Tag Archives: Oaken Financial

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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Have you found some place offering a better RRSP GIC rate? Please share your victory with a comment.

Is It Safe to Use Oaken Financial for My GICs? Does It Work? How Can I Add a Joint-Owner to a GIC?

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Like many Canadians, I’m a bit nervous letting an “unknown” financial institution handle my money. Still, when I was looking for a place to put our emergency fund into a series of GICs so that one would mature each month for a year, Oaken Financial had the best on-going rates available with the most convenience for me. Still, I wondered if it would be safe to use it, whether it would work, and especially whether there would be any problems when the certificates matured.

What Maturity Instructions Could I Choose for a GIC with Oaken Financial?

When I bought the first guaranteed investment certificate last year, I asked to have the interest and principal paid out to my Oaken Savings Account at maturity. I was a bit nervous because I’d had bad experiences in the past with one of the Big Five Canadian banks not putting those instructions properly on file and my GICs rolling over to new terms and lower rates.

I checked the GIC certificate that Oaken had mailed me, and I checked my certificate details online and both said that the principal and interest would go into my savings account at maturity.

(I could also have asked them to mail me a cheque, or to re-invest the principal and/or interest at maturity.)

Will Oaken Warn Me That I Have a GIC About to Mature?

I was pleased to get a letter from Oaken more than a month ahead of time warning me that I had a GIC coming up for maturity. It offered me the option of changing my instructions for the cash. I left the instructions standing.

Did My Oaken GIC Mature Properly?

Still, it wasn’t till today, when the first certificate matured that I finally knew it would work. Yep, the cash is now in my Oaken Savings Account. Phew!

Will I Use Oaken Financial to Buy My Next GIC?

Yes. I actually am re-investing this 1/12 of our emergency fund today so that it will mature in another year’s time. Our expectation is that if we need this emergency fund, we will need it to pay monthly bills and property taxes etc so we won’t need it all in one chunk: we’ll use it in monthly chunks. I’m keeping a series of 12 GICs, one maturing each month, to keep the money earning some interest, hopefully enough to keep up with, almost, inflation.

What Rate is Oaken Financial Offering for a Non-Registered GIC Today, November 24, 2105?

The current rate for a non-cashable one-year GIC is 1.95%. A cashable is paying 1.75% which is more than most savings accounts. We don’t need to have cash handy here, since we have it elsewhere, so we’ll go with the non-redeemable GIC. The rate for 18 months and more is over 2%.

Adding a Joint Owner to a New GIC at Oaken Financial

This time, when buying a GIC, I wanted to add a Joint Owner, my husband.
I followed  my own instructions for buying a GIC, then clicked Yes when asked if I wanted to add a joint-owner.

The Joint Owner Details Section Opened

  1. I clicked to select Yes for Is the joint owner an existing customer?
  2. I typed in his Oaken Client Number.
  3. From the list of titles, I selected Mr.
  4. I typed in his first and last name in the appropriate text boxes.
  5. I clicked to select No for the question is he a US citizen or US resident for tax purposes?
  6. I typed in an optional email address for him.
  7. I clicked No to answer the question Has his personal information changed?
  8. I clicked No to answer whether I wished to add an additional joint-owner.
  9. I then continued with usual procedure by clicking on the Next button.

If you need to add a Joint-owner to an existing GIC, you could try talking directly to an Oaken Financial support person. I am not sure if it is possible or not.

Are My Oaken Financial GICs Insured by CDIC?

Today, November 24, 2015, they are listed as a member of CDIC and therefore the GICs are secured. It’s always a good idea to check the CDIC status of any institution again just before placing an order in case anything has changed.

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Do you keep your emergency fund in cash or GICs? Where do you stash it? Please share your strategy with a comment.