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.
Related Reading
- How to Buy a GIC Online from Oaken Financial
- What Happened When My GIC Matured?
- How to Open a Savings Account at Oaken Financial
- Why a GIC Ladder May Not Make Sense
Join In
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.