Transfer finally done and completed: my investment portfolio is now with National Bank Direct Brokerage!

Following its arrival, it took more than the usual 48 hours for my non-registered Canadian margin portfolio to be completely transferred over National Bank Direct Brokerage. Most of the investments that I hold inside my non-registered Canadian margin portfolio were transferred over National Bank Direct Brokerage arrived on October 5th. However, on October 5th, two of my biggest holders were missing and haven't been transferred, but they were nowhere to be seen over my old TD Direct account... That's the scariest part, not to be able to see your stocks, but that's actually a good thing, meaning that the transfer is ongoing. My two biggest investments, PPL and ENB, finally arrived on the date of today inside my Canadian margin portfolio over National Bank Direct Brokerage. The date that appears on the Activity page is actually yesterday, but yesterday, PPL and ENB were nowhere to be seen. I am quite happy that this transfer is finally done and completed!

It hasn't been much stressful. Both TD Direct and National Bank Direct Brokerage brokers had been great and done their job. I know that many investors might have done what I did and transferred their assets over National Bank Direct Brokerage. It just required some checking once something new arrived over NBDB. Yesterday evening, I write down in my agenda all the dividend payout dates. It allows me to verify the following: it seems like I am missing two dividend distributions inside my TFSA portfolio, and one dividend distribution over my RRSP portfolio. I will call National Bank Direct Brokerage on Monday only because for now, this lady is still on vacation.

I wrote down in my agenda the dividend distribution date. For that task, I checked each and every single of my dividend stocks over the TSX page. Following what, I click on the Key Data of the stock:

That way, I can verify the payable date of the dividend:

Since I had been holding most of my assets for a really long time, I don't need to worry about the Ex-Date. It's the Payable date that I wrote down in my agenda for each of my stocks. It was a long exercise, but it was worth the effort. In my early days as an investor, I was checking my dividend distribution, but I have to admit that it's something I didn't do for quite some time. However, since I recently switch brokers, I want to verify my dividend distribution. Sincerely, it's a task that we should all do as investors. We are alone to verify our own interests. From now on, I will verify my dividend income and check that I actually received everything the TSX own me :-)

Still no luck at hunting little partridges yesterday, we didn't kill any. Today is a hunting break day.

Happy Thanksgiving, Canadian Investors!

For Thanksgiving, I usually always take some time off from work around this time of year. Despite COVID, this year was no exception. Last year was actually the only exception. Today was my first day hunting partridge, but we got no luck. The weather is too hot, and we'll need from now on to get up earlier in the morning. Today, we start our hunting day around 9 am. No luck with partridges, but the autumn scenery was beautiful.

The transfer of my Canadian non-registered portfolio over National Bank Direct Brokerage is not completed yet, I am still missing one investment, which is quite annoying. I hope to have everything set to normal tomorrow. If not, I will have to contact National Bank Direct Brokerage on Wednesday. I hope I won't have to call. I am currently on vacation and I wouldn't like to spend time waiting on speakerphone before being able to reach someone for help. I hope this problem will resolve by itself, just like it did last time. I had experienced a similar experience with the transfer of my TFSA portfolio over the National Bank Direct Brokerage. Following the transfer, I was missing one investment. The missing investment arrived in my TFSA portfolio like magic after 48 hours.

Otherwise, I had been doing a bit of surfing on Stockopedia for new investments. I already came with a list of interesting stocks that I will be soon sharing. I am searching for new investment ideas because right now, both Bitcoin and Ethereum are doing great. I am still holding on to my investments Bitcoin Fund The Class A units (QBTC), Purpose Bitcoin ETF CAD ETF non-currency hedged units (BTCC.B), and 3iQ CoinShares Ether ETF (ETHQ), but I will sell all of those 3 once I see great color in the money.

I am now in New Brunswick!

And Internet is working :-)

I arrived in New Brunswick earlier today. No one was waiting for us at the Quebec-New Brunswick border. I guess that New Brunswick's Travel Registration Program hasn't started yet. We were ready anyway. We had our registration numbers, I had printed the form for the 3 of us before leaving. It was however quite stressful because we knew that if the registration program was on, we would have several hours to wait at the Quebec-New Brunswick border. Today, we didn't have to stop, so we were quite released. COVID cases are going up in New Brunswick so I guess that New Brunswick's Travel Registration Program will probably start pretty soon.

I was heavily pack, like expected. In Montreal, my apartment is on the second floor. The most difficult part of the trip was to take down all of my luggage by myself downstairs. Following what, I call a taxi, which arrived quite quickly and I went directly to the Beri-UQAM bus station. I was an hour early, but that's ok. When I leave early in the morning like that, I am always scared not to be able to catch a taxi. I always call Taxi Diamond, and I never had a problem with them. I am always scared for nothing. I am not a fan of Uber and I never their services. In Montreal, Taxi Diamond is the best in my opinion. 

I took the bus Montreal-Ste-Foy, and Ste-Foy to Rivière-du-Loup. Luckily, there was no bus transfer. Its actually the driver who switch bus, and not the passengers. I think it's their way of doing things now. It was also like that last time, when I traveled to New Brunswick just a few weeks back. One of the reasons why I decided to move to New Brunswick for the next couple of months is to make my life easier. I always traveled to New Brunswick for both Christmas and Easter. Now that I will be in New Brunswick for the next couple of months, I won't have to travel. I really dislike traveling during the winter.

By staying in New Brunswick and without doing my usual back and ford between Montreal-New Brunswick, I am preserving myself - and my family - from COVID. Traveling by bus is not super expensive, but staying in New Brunswick will help me save some money. Also, I like the change of scenery. I actually like the idea to spend winter and the biggest part of spring in New Brunswick, and the summer in Montreal. My winter clothes will be in New Brunswick, and my summer clothes in Montreal. My idea would be to live like this for the next couple of years. I would probably come again to New Brunswick for a summer vacation because summer is too fun in New Brunswick. But Montreal is also super fun during the summer. Who said I couldn't have both? :-)

Before leaving Montreal, I call the insurance for tenants that I have, explaining I was leaving my apartment for a few months. Fact that I am not living in my apartment doesn't increase the cost of the insurance. They simply left a note in my account. They also ask if I was renting my apartment while not being there, but it won't be the case. The night before my departure, I also call Videotron. I have both my Internet and TV with them. I explained I was going away for a few months, actually until the end of April. I wanted them to lower my invoice, and they did just that! It was actually better than I expected. They have what they name in French a "suspension saisonnière", which I may translate by something like "seasonal services suspension". At Videotron, it's something you can request max one time per year, for a maximum period of 6 months in a row. You pay something like $49 one time and for the next 6 months, the bill will be $0. This is super helpful and I was really happy to receive that service suspension. I guess that service is probably popular among Snowbirds who spend winter in Florida. In my case, I am going to spend winter in New Brunswick in the cold, but it's going to be fun anyway.

Here's what I got today as the sunset. Not bad, isn't it? 

I quickly check over National Bank, and at least one investment haven't arrived yet inside my newest account transferred, my non-registered Canadian margin. As for the amount of margin debt they had entered, it is accurate. Too bad they forgot not to erase it. :)

Slowly but certainly switching broker over to National Bank Direct Brokerage

Don't ask me how well or bad did my non-registered Canadian portfolio today, because currently, that portfolio of mine is gone in the wind. Its no longer at TD Direct and did not arrive yet at National Bank Direct Brokerage. That's the most frightening part because it's kind of strange to have the account - and the money, nowhere to be seen... It's simply the transfer procedure that is ongoing. This means that tomorrow morning, I should begin to see partly - or maybe if lucky enough fully - the investments that I hold inside my non-registered Canadian portfolio over NBDB. Within 48 hours, I should have received everything. As for my US margin portfolio, it still remains at TD at the present time, because I can still see it. :-)

As for my Canadian non-registered margin, upon arrival, probably tomorrow morning, I will of course check if all assets had been transferred, and I will check if the number of shares per investment is correct, and as well the initial investment value per investment. And most important of all, I will check the amount of the margin debt, so it's the same as before. The timing is not exactly perfect as I am soon moving to New Brunswick for a couple of months. I wish everything will be fine within 48 hours so I have nothing to do.

These days, both ETH and Bitcoins are going great. I am keeping my radar on those two. I would like to eventually sell the following investments that I hold inside my TFSA portfolio: Bitcoin Fund The Class A units (QBTC), Purpose Bitcoin ETF CAD ETF non-currency hedged units (BTCC.B), and 3iQ CoinShares Ether ETF (ETHQ). I am still not in a rush to sell, but I had been on those crypto investments for a little while now and I would like to see the color of my money on those.

One thing for sure, I would like to invest something around 2k inside my RRSP by the end of the fiscal year. Not that I am a huge fan of RRSP, but this year, I did a bit of money trading inside my non-registered account, and I did some extra hours at work.

I have still a bit of money left over my TFSA and RRSP portfolios. Being with a $0 commission fee broker is quite helpful a lot because I feel really free investing in what I want, when I want, more than ever before. I always had an interest in ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (ATA), but I never invested in the stock because I feel it was a more risky investment. But now, if I want, I can even invest in one tiny little share of ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (ATA) and that idea alone is enough to make me happy. One of the reasons why I never invested in ATA is that the stock doesn't pay any dividend distribution. 

While shopping around for new investments, I always prefer to pick a business that pays a dividend, even if it's a small distribution. A small amount is always better than nothing at all.

My first investments with National Bank Direct Brokerage: welcoming North West Company Inc. (NWC) and AirBoss of America Corp. (BOS)

I don't know if you have noticed, but my blog feature in Rob Carrick's personal finance reading list in The Globe and Mail, wow wow wow!!!

Thanks for reading, Rob Carrick :-)

The problem I described in the previous post regarding New Brunswick's Travel Registration Program got resolved quite quickly for my old folks. Now, I need to pack my stuff for the next 6 to 7 months, which is ongoing. While getting ready, I bought the latest Edith Butler CD. You might want to listen to the following, even if you don't understand French, because it's really good and I keep listening to it on and on and on! My old folks won't believe their ears.

That's the kind of music real New Brunswickers listen to and enjoy. The real deal. Only good investors can enjoy real music.

I managed to finally make my first investments with National Bank Direct Brokerage. I made two small investments. For my TFSA portfolio, I invested in a few shares of North West Company Inc. (NWC). For my RRSP portfolio, I invested in AirBoss of America Corp. (BOS). I used to have North West Company Inc. (NWC) in my investment portfolio a couple of years ago, so nothing new here, but I wanted to invest in something in order to receive my $135 +taxes credit inside my new TFSA portfolio at National Bank Direct Brokerage.

I also wanted to receive a $135 + taxes for my RRSP portfolio. It's basically why I invested in AirBoss of America Corp. (BOS) for my RRSP portfolio. BOS is a Jean-François Tardif's stock. In Stockopedia, AirBoss of America Corp. (BOS) is well-ranked. AirBoss of America Corp. (BOS) is also on several Stockopedia's screens, which is a good thing in favor of BOS. So I decided, why not? BOS pays a dividend distribution below 2%, but at least they pay a little something.

I updated my dividend income and so far - excluding the dividend earns inside my RRSP - is of $8,443.28, which is about $703 a month. I like this amount because it covers my rent + a small coffee for the month :). I am keeping my apartment in Montreal even if I am moving away to New Brunswick for a couple of months.

My non-registered Canadian margin and US accounts haven't been transferred over National Bank Direct Brokerage yet. I hope it gets done in the next few days before I leave for New Brunswick. So far, my TFSA and RRSP portfolios got transferred without any mistakes over National Bank Direct Brokerage. I prefer that TD Direct take all the time they need in order to transfer my last two accounts correctly.

Getting ready to spend the next few months in New Brunswick!

On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we must take a moment to send all of our positive thoughts to aboriginal communities across Canada. Let's give them the chance to express themselves on their realities to grief. Let's help them to move forward and become stronger. 

I have an upcoming vacation in New Brunswick in early October. Last year, because of COVID, I haven't been able to visit my family, and I had missed a super epic hunting season and I was sooo mad! Little partridges were all over the place!! I like when my father kills the partridges and following what I hold them happily by their feet and we continue the road like that, so my father's hands can be empty so he can carry his gun without having to carry anything else. That's my role as the daughter of the hunter. To carry the partridges.

Also last year, I didn't spend Christmas with my family. Missing Christmas didn't really hurt me, I didn't care much strangely, but I was quite upset not being able to go during autumn, which is I think my favorite season. The Maritimes Bus at Rivière-du-Loup is always super cold during winter, even if they always start the bus before departure. It only warm-up when we finally arrived in my X hometown... It's always crazy cold. However, last year, the weather wasn't so cold, I could have traveled at ease, but I couldn't.

This year, no way, I am not going to miss the hunting season. There's just no way!

With COVID, everything is a bit more complicated. It seems like Maritimes Bus is still not covering the trajectory from Rivière-du-Loup to my hometown in New Brunswick. And it seems like things are going to remain that way for the next couple of months, but I hope I am wrong. For that reason, I decided to work from New Brunswick, following my vacation in October, I am just going to stay in New Brunswick all winter long. My idea is to go back to Montreal in Spring 2022. So from October to probably April, I will be blogging from New Brunswick. I got my old folks to install the Internet at home. We'll see if it work well once I get there. I specially asked them to write down the Internet password once the tech person will be home, proceeding to the installation... The last time we had Internet at home was about 10 years ago. I will be celebrating my 10th anniversary at my current job as early as next year. Time is flying by! Back in the days, the Internet was quite reliable at home, so I don't think I will have any problem this time around.

Currently, the Government of New Brunswick has a new regulation which is name: Travel Registration Program. Anyone coming from outside New Brunswick who is entering New Brunswick has to register into that system, including New Brunswickers themselves. This is not easy for seniors like my old folks who don't know how to use a computer, Internet, etc. because that registration needs to be done online. I completed the form online yesterday. It's simply a form where you put in your info, as well as your proof of vaccination. The system didn't ask for the date on which I will be crossing the Quebec-New Brunswick border. Once I complete the form online, I received an email containing a PDF with a registration number and it seems like it's kind of an open ticket that will allow me to cross the Quebec-New Brunswick border whenever I want. At first, I find it confusing. The PDF I received came with a 1-844 phone number. I call this morning. I first tried the French line, but the line cut after saying they were receiving too many calls... I know the drill, whenever I cannot be served in French, I switch to English, and often, my call goes through. This time around was no different. I was able to speak to someone but in English. I explain my situation, that I was traveling on October X, but that the system online didn't request my date of travel, which I found strange. This is what it is. The New Brunswick's Travel Registration Program - for now, is simply a registration program, to make sure that people who enter New Brunswick are vaccinated. 

Once you register, your registration will be good until further notice. Let say you plan a trip to New Brunswick in the middle of October, you can register now, and immediately after, you'll receive an email that contains that PDF which contains a registration number. Whenever you cross the border Quebec-New Brunswick - or other borders within New Brunswick, to enter New Brunswick, you'll have to show that PDF form, as well as your proof of vaccination to the agent or police officer who'll be waiting at the New Brunswick border. This may probably cause some lineups... 

 

I am willing to complete the New Brunswick's Travel Registration Program for my old folks, but my problem, as I explain to the agent I spoke to earlier this morning being that I don't have their proof of vaccination. You see the problem... Hopefully, they will seek help to resolve this on their own, we still have a few days left before they pick me up at Rivière-du-Loup. They don't have any email either way, so that alone is also problematic because the system will send the PDF registration by email. 

Many seniors in New Brunswick are exactly like them, they are not alone in that situation. Being computer illiterate in times of pandemic can be extremely difficult. I asked the New Brunswick rep agent I spoke to if this Travel Registration Program could be done last minute, if by any bad luck my folks find no help. And the answer was yes. So I could do the registration for them once we get to see each other in Rivière-du-Loup. I will be able to take a picture of the proof of vaccination and complete the form for them from my smartphone. One big concern had now been resolved.

Another - but much smaller - problem that I am having right now is what to pack for the next 7 months!! Whenever I visit New Brunswick, I am always heavily packed. For a reason or another I cannot pack lightly, so imagine for 7 months. I have a few days left to get ready, but this one alone is quite a difficult challenge for me. I will have to use at least two suitcases.

While taking care of all the above, I am still waiting for my Canadian and US margin accounts to get the transfer over National Bank Direct Brokerage. I was told it was going to be done soon. However, September 30 is a holiday, so maybe for October 1, who knows. I both called TD and National Bank Direct Brokerage to proceed with an address change. I asked a few questions here and there and here is what learned. At TD Direct, the transfer fees are $150 per account, but more exactly $150 plus taxes per amount. (I figured out after being missing exactly $150 + Quebec taxes in my RRSP account that got transfer over National Bank Direct Brokerage). 

The good news is that National Bank Direct Brokerage, refunds the transfer fee up to $135 + taxes. I talked to the National Bank Direct Brokerage, saying that my Canadian margin portfolio that was waiting to be transferred was more than $130,000, that I had a margin debt of $47k on it, and that all together, it made a huge amount. I desperately try my best to impress the National Bank Direct Brokerage broker. In regard to my personal situation, I asked if they could make the transfer fees to $150 + taxes instead of $135 + taxes, but the answer was... NO. That TD Direct could increase their transfer fee, and that they were not offering more no matter what. I tried to receive a special treatment from National Bank Direct Brokerage, but I didn't get it.

Also, I learn that in order to get the $135 + taxes refund, you need to proceed with one trade inside each and single account. This task can be taking care of quite easily in reason of the $0 commission fee with National Bank Direct Brokerage. I guess I have too many things in mind right now but I am just not able to set myself and invest in something for my RRSP and TFSA so I can receive the $135 plus taxes credit. It didn't happen yesterday. National Bank Direct Brokerage is clear about the + taxes situation. However, TD Direct isn't.

I didn't know I had to place a first trade in each account before receiving the credit. I am not exactly in favor of that, especially knowing the amount of money that I had transferred over the National Bank Direct Brokerage. It seems like National Bank Direct Brokerage is looking forward to push over the trades. It's not because I pay a $0 commission fee that I will start trading whatever, whenever. Don't count on that.

For the present time, if I continue to be a bit lost like I am right now, I might just buy one single stock of something I already hold in my portfolio, something like a single Fortis or Telus stock. Sorry, but my first moves with National Bank Direct Brokerage are probably not going to be extraordinary investments. It's just a matter of kind of bad timing for me. Too much is going on.

I would like to share this: following the transfer of an as is account, TD Direct automatically closed each and single account following its transfer over the other broker, which being National Bank Direct Brokerage. However, it's possible to keep your broker account at TD open, even if you don't hold anything there anymore. I was told there were not going to have any fees for not using the account. The reason why I want to keep my broker account open at TD is to have access to my taxes paper online, via their eServices. I don't like the idea of them sending my tax papers over the mail. As soon as everything will disappear from my TD Direct broker account and that I have absolutely nothing left with them, I can simply call to ask them to reopen everything. That way, I should be able to access to my tax papers online.

With TD Direct, I had applied a block on my broker account. I wasn't able to transfer any funds or stocks by myself online over my TFSA and RRSP portfolios. I had those blocked to avoid any mistakes on my part. Mistakes made inside a TFSA or RRSP account cannot be fixed easily, that's my reason behind that block. I had called National Bank Direct Brokerage to have the same block apply, but it seems like such request is not really popular at National Bank Direct Brokerage. No one seems to know how to do that in my account. I was told I will be call back... We'll see about that. 

Now that my TFSA and RRSP portfolios got transferred over National Bank Direct Brokerage, the worst had done. My US margin portfolio is quite small, and my non-registered Canadian margin portfolio is quite small compared to my TFSA portfolio, in terms of the number of investments that I hold in there.

Changing broker is not really hard, but many things need to be considered and think of. 

Another example: DRIP. I think the broker I spoke to at National Bank Direct Brokerage wasn't a broker yet, because he couldn't execute my DRIP order. According to him, while calling, I didn't select the correct option. Ok, no problem. But the surprise came when he told me that I needed to give the name of each and single stock I want to be set up on a DRIP. At TD, the broker can put the whole account on a DRIP and when it's activated, you are good for life and it can be done for all of your accounts. But at National Bank Direct Brokerage, DRIP is not an account situation, but more of a stock-to-stock situation. No worries, I know exactly which one of my stocks are on a DRIP, I just need to write them down, like SIS, PPL, BNS, EMA, just to name them. I will call again National Bank for the DRIP thing once all my things got transfer. 

This is nothing difficult, but things need to get done.

Once my switch from TD to National Bank Direct Brokerage is done and completed, I plan to write kind of a recap post, so all the good info will be put all together.

My experience switching broker from TD Direct to National Bank Direct Brokerage

I notice that my TFSA account was no longer with TD Direct, but it wasn't either way yet arrived in my National Bank Direct Brokerage. However, I check again at the opening, and there it was, my TFSA - but only my TFSA account - was now inside my National Bank Direct Brokerage! Immediately, I check if my number of stocks for each investment was correct, which it is. I also check on my average cost per share, as well as my book cost info. All of those were ok. 

However, I am missing one single investment inside my new National Bank Direct Brokerage TFSA account. One specific investment that I had inside my TD Direct TFSA account hasn't been transferred over my TFSA account that I now have with the National Bank Direct Brokerage. And the fact is, that missing investment is no longer from my TFSA account with TD Direct because my TFSA with TD Direct does no longer exists. So I guess that my missing investment must be somewhere, behind a rock or something lol.

And I am also missing a part of the cash I had inside my TFSA. It wasn't a big amount, but still. To fix this out I called National Bank Direct Brokerage. I was told that I had to wait 48 hours. If after 48 hours I still have elements that are missing from my TFSA portfolio, I need to call NBDB.

So far, only my TFSA account had been transferred, other accounts haven't been transferred yet, which is normal. It took National Bank Direct Brokerage a little while to open my non-registered portfolios margin accounts. I guess that the next account I should receive from TD is my RRSP.

I spent over 41 minutes over the phone trying to talk to a broker with National Bank Direct Brokerage. Customer service is quicker with TD Direct, but I am willing to wait several minutes over the phone to get 0$ commission fee broker account. It sucks to wait, but I put my cell on speakerphone and voilà. I left it on my desk as that and... wait. I guess that people at National Bank Direct Brokerage might be quite busy with all those new clients like myself who just love the idea to trade at a $0 commission fee. It's too much of a hot deal not to take benefit of it.

The funniest thing ever is that I received an email from National Bank Direct Brokerage saying that my first transaction had been done. Not exactly... Transfer only. Before doing any trading, I want all of my stuff to be completely transfer, so sorry National Bank Direct Brokerage.

I think everything will get done by next week. Once that I talked to a National Bank Direct Brokerage broker, I was told that TD Direct was among to faster to complete transfers like those.

I will wait and see.

My last days as a retail investor with TD Direct

Being French Canadian - and Acadian not to say it - is sometimes strange because I do sometimes used English words that I don't exactly know the meaning, but I know that I am using them the right way. This of course is a secret. I have let say an intuition of what some words mean, without really knowing. Since my intuition is almost always accurate, I can say that I am fully bilingual without really being. It must be difficult for an outsider to understand.

Take for example that expression: "retail investor". I know its the way to describe small investors like myself, who are not institutional or professional because I read that expression many times before. However, for me, "retail" is not and elegant fit with "investor". Retail for me refer to store. There's something cheap notion that came with retail that doesn't go to well with what being an investor really mean in its strongest meaning and role.

Currently, I am counting my last days, and hopefully, my last hours as a "retail investor" with TD Direct, aka TD Waterhouse. As announced previously, my account with National Bank Direct Brokerage is now open. Between TD Direct and National Bank Direct Brokerage, I prefer TD Direct platform. but a platform is just a platform. So far, TD Direct didn't change anything yet regarding their commission fees. In result, I am saying goodbye. You need to be a bit dumb to accept paying to trade when you can perform all the trades in the word for 0$.

Thank you National Bank Direct Brokerage.

I am experiencing my last days with TD Direct on an extreme high note. Currently, my non-registered portfolio is at $135,773.98, my TFSA portfolio is a bit lower, playing in the 128k.

Thank you for everything, TD Direct.

I am now (almost) in business with National Bank Direct Brokerage and that's fun fun fun!

Desjardins Online Brokerage is now following National Bank Direct Brokerage lead by offering free trading to their clients. However, between Desjardins Online Brokerage and National Bank Direct Brokerage, I definitively prefer National Bank Direct Brokerage. National Bank is a professional bank, while Desjardins is a big shit show bank. I have to say, I feel at ease with National Bank Direct Brokerage. I want to deal with a brokerage service that knows what they are doing and I get that with National Bank Direct Brokerage.

So far, National Bank didn't disappoint me: opening an account with their brokerage service had been super quick! I proceed with the opening on September 9, and the following day, on September 10, I was receiving an email saying that my broker account with National Bank Direct Brokerage had been opened and that I could access it. I have to say, I already had a small investment with the National Bank, which is the NBI Income Fund that I hold inside my RRSP portfolio. It may have helped to speed up the process. I wasn't able to access my new broker account with the National Bank right away.

To resolve my problem, I call National Bank Direct Brokerage technical support. I was able to reach someone almost immediately. My access problem got resolved quickly and following what I asked to be transferred to a broker because I had a few questions. I had received an alert from Equifax, saying that someone had verified my credit, and I wanted to know if National Bank Direct Brokerage had to check my credit. The answer to that question was yes. For a margin account, they do verify your credit. Following what, I asked if my as is transferred was under progress, and if on their end it was an as is transferred that had been requested - just to make sure - and yes, everything was asked for an as is move. As for the transfer from my old broker to National Bank Direct Brokerage, I need to give them a few more days before it gets done. It should be complete by Thursday.

I had linked my chequing account to my broker account with National Bank Direct Brokerage. When I was talking to one of their brokers earlier today, I was told to send a cheque specimen to their email, which I did. If things continue to run smoothly between me and National Bank Direct Brokerage, I may open a chequing account with National Bank, and a credit card, and oh, a credit line too, please. One thing about me, I like to collect credit lines, credits cards, but best of all, I like to collect stocks.

I really hope that by now, you understand that especially like to collect stocks. And best thing being, since I won't be charged any commissions fees for selling or buying stocks with National Bank Direct Brokerage, you bet that I am going to enjoy it and trade trade trade!

Actually, National Bank Direct Brokerage, is about to see me glow into a DIVIDEND QUEEN. 

Got to take your fun where you can.

Transferring all of my investment portfolios over National Bank Direct Brokerage: the moment of truth

Today, I call both TD Direct and National Bank Direct Brokerage customer service. First, I call TD Direct to see if anything was going to be done regarding commission fees, if things will change anytime soon since National Bank Direct Brokerage no longer charges commission fees to buy and sell stock. According to the TD Direct rep, nothing had been announced and for now, nothing will change. In the immediate, TD Direct will continue to charge a $9.99 commission fee to buy or sell stocks on their platform.

 

From there, it was clear to me: I have to switch to National Bank Direct Brokerage. I asked TD Direct what will be the trading fees. TD answer: $150 per account. This means, if you have a US non-registered account, a Canadian non-registered, a TFSA account, and an RRSP account, you'll be bill $600 for transferring all of your stock shit over to the National Bank. National Bank Direct Brokerage will give you $135 per account that you transferred to help to cover the charges, which make $540. A $60 will have to come from my pocket, which I agree on.

I won't anymore accept to pay $9.99 per trade for buying or selling stocks. After that, I called National Bank Direct Brokerage customer service. On the French line, it said that the waiting delay was 1 h 30... It was possible to schedule an automatic call back, which I asked to keep my priority in the line of calls. And following what I called the English line, and I got someone almost immediately. Fortunately enough, the rep I reached out was speaking French. I could have handled this in a rough and tight English, but I prefer to speak French when possible. I asked if their $0 commission fee thing was just a promotion or if it was there to remain. I was answered that it's here to remain. And from there I asked how to proceed and it goes like this: first, you need to create an account online. Once it's created, in a period of 2 to 5 days, you can call National Bank Direct Brokerage and you can actually proceed with the transfer of your stocks over the phone.

Personally, my transfer wasn't done exactly that way since I already hold a little investment with National Bank, a mutual fund. I connected myself using the link provided by National Bank Direct Brokerage, and I used the login that I currently have in order to open a broker account with the National Bank. I answered a few questions. At a point, their system send me a link to my cell phone via a text message, and I clicked on the link to take a picture of one of my ID, and I also had to take a selfie of myself, which I did with absolutely no makeup on because I simply didn't have time to do better. And finally, I complete a form on which I enter the info in order to proceed with a transfer as is (in French, the correct term would be: comme tel) of all of the stocks I hold, as well as my margin debt, over National Bank Direct Brokerage. That term as is is really important if you want to simply transfer things the way they are currently in your portfolios, and simply have everything transferred - stocks and margin - over your new broker.

While performing a transfer from a broker to another broker, you have many options. As is is one of them, but you can also have all of your stocks sell-off, and only have money transferred to your new broker account. And there seem to be more options available. However, I am not familiar and I didn't get any info on those types of transfers. Personally, I want the as is option please.

I proceed with the as is option today. We'll see how it goes, I will of course keep you posted. At first, the only idea of proceeding to such transfer is scary, but there's nothing to be scared of. Once you decide to proceed, I strongly suggest that you download all the documentation you may have access to from the account that you are leaving behind because once the transfer is being done, your old broker account may get close automatically - I don't know. To download all of your monthly statements for this year and previous years. Personally, I did so, and I download a copy of my orders and I print screen the content of my portfolios in a Word document.

I am just hoping that this transfer will get done quickly. I will keep you posted.