Tag Archives: GICs

Where Can I Get a Good or at Least Decent Rate on a GIC for my RRSP?

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With the stock market pundits forecasting that THIS time it really is the end of the world, many people don’t want to put their RRSP money into a stock, mutual fund or ETF at least not yet. Leaving aside the arguing about whether it’s actually a great time to buy since prices are low, I decided to look and see what rates are available for a RRSP guaranteed investment certificate, GIC, and whether they are good, decent or awful.

Big Banks Do Not Often Offer Great RRSP GIC Rates

Sometimes one of the big Canadian banks will surprise me by offering a good rate for a RRSP GIC. Not this year though.

BMO has 0.85% for a one-year term or 1.25-1.5% for a 5-year term.

CIBC has a bonus rate RRSP GIC at 0.9% for a one-year term or 1.3% for a 5-year term.

Scotiabank has a 1-year at 0.9% and a 5-year term at 1.5%.

TD has a 1-year term GIC at 0.85% and a 5-year term at 1.5%.

Royal has a 1-year term GIC at 0.9% and a 5-year term at 1.5%.

None of these are cashable before maturity. There may be other terms and conditions so be sure to read carefully before you lock up your money in any GIC.

Remember banks often have some discretion about setting their rate. Ask if you can get 0.5% more. They will probably say no, but they might offer 0.25% just for asking.

E-Banks Offer Better RRSP GIC Rates

There was a time when ING Direct operated in Canada and they used to offer some quite nice rates for GICs. Now the former company is called Tangerine and is owned by Scotiabank, and the good rates seem gone.

Tangerine is offering a 1-year term GIC at 1.2% and a 5-year term at 1.9%. Better than the “big banks” but still not great.

PC Financial, which is owned by CIBC, is offering a one-year term GIC at an APY of 1.2% and a 5-year at 1.9%. Yes, that’s the same as Tangerine.

There are some smaller, newer e-Banks though.

Oaken Financial, which is controlled by Home Trust, is offering a one-year term RRSP GIC paying 1.95% and a 5-year term paying 2.5%. That 2.5% is the same amount offered for a 2-year term by Zag bank but you’re earning it for more years. In case you’re interested a 2-year term is 2.1%.

Zag Bank, which is run by Desjardins, has a 2-year term RRSP GIC paying 2.5%. You have to invest before June 1 2016. For a 1-year term GIC, their rate is 1.05% and for a 5-year GIC their rate is 1.90%. So you can see the 2.5% 2-year rate is definitely a lure.

EQ Bank isn’t offering RRSP GICs at this time.

Where Should I Buy My RRSP GIC in 2016?

So none of these places is offering a great rate for a RRSP GIC.

Personally, I’d seriously consider Oaken Financial for a one-year term RRSP GIC.  I’ve been using their services for over a year for GICs for part of our emergency fund and I’ve been pleased with the service. (By the way, I get nothing from Oaken if you buy one. I’m a customer not someone with a business connection to them!)

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Why Buying an Index Fund ETF Must be for the Long Term Not for a “One Year Wonder”

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Back in 2014, I had some RRSP cash to invest in the equities side of my portfolio but I didn’t have any particular companies in mind. Instead, I gradually bought $24 295 worth of XIC an, ETF that tries to reflect the entire S&P TSX Composite index. Looking back on how it performed in 2015, I decided yet again that Index Fund ETFs are most suited to someone investing for the long-term, such as a distant retirement, rather than for the short term or just one year.

Whether Markets Rise or Fall, Dividends Still Get Paid by Most Companies

Many of the companies on the TSX S&P Composite Index list pay dividends. These include Canada’s big banks, telecoms like Bell and Telus, and old established utilities like Fortis and Canadian Utilities. An ETF that mirrors holding those companies, like XIC, usually will pay distributions to unit holders based on the dividends and other income it receives.

What Was My (Quick and Dirty) Yield on Investment for XIC in 2015?

In 2015, my actual distribution payments totaled $674.64.

While it’s not a particularly accurate way to calculate my return on investment, if I just divide my distributions by the amount I spent on XIC units in 2014, I get a percentage of 2.78%.

This is a bit different than today’s (January 6, 2016) quote for XIC on RBC Direct Investing, which says I will get 3.24%.

Why is my number lower? Because I spent more to get the same distribution.

What Happened to the Unit Value of XIC During 2015?

You see, the TSX had a difficult year in 2015. Its overall value dropped, at least on paper. I bought my units of XIC in 2014 at a rough average cost of $23.14 each.

Today, at this moment, on January 6 2016 they are worth 20.20 each.

Sigh. They’ve dropped in value by $2.94 each. And that’s not even factoring in any inflation and what not for the year between when I bought them and today.

If I Needed That Money In One Year, What Alternative Investment Might Have Been Better?

It doesn’t matter much to me that on paper my XIC units are worth less today than when I bought them. That’s because I don’t need the cash today so I don’t need to sell them and make that paper loss a real loss.

But what if I had been investing for the short term? What if I did need the cash today?

Well, I likely would have invested the same $24 295 in 2014 in some one-year GICs. I did buy quite a few GICs that year so I can find an average rate for 1-year certificates. On average, I invested at a rate of 1.91% for 1-year GICs in 2014.

So if I had put my money in GICs, on January 1 2016, I would have had all of my principal returned to me ($24 295) and I would have received $464 in interest.

You can see that the GIC interest is $210.61 less than the XIC distributions.

But the XIC loss of principal if I had sold the units today would be $3 087.

Ouch!

The lesson is obvious to me. Don’t invest in an index fund ETF for the very short term unless you are prepared to accept the possibility of a large, real drop in value. I wouldn’t risk $3 087 to gain $211 in interest/dividend distributions over a one-year period.

That said, my XIC investment is supposed to be needed in 20 or more years. So I’ll let it putter along, paying the 0.10% expense ratio and hopefully over that length of time, the capital value of the units will have increased at least enough to cover inflation and even better enough to generate a capital gain and profit.

Just Out of Curiosity, How Much Did Bell Do Better than a GIC and than XIC Over 2015?

I noticed when I looked at this particular account, that in 2014, I also bought about $25 000 of BCE stock. It was paying dividends to yield about 4.92% at my purchase price. The actual dividend per share has increased since then, so it’s still yielding about 4.77% today, January 6 2016.

The shares were bought at $50.25 in mid-2014. They are trading for $54.50 right now, today, January 6 2016. So they have appreciated in value by $4.25 each.

Too bad there was no way to know that in advance, or to be sure that that trend would continue (which it probably won’t) or I would have been very happy to have invested the full $50 000 in BCE and left XIC on the shelf!

Ah well, that’s why we’re supposed to invest in a variety of assets with a variety of risks and volatilities. I’m satisfied with having some BCE, some XIC and some GICs as part of my overall blend. Between them, it was a reasonable 2015.

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