Paying Canadian bills from the US

[Jenna13 0]

Hi all, 

Quick question about finances. After moving to the US (this summer), I will have a couple bills here in Canada that I will have to upkeep from the US. How does that work? I have a car loan as well as life insurance that I would like to keep in force. Is there an option to somehow transfer my bills from Canada to US?  For example: is getting a loan from a US bank to pay off my Canadian car loan possible? Also for life insurance I'm not sure if it's transferable to the US or if I'll have to terminate the Canadian policy and apply for a US one. That would be unfortunate as I've been paying into the policy for 7 years and wouldn't want to pay higher premiums due to age increase. Anyone have experience with these types of finances and know what the best course of action would be? Should I just keep my Canadian Bank account open and transfer money into it each month from the US (I'm with TD) or should I transfer the bills over to the US altogether? If that's the case, how do I go about doing this? 

Thanks in advance for your help! 

[Boiler 45,886]

I assume you can bank on line so just keep paying bills from your existing account. Seems to be quite difficult to open an account once you have moved.

 

 

[Jenna13 0]

I do have online banking, and I know TD has something called Cross-Border banking between Canada and US but I don't know the details. I'll go in to my bank and ask them about it. Thanks for your reply! 

[mallafri76 1,012]

You haven't filled out your timeline so not sure what visa you're coming on. If you're immigrating, your life insurance in Canada will probably not be valid anymore.

 

In regards to paying your Canadian bills, you can either leave a lump sum in your Canadian account to cover the bills for awhile or transfer money from your US to Canadian bank account 

[Jenna13 0]

I'll be immigrating with the K3 visa. My husband is a US citizen. 

I've tried researching online regarding the life insurance but couldn't find anything definitive to my situation. I guess I'll just give the company a call, I'm assuming they would know how to proceed with that. If I do have to terminate the policy I would only have my car payment to worry about and therefore will most likely just make monthly transfers until paid off. 

Thanks! 

 

[Boiler 45,886]

More likely CR1 not K3. I should have said I would not expect any issue with the Life Assurance, Canada in the main follows the UK common law.

[ricnally 259]

3 hours ago, Jenna13 said:

I do have online banking, and I know TD has something called Cross-Border banking between Canada and US but I don't know the details. I'll go in to my bank and ask them about it. Thanks for your reply! 

yes, do look into it. I have cross-border banking with RBC and it's perfect for this.

[Jenna13 0]

1 minute ago, ricnally said:

yes, do look into it. I have cross-border banking with RBC and it's perfect for this.

I absolutely will! Thanks. 

[Lemonslice 4,945]

Usually, you cannot import a car you do not own outright.  Life insurance, as long as you make payments, should not be a problem. I've kept Canadian bank accounts open and still pay a few Canadian bills; bank accounts have also been useful to receive CRA direct deposits and what not.

[kellyh 27]

RE: Life insurance

You do not have to terminate your policy regardless where it is you moved.

 

You can change the billing to annual (if it isn't already), at each anniversary date, you can send a cheque or money order to the company. Be sure to inform the company that you've moved, as should update your contact info. (best to update your advisor too.)

 

If you're paying monthly, like everyone has mentioned. You should keep a Canadian account available and have a lump sum available for monthly payments.

[Danni.B 37]

I worked in RBC for a number of years; and have been using their cross border account to manage transferring money between Canada and US (either way). It's probably the easiest way! Check with TD. They most likely offer something very similar.