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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.

How To Check My CPP Contributions Online at My Service Canada: Part Two: Using a GCKey

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First I had to apply for a Personal Access Code and wait for it to arrive in the mail from the federal government. Then, I had to use my PAC to set up a GCKey to use online. Now, finally, I should be able to sign in to the Service Canada website and look up my CPP contributions.

Specifically, I want to see how many years of maximum contributions I have made. The monthly Canada Pension Plan payment I will get in the future depends on how much I have contributed each year since I turned 18, excluding only my 7 lowest income earning years and the years I was not employed at all while I provided child care for my children under the age of 7, if applicable.

In general, most Canadians are NOT eligible for the maximum monthly CPP payment because most of us had jobs that paid too little for at least some of our working years. Remember, even the years you attended school after high school count in the CPP calculations. Somehow the government expected you to be making a good-sized annual pay cheque without any higher education! They also assume you will not take early retirement or be forced into it by a layoff or company restructuring.

Checking my CPP Contributions Online at the My Service Canada Website

To Learn About Your CPP Statement of Contributions

Visit http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/services/pensions/cpp/contributions/soc.shtml and read about how and why you may want to view or print your Statement of Contributions to the Canada Pension Plan. For example, it’s a good idea to get any errors fixed a few years before you want to start claiming CPP.

This page also explains the short forms used on your report.

To Get Your CPP Statement of Contributions

  1. Next, go to http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/online/mysca.shtml
  2. Click on the link called: Are you a returning user? Log in now!
  3. Click on the button: Access My Service Canada Account.
  4. Near the bottom of the Access My Service Canada Account screen, click on the GCKey button.

On the GCKey Log In or Register screen

  1. In the User ID field, type your GCKey.
  2. In the Password field, type your password.
  3. Click on the Log In button

On the Welcome User ID screen

  • Click on the Continue button.

Review the Privacy Notice and Terms and Conditions screen. If it’s acceptable, click on the button: I agree

The My Service Canada Account welcome screen opens.
There’s quite a list of links to choose from.
About half way down the screen is a Tab called View/Print.
Under it is listed a heading Canada Pension Plan (CPP) / Old Age Security (OAS) Pension.

  • Click on the link: View my CPP Contributions.

It may take a minute or so to open the next screen.

The CPP Earnings and Contributions screen opens.
It should list each year you worked, and how much you contributed to CPP.

[This is hilarious: Apparently during a year in the last century my husband contributed $0.14. That must have been some part time job!]

Interestingly enough, there is no convenient way to print the information.
You have to either use the print function for your internet browser, or
copy and paste the information into a word processor program and print it from here.

To Copy the CPP Statement of Contributions Into a Word Document.

  1. Open MS Word.
  2. Click on your contributions statement in your internet browser.
  3. To select everything, while holding down the Ctrl key, press the A key.
  4. :Click on your new, empty Word document.
  5. To paste all the information, while holding down the Ctrl key, press the V key.
  6. Highlight and delete all the stuff you don’t want or need like links to the various Service Canada web pages.
  7. Save your Word document and/or print it.

Securely end your My Service Canada session

  1. Click on the red Log out button near the top of the screen.
  2. Click on the grey Log out button on the next screen.

So what do all those contributions and letters mean? Well, that’s what I’ll have to find out and report on next.

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Did you find any incredibly silly contribution amounts when you looked at your contribution history? Was it unnerving to see very few Ms (for maximum contribution) on your report. Please share your experiences with a comment.