Category Archives: Money Tips

How to Buy a Guaranteed Investment Certificate, GIC, at Oaken Financial

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Well it’s December already so it’s time to buy another GIC for our emergency fund. We know it’s very unlikely that we would need our entire fund at the same time so we are investing 80% of it such that part of it matures each month. If, for example, we lost our jobs, we would be able to access some of our emergency fund each month as that month’s GIC matures. In the meantime, the money is earning a slightly higher rate than it would in a daily interest savings account at Tangerine, PC Financial or Oaken Financial. Because I just want to buy a regular GIC, not one in a registered account like a RRSP or TFSA, and because I already have a savings account at Oaken Financial, it’s very easy for me to buy another Guaranteed Investment Certificate.

Buying a GIC at Oaken Financial If You Have a Savings Account with Them

Sign in to your Oaken Financial online banking session.

Click on the Open New Account tab.

Rats.

You can’t actually buy the GIC online. You can phone them or you can mail in an application form.

Click on the link: Log out

Clear your cache and close your browser session.

Sigh. Time to pick up the phone.

How Easy Was It to Purchase a GIC from Oaken By Phoning?

Because we already have a savings account at Oaken and because the funds were already in the account, it was extremely easy to purchase the GIC by phoning.

The phone was answered in less than one minute.

The security questions were easy to handle.

Within another minute, two at the most, the 1-year non-redeemable GIC was purchased and all was done. No one tried to sell me anything or up-sell me to a longer term etc.

Do remember to tell them:
If you want the principal and interest paid out into your savings account at maturity or re-invested.

They asked, which was great, but it’s a good idea to make sure of that detail with any financial institution. (I hate it when GICs auto-renew!)

The representative told me that the GIC purchase confirmation notice will be mailed to me for our records.

UPDATE: On the morning of the following day, the GIC is now listed on my Home page.

Do I Have to Wait for my Funds to Come Off “Hold” Before I Buy a GIC?

No.

Once you’ve deposited funds into your account you can buy a GIC even if the funds are still on hold. (Which makes sense because they can always ‘take back’ the GIC if your funds do not clear your other bank properly: they are just switching the ‘on hold’ status from the bank account to the GIC.)

How Long Do Funds Stay on Hold at Oaken Financial?

According to their website, funds from

  • A cheque will be kept on hold for up to 5 business days.
  • An electronic fund transfer will be kept on hold for up to 3 business days.

My first funds were deposited by cheque on November 24, 2014.

My funds came off hold on December 5, 2014.

That’s actually 8 or 9 business days depending how you count them but this was the first thing I did when I was opening my account so it may have been slower.

My funds came out of my “big bank” account on November 26, 2014, by the way.

I’ll test the hold time on an ETF soon and try to update this with the results.
So far:
Friday December 5: Requested transfer in.
December 6 and 7: Money not in yet and no listing in “Pending” section of Transfers.
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Do you have any of your emergency fund in GICs? Is it easy to buy them or do you have to sit through a long sales pitch first? Please share your experiences with a comment.

Redeeming Petro-Points for CAA Dollars for a Membership and a Bonus

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I’ve mentioned before that we have way too many Petro-Points and that one of the highest value rewards we can redeem them for is a CAA Membership. Well, it’s almost the holidays so it’s time for me to do just that and get my Mom a CAA Membership renewal. It’s exactly the kind of present she wants: practical, useful (she called them twice last year for boosts on 2 different cars), doesn’t clutter up the house and doesn’t fill up the landfill with packaging. Oh, yes, she also wants some homemade chocolate raspberry fudge but I’m not telling whether she’ll be in luck. I was pleased to see that CAA is offering me a bonus this year just for redeeming some of our Petro-Points and using the CAA Dollars for a membership: win-win!

How Many CAA Dollars Do I Need to Pay for a CAASCO CAA Plus Membership?

First, I need to know how many CAA dollars I need for the gift.

Ok, the Plus level of membership costs $114 before tax. So I need at least $114 CAA dollars.

It “costs” 1 000 Petro-Points to buy one CAA dollar, so I need to redeem at least 114 000 Petro-Points.

Checking My Petro-Points Balance Online

Next, I wandered off to check my Petro-Points balance (and to top up my Fuel Rewards Card but that’s another topic.)

  1. Go to http://retail.petro-canada.ca/default.aspx
  2. Click on the link at the top called My Petro-Canada Account.
  3. In the Email field, type the email address you used when setting up your Petro-Points account.
  4. In the Password field, type your password.
  5. Click on the Log In arrow.
    That’s what I thought: we could buy another TV.
  6. Click on the Logout link.

Yes, I could have redeemed my points on the My Petro-Canada site, but I want to get my CAA bonus, so I’m off to their website.

How to Get a Bonus for Redeeming Petro-Points for CAA Dollars

From what I know, this only applies for CAASCO, the southern Ontario CAA site. There may be similar offers in other parts of the country, though.

This particular deal is only offered December 1 – 31, 2014.

Go to caasco.com/redeempetropoints
(which leads you to http://retail.petro-canada.ca/en/petropoints/3008.aspx?redir=caa )

Ah ha! So it’s just a big circle. I’m back on the Petro-Points website.

  1. Near the bottom of the screen is a link called Exchange Petro-Points for CAA Dollars.
  2. I clicked on it.
  3. I reached the Petro-Points sign in screen, so I logged in.
  4. From the Convert your Petro-Points to: drop-down list, I selected CAA Dollars.
  5. From the Select one of the following points amounts: drop-down list, I selected 129 000 which should pay for the membership plus tax, I hope.
  6. In the appropriate field, I typed in my CAA number.
  7. I clicked on Go.
    The program advised that my CAA Dollars should show up in my CAA account within 72 business hours.
  8. I clicked on the Logout link.

Good stuff. Now I just have to wait till they do and then buy the renewal gift membership.

What Is the CAA Conversion Bonus?

Well, it’s nothing amazing. I’m supposed to get 2 500 Petro-Points for converting at least 10 000 Petro-Points to CAA Dollars. So that’s like getting a $2.50 saving on my CAA membership. It can also take up till February 15 2015 to receive the bonus. Still, it’s free money right?!

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Do you try to use points to pay for your birthday gifts or holiday shopping? Have you used Petro-Points to buy CAA stuff like Cineplex movie passes or memberships? Or used the Best Buy e-Certificates to buy electronics? Please share your tips with a comment.