Bank can't handle investments anymore

[Inky 1,111]

So I phoned my Investors today and they said they have to close out my account. That they can no longer help me with my money as I am moving to America. I have a considerable amount for a person of my age due to family inheritances.

Is this money going to be taxed when I bring it to the states? How would I handle bringing it there.

Is investing in the states like it is when you invest in canada with brokers/investors.

Bcause the markets went down I have lost some money, is it better to wait and watch the exchange till there is a really good day to change it over or is there something I can do legally and keep the money here by putting it in something else like a high intrest savings or something like that where I will not take the money out and it will just grow. Which is basically what my investors were doing.

Any help would be great! I really just want it to grow back to what it was.

[minnew 4]

So I phoned my Investors today and they said they have to close out my account. That they can no longer help me with my money as I am moving to America. I have a considerable amount for a person of my age due to family inheritances.

Is this money going to be taxed when I bring it to the states? How would I handle bringing it there.

Is investing in the states like it is when you invest in canada with brokers/investors.

Bcause the markets went down I have lost some money, is it better to wait and watch the exchange till there is a really good day to change it over or is there something I can do legally and keep the money here by putting it in something else like a high intrest savings or something like that where I will not take the money out and it will just grow. Which is basically what my investors were doing.

Any help would be great! I really just want it to grow back to what it was.

If it is a considerable amount, I would suggest using Custom House, they will be able to get you a better rate than the bank. www.customhouse.com. It's free and very easy to set up! You will need a Canadian bank account as well as American bank account to use it.

I am not sure about the taxation issue, someone else might have a better answer for you.

[Inky 1,111]

Thanks for the link, im looking at the site right now but cant make sence of any of it. I dont do anything with my money lol. The investors handle it all cus simply I don't know how to handle it and I don't understand these things, iv had quite a few people try to explain it including my investors but it just doesnt make sence in my head and cant understand it! arg lol ill keep looking over the website and see if i can figure it out tho.

[trailmix 77]

Thanks for the link, im looking at the site right now but cant make sence of any of it. I dont do anything with my money lol. The investors handle it all cus simply I don't know how to handle it and I don't understand these things, iv had quite a few people try to explain it including my investors but it just doesnt make sence in my head and cant understand it! arg lol ill keep looking over the website and see if i can figure it out tho.

All customhouse does is transfer your money for you (from Canada to the U.S. - or the other way around). They don't handle investments or deposits or anything like that.

If you are finding the site confusing but want to sign up with them for money transfers, just give them a call, it is simple and they are very nice.

As for the investments - you may want to speak with an accountant - see what his suggestions are to avoid too much taxation.

Edited August 17, 2009 by trailmix

[Inky 1,111]

anything on just leaving it here in a high intrest savings account or am I not allowed to do that?

[trailmix 77]

anything on just leaving it here in a high intrest savings account or am I not allowed to do that?

Sure you can, however, you will be taxed at a non-resident rate of around 25% on all of the interest earned.

That's probably why you need to speak with an accountant - you need to decided whether or not to just leave it here for a while, until the Canadian dollar exchange goes down a bit.

If you move to the U.S. and leave it here:

- You can wait for the Canadian dollar to go down and then transfer the money

- You will pay around 25% non resident tax on any interest you earn during that time (this is just a broad example of the tax you might pay).

If you move to the U.S. and withdraw it now:

- The Canadian dollar is generally strong right now - you may lose a bit on exchange (but who knows what the dollar is going to do anyway)

- You will still have to pay taxes on the interest, however since it is interest earned while you are still a resident of Canada - the tax MAY be less.

- Once you have the funds in the U.S. you can get an investor and reinvest your money down there - potentially earning greater interest than you would in a high interest savings account in Canada.

I don't know how much money you are talking about - whether it's 10 thousand or 200 thousand (and I don't want to know!) - i'm just saying that the amount should have a huge bearing on what you decide to do, which is why I thought it might be a good idea to speak with an accountant.

Edited August 17, 2009 by trailmix

[minnew 4]

I have heard people referencing this site before so I am going to post it, I have never used it, but you may be able to find some useful information in there, if not they can do a free consulatation with you.

http://www.serbinski.com/

http://forums.serbinski.com/

[zyggy 9]

The fact that they can't keep your money becauxse you move to the US is a load of #######. They absolutely can keep it there. My wife's stuff is at investors. I would go talk to a supervisor, or someone higher up. My wife still has all of her accounts there.

No whether you want to or not is another matter. I would talk to a cross border tax expert on the best method of handling the transfer from a tax situation and choose the better path. The 25% non resident tax is something you may not want to deal with, if you only have to handle capital gains.

Edited August 17, 2009 by zyggy

[Inky 1,111]

The fact that they can't keep your money becauxse you move to the US is a load of #######. They absolutely can keep it there. My wife's stuff is at investors. I would go talk to a supervisor, or someone higher up. My wife still has all of her accounts there.

No whether you want to or not is another matter. I would talk to a cross border tax expert on the best method of handling the transfer from a tax situation and choose the better path. The 25% non resident tax is something you may not want to deal with, if you only have to handle capital gains.

well its more bull now cus i called again and they say they deal with europe and australia and a bunch of countrys over there but they cannot deal with people living in america??? and this is a big bank.. its BMO.

[ashenflowers 5]

They really should be able to keep your money there, if you want it kept in Canadian funds. Is this money something you access on a regular basis, or is it just sitting there in investments and what not? I'll assume it's sitting there as you mentioned you just want it to grow.. the tax issues also depend on what type of account you have. I.e., do you have a retirement account that it's sitting in, or is it just sitting in investments.

Investing is not exactly the same from Canada and the US (I was a licensed stock broker for the US a few years ago, so I have some basic knowledge, but am NOT an expert any more... I strongly suggest talking with a financial adviser). Depending on if you have your money in stocks, some of those stocks do not trade in the US anyways, and some US stocks don't trade on Canadian exchanges, so you can't just transfer them over to US funds as is. However, there are people in Canada who trade in the US, and people in the US that trade in Canadian exchanges/stocks/investments. I'm not familiar with the cross border tax stuff, but as zyggy mentioned, try to find an expert that HAS dealt with that before, so they can explain it. Not only would you have the aforementioned 25% non resident tax, but you'd have taxes involved with liquefying your investments and things like that (with capital gains as income, and capital losses in consideration as well).

There are a lot of banks that deal with both US and Canadian accounts on both sides of the border. I'm shocked if BMO claims they can't. You could look into transferring all your assets to another Canadian bank (such as TD Canada Trust, or Scotiabank, or RBC), and see what they will offer you. There's no tax involved in transferring from one Canadian account to another and keeping all investments intact. I would also look into some American banks that will allow you to have an account in Canadian funds, with Canadian investments (I worked for TD Ameritrade... I know they do it... not that I necessarily recommend them, I just know that it can be done) and see what taxes are involved with transferring to them.

As for whether or not you should wait for a 'good day'.... no one can help you there. lol There's never a really 'good' day on the markets. With or without a recession. It's all chance, IMO, but you can research it further. At the very least, it looks like the recession is either ending, or over, so things should start looking up again soon, but it will probably be another year or two at least, before you see anything looking like it was before. again, not expert, just opinion.

Good luck!

Edited August 17, 2009 by ashenflowers

[Inky 1,111]

thanks thats some good info, i have a regular bank account with RBC too but iv had nothing but crummy service from them so i doubt i would use them to handle my larger money sums lol.

[Krikit 1,164]

Agreed that this does not make much sense. I use Halton Financial Group. They are quite familiar with cross-border taxation and investments and are highly knowledgeable. They have many clients who have moved from Canada to the US so Don is licensed in both countries. Maybe give them a call and see what they have to say.

[MapleLeafBaby 1]

The fact that they can't keep your money becauxse you move to the US is a load of #######. They absolutely can keep it there. My wife's stuff is at investors. I would go talk to a supervisor, or someone higher up. My wife still has all of her accounts there.

No whether you want to or not is another matter. I would talk to a cross border tax expert on the best method of handling the transfer from a tax situation and choose the better path. The 25% non resident tax is something you may not want to deal with, if you only have to handle capital gains.

well its more bull now cus i called again and they say they deal with europe and australia and a bunch of countrys over there but they cannot deal with people living in america??? and this is a big bank.. its BMO.

I too have a considerable amount with BMO...both locked RRSP's and open market. That is not true that they cannot keep it...Your advisor might not be licensed to still oversee your accounts, but the EStablishment itself, is licensed. You need to speak with another portfolio manager. All they do is change your filings as a 'non resident'. You can either opt to stay with them, or place your money into ING...both are options for you...ING is a safe bet, and even at only 1% it will give you time to review your choices.... The money is personal funds and not taxable, only the interest incurred this year, and i'm assuming you would file in canada?

I just changed my address with BMO...I am with one of their VP's as my portfolio manager....his office would be able to help you...he's based on King St, in the financial district. If you want his name and number, PM me and I will get you that info.

Good luck

ps. there are also ways around, getting taxed less if you are pulling locked funds....Canadian exchanges are taxed only at 10% if they are withdrawn at increments of $5000/day transactions...and they do this over a series of several days to move your money. It is possible...it's a licensing issue and not true about keeping the products. You may also have a product that you can no longer carry but it can be dumped, and sld out into another product prior to your move....selling out and converting all your money at this time would hurt you....

[Inky 1,111]

Yea I went in and spoke with them and signed stuff, had my address changed. Had to close out the account but BMO is keeping the money till they can wire it to me in the states.. They said that the rules had been changed and they can only close my accounts and wire the money to the american bank account that i open when i get there. The process is in place to close the accounts already, not a happy day for me =(.

Not sure what to do when i get there about what bank to open with so i can just get some kind of high intrest savings and dump it all in there and leave it there... seems like thats the only option i have right now cus they had no advice on what to do with it in america.

I do have to file taxes for 2009 here cus i worked and stuff, im not going to owe anything tho as i didnt make enough to owe. prolly gonna get a little back too.

any ideas on a good place with high intrest stuff i can put my money in or something? my fiance is military and i heard about a military bank thats safe but dont really know anything about it. he uses sacfederal credit union.

[thetreble 19]

The fact that they can't keep your money becauxse you move to the US is a load of #######. They absolutely can keep it there. My wife's stuff is at investors. I would go talk to a supervisor, or someone higher up. My wife still has all of her accounts there.

No whether you want to or not is another matter. I would talk to a cross border tax expert on the best method of handling the transfer from a tax situation and choose the better path. The 25% non resident tax is something you may not want to deal with, if you only have to handle capital gains.

well its more bull now cus i called again and they say they deal with europe and australia and a bunch of countrys over there but they cannot deal with people living in america??? and this is a big bank.. its BMO.

I too have a considerable amount with BMO...both locked RRSP's and open market. That is not true that they cannot keep it...Your advisor might not be licensed to still oversee your accounts, but the EStablishment itself, is licensed. You need to speak with another portfolio manager. All they do is change your filings as a 'non resident'. You can either opt to stay with them, or place your money into ING...both are options for you...ING is a safe bet, and even at only 1% it will give you time to review your choices.... The money is personal funds and not taxable, only the interest incurred this year, and i'm assuming you would file in canada?

I just changed my address with BMO...I am with one of their VP's as my portfolio manager....his office would be able to help you...he's based on King St, in the financial district. If you want his name and number, PM me and I will get you that info.

Good luck

ps. there are also ways around, getting taxed less if you are pulling locked funds....Canadian exchanges are taxed only at 10% if they are withdrawn at increments of $5000/day transactions...and they do this over a series of several days to move your money. It is possible...it's a licensing issue and not true about keeping the products. You may also have a product that you can no longer carry but it can be dumped, and sld out into another product prior to your move....selling out and converting all your money at this time would hurt you....

Can I just say that you are the woman! I may need to go to you in the future for financial advice!