Thursday, March 2, 2017

Do you Have To Convert $C To $US?


Heading south of the border for March break?

If you booked your trip in the summer / fall, your travels just got about 5 to 6% more expensive. 

It now costs  almost $C1.34 to buy $US1.00 on the wholesale market.

But if you go to your bank to buy $US, look out they are going to scalp you for another 2%.

This is the rate you are paying at one of Canada's "big 6" today:


That is an additional $30 per $1000.

Ever wonder why banks are ever growing their earnings? Certainly this is part of it. 

We don't squeeze our clients.

We always have $US assets in client portfolios as part of their balanced portfolio (and we use the wholesale rate and reasonable timing to buy them $US when necessary). We can send them $US cash if they have a $US bank account, so we advise them to do so. If they use a credit card for purchases and spending (and get travel points), then they can get a $US credit card.

When they get their monthly statement, we send $US from their investment account to their $US account to pay their credit card down. Save themselves the 2% "pillaging" fee that the banks charge.

It is just one small thing that we do that makes a difference and rest assured the banks are not likely to send you in that direction .

There is an alternative, we hope that we are helping to drive the thinking in a new direction.

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