Tag Archives: Oaken Financial

Oaken Financial Stops Sending Paper Statements and How to Enroll and Find Electronic Statements

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I’ve been a happy customer of Oaken Financial for several years. We keep part of our emergency fund in GICs at Oaken. Each GIC has a one-year term, but we have 12 of them. One matures each month because if we needed to live off our emergency fund we know we’ll need income steadily each month to pay the bills. Oaken allows us to buy our GICs online very quickly and easily making renewals simple. (I don’t like automatic renewals because I never know if my plans for this money may change.) Recently, in the spring of 2018, Oaken announced they will be stopping mailing paper statements and transaction receipts so I signed in to find out what, if anything, I need to do.

Do I Need Paper Bank Statements and If So for How Long?

According to the CRA you have to keep records of your income for 7 years for tax purposes. We get a T5 for our interest income from Oaken Financial for our bank account and our GICs each spring. To be on the safe side, though, I prefer to keep our account statements for 7 years too. So I will be keeping the electronic copy of our bank statements on a secure removable device just in case of an audit.

How to Find My Oaken Financial Statements and Transactions Online

Here’s how I found my electronic versions of my account and GIC information.
Sign in to Oaken Financial.

Across the top of the screen is a set of tabs:

  • Home
  • Account Management
  • Transfer
  • Service Centre
  • Open New Account
  • Documents & Statements

Reviewing, Printing and Saving Your Oaken Financial Monthly Bank Statement

  1. Click on the tab Documents & Statements.
    A new row of tabs is displayed:
    Statements
    Confirmations
    Tax Slips
    Preferences
    The default selection is Statements and under that tab the default choice is Monthly Savings Account Statements.
  2. From the Account drop-down list, select the bank account you are interested in reviewing.
    When I selected our Savings Account, a list of links to our 2018 monthly statements was provided. There is also a tab to look at our 2017 statements.
  3. Click on the link for the monthly statement you wish to review.
    A PDF version of the same monthly statement we used to receive in the mail is displayed.
    You can use the usual print and download icons to print or electronically save your statement to a computer or storage device.
  4. When you are finished, click to close the browser window with the PDF document.
  5. If you are finished banking, click to Log Out of Oaken Financial.
  6. For increased security, clear your browser history and cache and close your browser session, if desired.

How Far Back Do Oaken Financial Online Bank Statements Go?

My online statements go back to July 2017. We had an account before that so not all of our statements are archived online.

What Is Shown on the Oaken Annual Financial Portfolio Statement?

We only have GICs and a savings account at Oaken, so I’m not sure what all of their statements may look like.

Ours shows the same information they used to mail us each year:

For each GIC, it shows the issuer, account number, principal amount, issue date, maturity date, interest rate, interest paid and current balance. This can be useful for understanding the interest stated on our T5 slip.

Will I Still Get a Paper Slip Confirming my GIC Purchase from Oaken Financial In the Mail?

Maybe for a while. But soon you may need to check online for your confirmations.

  1. Sign in to Oaken Financial.
  2. From the tab near the top, select Documents & Statements.
  3. From the new list, click on the tab Confirmations.
  4. Click on the name of the GIC for which you wish to print or electronically save the confirmation notice.
  5. The document will open as a PDF file. You can use the print or download icons to save the document.
  6. When you are finished, click to close the browser window with the PDF document.
  7. If you are finished banking, click to Log Out of Oaken Financial.
  8. For increased security, clear your browser history and cache and close your browser session, if desired.

How Do I Set Up Receiving Paper Statements, Confirmations and Tax Slips If I Want Them from Oaken Financial?

If you are willing to pay for them, at a rate in June 2018 of $2 for EACH piece of paper mailed to you, you can still select to receive paper documents.

Actually, I may be premature. It looks like there is only a $2 charge for Savings Account Statements at this stage. However, since you can opt out of receiving paper versions of other documents, I suspect they may implement charges for them in the future. Anyway, to select whether or not you want to receive paper versions:

  1. Sign in to Oaken Financial.
  2. From the tab near the top, select Documents & Statements.
  3. From the new list, click on the tab Preferences.
    There are two sections.Under General Documents, you can check a box to receive the following items electronically and / or on paper in the mail:
    Confirmation of Investments
    Portfolio Statements
    Tax Slips
    Maturity NoticeUnder Savings Account Statements, I expected that you could check a box to receive your statement in the mail, if you agree to pay a $2 charge once each month for each statement you request.

    However, when I checked today on June 18, there is no box to select! I suspect they will add the box in July after they stop mailing out statements. You can always phone them to manage this as their customer support team is very good, in my experience.

  4. Click to select or de-select any checked boxes, as desired.
  5. Click on the Save button.
  6. To confirm the changes, click on the Change button.
  7. Click on the Done button.
  8. If you are finished banking, click to Log Out of Oaken Financial.
  9. For increased security, clear your browser history and cache and close your browser session, if desired.

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Do you keep your bank statements in case of an audit? Do you wish there were a faster way to download and archive them all? Please share your views with a comment.

Is Investing In GICs More Risky Than Investing in the Stock Market?

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I never have heard anyone say that investing in guaranteed investment certificates, or GICs, is more risky than investing in shares of companies in the stock market, but now I’m beginning to wonder if it’s true?

Why Does It Seem Investing in GICs Might Be Risky and Make Me Lose Money?

First, I’ll clarify that I’m not actually worried about losing any money—but other people seem to be.

I have part of our emergency fund money invested in 1-year-term GICs with Oaken Financial. Each month, 1/ 12 of that money is invested in a new 1-year GIC just after the previous year’s GIC matures. That means if interest rates ever start to go up, I should gradually be re-investing at a higher rate. We chose this procedure because we knew that if we needed our emergency funds to pay our bills, we would only need a steady stream of money each month, not one big lump sum of money.

Oaken Financial has been very good to work with. Their telephone support is courteous and prompt. They send me a letter confirming each GIC purchase and a free monthly statement for our high interest savings account. It’s quick and simple to buy my GICs online and to transfer money in and out of our savings account.

Are My GICs at Oaken Financial at Risk?

The problem isn’t directly with Oaken Financial. The problem is that the company that owns them is having some legal and financial difficulties. They may have loaned money in the form of mortgages to people who were not honest about the value of the properties, if I understand it correctly.

That means the company that owns them is at risk. Right now, many investors are selling their shares in the company. Some small investors with cash deposits with Oaken and Home Trust are also withdrawing their savings.

It’s kind of like that scene in the movie It’s a Wonderful Life where everyone tries to take their money out of the Savings and Loan business at the same time. The business could fail because of a lack of faith.

However, my GICs are Oaken Financial are not at risk. They are insured by the CDIC. I checked before I bought them. So if something happens to the company, my money will be re-paid by insurance. I’m sure that would not happen instantly and there would be paperwork but I’m also sure it would happen eventually.

Will I Keep Buying GICs from Oaken Financial?

Recently, to encourage people to keep their cash at Oaken, they have increased the rate they offer on GICs.

Since I was planning to re-invest our next maturing GIC in May in for a new one year term, I will be doing just that. It’s still CDIC insured. And I am hopeful they may weather this storm. If not, they will likely be purchased by another financial institution and life will go on. Either way, I have no concerns I will lose our money.

Should I Try to Get My Money Out of my GICs at Oaken Financial?

Only you can tell what is best for your finances. Discuss your options with a financial advisor. Talk to CDIC and Oaken about your concerns if you want. I can’t tell you what you could or should do.

Personally, I’m going for a nature walk.

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Do you remember when Canada Trust was not part of TD? Please share your memories of other trust company takeovers with a comment.