Author: Dave
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How to Move a Taxable Account from the US to Canada
It is hard to find a US brokerage that will hold a taxable account for a Canadian resident, so when moving from the US to Canada, you’ll likely want to bring your taxable account (called non-registered here in Canada) with you. The good news is that it’s easy to find a Canadian brokerage that will…
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Deciding How to Invest in a Group RRSP with High Fees
I’m a big believer in the efficacy of investing in low-cost index funds, and a lot of the funds I’ve seen on offer in group RRSP plans leave something to be desired. At the same time, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should fully neglect your group RRSP. Let’s explore some of the different ways you…
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Late Roth IRA Elections and Canadian Contributions
I had a conversation recently where two important Roth IRA questions came up. First of all, some context: the Canada-U.S. tax treaty recognizes Roth IRAs, which means that the CRA will treat them as non-taxable. The requirement for getting this treatment is filing an election with the CRA, which newcomers to Canada are asked to…
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Questrade Now Offers Free Trades
I’ve been a fan of Questrade since moving to Canada, as they are one of the Canadian brokerages that is most US-person friendly. At the same time, I’ve had to give the edge to Wealthsimple, as they offered free trades on stocks and ETFs, whereas Questrade just offered free buys. It doesn’t make a difference…
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Fee-Free International ATMs for EQ Bank / Wealthsimple
The Measure of a Plan has put together a page listing ATMs around the world (currently 67 bank companies in 40 countries) where Wealthsimple / EQ Bank customers can withdraw foreign currency without paying either foreign exchange fees or ATM transaction fees. Wealthsimple and EQ Bank are both good resources for crossborder folks (as they…
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Crossborder Implications for Canadian Investment Accounts
If you’re looking for crossborder implications for US investment account types, please see this article. Updated Feb 2025. As a US person living (and investing) in Canada, there are ramifications to the various investment account types that you’ll want to consider. Here’s a quick overview of the key considerations for the most common Canadian investment…
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Choosing a Crossborder Canadian Brokerage
Updated Feb 10, 2025 If you’re looking for suggestions on choosing a Canada-friendly US brokerage for your US accounts, please see this article. As is often the case with crossborder financial issues, the Canadian side of things is more straightforward. Canadian brokerages are, as far as I have found happy to do business with US…
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Crossborder Travel Hacking
Jan 2025 Update I would never try to talk someone into travel hacking. It’s not for everyone. If you’re like me, though, and enjoy finding loopholes and inefficiencies, it can be very beneficial. I don’t have any formal records, but we have definitely saved thousands of dollars every year for the past 20 or so…
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Choosing a Crossborder US Brokerage
If you’re looking for suggestions on choosing a US-friendly Canadian brokerage for your Canadian accounts, please see this article. As a crossborder investor, it is important to choose the right US brokerage (or brokerages). Ideally, you’d do this BEFORE moving, as you might find yourself with more options ahead of time — some brokerages allow…
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Crossborder Implications for US Investment Accounts
If you’re looking for crossborder implications for Canadian investment account types, please see this article. There are a lot of opinions about how best to handle US investment accounts when moving to Canada. On one extreme, some people recommend shifting everything to Canada (e.g. rolling IRAs into RRSPs). On the other extreme, you’ll find folks…