Savings Plus 1.50% | Page 2 | EQ Bank | Discussion forum

smayer97 said
You misunderstand. The strategy is to wait for the hold to lift, buy the GIC at the then current rate (presumably a lower one), contact EQ to get them to honour the previous GIC rate (presumably a higher one) by showing them the funds were in your account in time for that purpose.

You can call ahead to confirm if they still do this.  

They do this. How they do it (as I experienced less than a month ago) is as follows.

You phone in, mention it, no hassle except the contact has to refer it to get the rate. Not long after, I was contacted by e-mail confirming they paid the difference in interest to my savings account, up front. So, minor as it may be at current rates, I'm getting a tiny bit better overall rate by earning savings account interest on that differential.

I didn't see any announcement but EQ also increased their GIC rates in the last few days ...

1-Yr 2.60% -> 2.90%
2-Yr 3.30% -> 3.55%
3-Yr 3.65% -> 3.75%
4-Yr 3.65% -> 3.85%
5-Yr 3.70% -> 3.85%

cgouimet said
I didn't see any announcement but EQ also increased their GIC rates in the last few days ...

1-Yr 2.60% -> 2.90%
2-Yr 3.30% -> 3.55%
3-Yr 3.65% -> 3.75%
4-Yr 3.65% -> 3.85%
5-Yr 3.70% -> 3.85%  

These are good, but at age 72, locking into a GIC isn't in the cards for me. I hope the regular HISA gets in the 2+ per cent range soon. I remember the 3.2 days..:)

It is common, but not a certainty, that all GICs can be 'matured' upon death to principal plus accrued interest without an admin fee or penalty, nor is it a certainty that individual GICs can be transferred intact to a beneficiary seamlessly. One has to check with each institution to be certain of the mechanics in event of death.

One example of an "admin fee" was several years ago when I was executor of an estate. RBC Direct Investing discount brokerage provided 2 choices to 'monetize' GICs: 1) pay a $100 fee per GIC to mature the GIC plus accrued interest, or 2) sell on the secondary market which is a non-starter.

IOW, one must check with each FI to be certain. Lastly, as has been discussed, management of a GIC portfolio takes work. For estate planning purposes, some do not want to burden a POA or an Executor with the task of dealing with a bucket full of GICs. My ex-spouse, my current spouse and I, who are all in our early to mid-70s, are all winding down our bond/GIC ladders in our RRIFs for this reason and moving to ETFs. It also allows us to annuitize some, or all, of the GICs in our RRIFs if/when interest rates rise high enough to make annuitization worthwhile.

I've seen that redeemable-on-death privilege in the terms and conditions of some GIC's. For example, this is from Oaken:

34. REDEMPTION PRIOR TO MATURITY DATE

A Non-Redeemable Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) is not redeemable prior to the maturity date.

A Cashable GIC is fully or partially redeemable (minimum $1000 redemption request accepted and $1000 must be maintained in the Investment) prior to the Maturity Date only after the redemption eligibility period indicated on the Investment application form has been met.

A Non-Redeemable Short Term GIC is not redeemable prior to the maturity date.

… Notwithstanding the above, redemption prior to maturity may be permitted by us without penalty in the event of the death of a sole Owner who was a Canadian Resident within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) at the time of death, or was a non-resident of Canada at the time of death, if the original term of the Investment was for less than five (5) years. …

The EQ Bank GIC agreement doesn't have the privilege. It just says the executor has the same rights as you:

Upon your death or incapacity, we are authorized to take steps or restrict transactions to your GIC which we deem prudent or advisable. In all cases, you (or your estate) will continue to remain responsible for any transaction relating to your GIC. Your estate representative will have the same rights, responsibilities and obligations under this GIC Agreement as you, the GIC Holder, unless we determine otherwise.

Norman1 said
I've seen that redeemable-on-death privilege in the terms and conditions of some GIC's. For example, this is from Oaken:

34. REDEMPTION PRIOR TO MATURITY DATE

A Non-Redeemable Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) is not redeemable prior to the maturity date.

A Cashable GIC is fully or partially redeemable (minimum $1000 redemption request accepted and $1000 must be maintained in the Investment) prior to the Maturity Date only after the redemption eligibility period indicated on the Investment application form has been met.

A Non-Redeemable Short Term GIC is not redeemable prior to the maturity date.

… Notwithstanding the above, redemption prior to maturity may be permitted by us without penalty in the event of the death of a sole Owner who was a Canadian Resident within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) at the time of death, or was a non-resident of Canada at the time of death, if the original term of the Investment was for less than five (5) years. …

The EQ Bank GIC agreement doesn't have the privilege. It just says the executor has the same rights as you:

Upon your death or incapacity, we are authorized to take steps or restrict transactions to your GIC which we deem prudent or advisable. In all cases, you (or your estate) will continue to remain responsible for any transaction relating to your GIC. Your estate representative will have the same rights, responsibilities and obligations under this GIC Agreement as you, the GIC Holder, unless we determine otherwise.

  

Until EQ eventually joins the business of joint accounts in its entirety, I restrict GIC expiries with them to a maximum of 9 months, because of the joint account money having to go into an individual name when created. So, I have no intention of advising EQ if the GIC holder dies, because at expiry the funds all automatically go to the joint savings account anyway.

Bill said
If a joint holder of an account dies isn't there a requirement for the other account holder or executor to notify the bank that there can no longer be that joint account? For example, the Ontario gov't website says "If you are the executor, you will need to:.......inform the person’s banks and financial institutions of the death....."  

Yes, but I'm not aware this has to be done immediately, or that there is some sort of time limit.

This reminded me that I haven't got a reply from EQ when I wrote several months ago, and will follow up today.

Jim Sherat said
doug, I'm very interested in the outcome of your communication with EQ ...

My wife and I have a significant portion of our TFSA funds with them, and would like to know Exactly, their policy and procedures, sequence of events, timing, etc. to facilitate the Transfer of a deceased spouse's TFSA, to the surviving spouse, and may include both locked in GICs, and HISA.

Your comment re still waiting "several months" for a reply is a Big Red Flag for me.
thanks  

So far, unlike other times with EQ, this has been a "one way" communication! My follow up e-mail was sent April 18.

pianoman8849 said
… With inflation the way it is and the Bank Of Canada increasing interest rates quite substantially over the next year, we should start seeing quite a larger return on our investment with EQ.

EQ Bank may not be that interested in attracting HISA and other short term deposits right now.

They've dropped their 3-month GIC to 1.6%. That trails the 2% TD and CIBC are offering on 1-year cashable GIC's that are cashable after 30 days.

I would agree that EQ and other banks would prefer to have GIC fixed term deposits, especially when considering folks that require mortgage refinancing likely wanting to go fixed. HISA rates will likely have to increase if there are insufficient GIC deposits.