CAN>US. What to do about finances?

[canadavisa22 202]

1 hour ago, shammykay said:

There are no obligations on taxes to move cash, only when you move it.

I honestly suggest services like Transferwise or the like.  I would move the $ in Canada from a joint account with your spouse to an account the spouse has already set up in the US with a service like Transferwise, Knightsbridge, etc.

If you and your spouse bank with RBC or TD, cross border transfers of USD are one day and can be executed from a mobile device.  I think other services offer better FX rates, though.

I have had to keep some money in Canada for my final tax return, wind-down of my bills, vacations to return, life insurance contract for the next 10+ years, etc.  Each situation is different.

I'm currently mapping out this process now. I opened an RBC US bank account to go with my RBC account. The plan was to transfer funds from the CAD account into the US account and then do a wire transfer to the Chase account in the US.

 

That seemed the most convenient thing to do, but what are we talking about in terms of a rate difference? I honestly don't mind paying a bit of a premium for the convenience but if we're talking like $2K savings on $100K transfer that's another story. If it's like $300-$500 difference I might just eat it and have one less thing to worry about during this process. 

[shammykay 63]

1 hour ago, canadavisa22 said:

I'm currently mapping out this process now. I opened an RBC US bank account to go with my RBC account. The plan was to transfer funds from the CAD account into the US account and then do a wire transfer to the Chase account in the US.

 

That seemed the most convenient thing to do, but what are we talking about in terms of a rate difference? I honestly don't mind paying a bit of a premium for the convenience but if we're talking like $2K savings on $100K transfer that's another story. If it's like $300-$500 difference I might just eat it and have one less thing to worry about during this process. 

As we speak right now, TD is offering me 1.3748 to buy $1,000 USD and Transferwise is offering me 1.35423.  So on 100k or so, this makes over a $2k difference.  I don't think RBC would be much different than TD.  All my Reddit forums say using a 3rd party FX exchange is better.

I've used Transferwise several times (albeit amounts <20k) and been satisfied.  Would I want to move my life savings over in one chunk?  Will cut it up into tranches and then move several pieces out staggered over days.

[canadavisa22 202]

46 minutes ago, shammykay said:

As we speak right now, TD is offering me 1.3748 to buy $1,000 USD and Transferwise is offering me 1.35423.  So on 100k or so, this makes over a $2k difference.  I don't think RBC would be much different than TD.  All my Reddit forums say using a 3rd party FX exchange is better.

I've used Transferwise several times (albeit amounts <20k) and been satisfied.  Would I want to move my life savings over in one chunk?  Will cut it up into tranches and then move several pieces out staggered over days.

Is there any benefit to spreading it out over several days vs all at one time?

[aaron2020 11,651]

4 minutes ago, canadavisa22 said:

Is there any benefit to spreading it out over several days vs all at one time?

Breaking a large transaction into a series of small transaction will draw attention from the authorities.   That's what people do to launder money - break things into small transactions.    

[Lil bear 4,201]

I used OFX for our savings. Up to 3 to 4% better rate than any bank. Easy to set up. Safe 

[shammykay 63]

1 hour ago, aaron2020 said:

Breaking a large transaction into a series of small transaction will draw attention from the authorities.   That's what people do to launder money - break things into small transactions.    

I am doing tranches to get a more averaged FX rate.  As long as your tranches are not appearing to move things under the 10k reportable mark, everything should be ok.  

I'm just saying I've trusted transferwise with 8k, not ready to hand them 500k in one shot.