don’t want the fee to eat away at your retirement savings.”
Their advice is sound. Most “big banks” charge a hefty fee to transfer money out of an RRSP at their bank.
How Do I Transfer some of my RRSP funds from Tangerine to Direct Investing, InvestorLine or Investor’s Edge?
Don’t take the money out of your RRSP to move it! You can NOT add it back to your RRSP. And you will have to pay a non-refundable tax on the withdrawal.
To move the money, you must transfer it, not withdraw it. The money will move directly from one RRSP to the other.
I’m going to quote ING Direct Tangerine again on this one:
“To transfer out your RSP funds from ING Direct Tangerine you will need to submit an RSP Transfer Form (T2033) to the other bank that will be receiving your RSP funds. You can find this form at your local bank branch or online at cra-arc.gc.ca. Once they’ve received your completed form, they’ll communicate on your behalf to move your money.”
In any situation where you are transferring an RRSP, you must have an RRSP account at both locations BEFORE you can make the transfer. If you want to transfer out, first set up the new account at the new bank or trust company so there is somewhere to send it to!
Where Can I Get a RRSP T2033 for Direct Investing, InvestorLine, Investor’s Edge or ING Direct Tangerine?
To get the T2033 form to move an RRSP from anywhere TO BMO InvestorLine, go to
https://www.bmoinvestorline.com/ILClientWeb/marketing/accountTransfer.do?method=displayMarketingForm&lang=E
or
https://www.bmoinvestorline.com/public/pdf/Trans_SD.pdf
To get the T2033 form to move an RRSP from anywhere TO CIBC Investor’s Edge, go to
https://www.investorsedge.cibc.com/ie/pdf/2033.pdf
To get the T2033 form to move an RRSP from anywhere TO RBC Direct Investing, go to
http://www.rbcdirectinvesting.com/transfer-an-account.html
To get the T2033 form to move an RRSP TO ING Direct Tangerine from another institution, login to your existing Tangerine account. From the menu on the left, click on the link Transfer RSPs to open the form.
How Long Does It Take to Transfer Money from One RRSP to Another?
And quoting once again:
“An RSP transfer takes 3-6 weeks to complete.”
Actually, that’s a bit on the quick side. It has taken me as long as 8 weeks to transfer an RRSP, and that was from one bank to that same bank’s self-directed brokerage firm!
So if you were thinking of moving the money fast enough to take advantage of a special GIC rate, it may not be fast enough. Call the bank or brokerage with the good rate and find out if there’s any way to have them “hold” that rate for you. (It’s not very likely, though, unless you’re bringing in a very large amount of money.)
If it’s for a quick investment opportunity like a low stock price, you likely won’t be able to move the money fast enough. In that case, consider whether you could make a new contribution to your brokerage account in time to make the purchase.
Please remember you will pay a fee to transfer your money out of Tangerine to InvestorLine or any other financial institution. BEFORE starting any transfer talk to the institution that will receive the money and ask them to pay the transfer fee. Get any agreement in writing BEFORE beginning the transfer process.
UPDATE: Please be aware that as of January 2015, Tangerine plans has started charging a fee if you transfer your RRSP or TFSA from Tangerine to another bank, credit union, brokerage or financial institution.
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Do you ever use a strategy of quickly contributing to your RRSP at one location, then shifting it later to another? What was the longest you had to wait for a transfer to take place? Please share your experiences with a comment.
