Parama Credit Union (Ontario only) Promo 1 yr. GIC 1.50% | GIC discussions | Discussion forum

James said Thanks GR! I never thought I'd be seriously considering a 1.5% GIC offer.  

If you are considering 1yr 1.5%, other options might be Tandia 1.5% 15 months or Oaken 1.6% 18 months. For amounts in excess of CIDC limit, Oaken has the benefit of Home Trust and/or Home Bank..each with its own separate CDIC limit.

Stephen

James said

Thanks GR! I never thought I'd be seriously considering a 1.5% GIC offer.  

I hear you on that one James. But I have had to bite the bullet. The last of our 3% GICs matured this month. 24% of our cash assets has gone to 1-yr 1.5% GICs at an old standby in Manitoba - a mix of registered and non-registered funds.

There is more to come. I am going to have to consider adding more FIs to the mix and the Parma and Tandia offers are being considered. Not really happy about adding more FIs to our repertoire.

Stephen has reminded me that Oaken has an 18-mo. rate of 1.6% and that has prompted me to consider going back there despite their unusual bookkeeping on GICs. EQ Bank's lower rates and over-CDIC coverage is prompting this. Two substantial GICs matured there today. I don't see any interest rate increases coming before 2023 and 18-mo. GICs just may tide us over until then.

What we really need is an increase in CDIC coverage. Debtors have been well served in these troubling times. It is time to help out the savers too. I don't want this thread to take on that theme - I have accumulated some history of CDIC and may share that in a new thread on that topic.

topgun said

A good option if you have problems with CDIC limits is to purchase third-party GIC's at your brokerage firm. The rates are competitive. Contact your brokerage to inquire if they sell third-party GIC's. I do not know if they are available at all brokerages.

What is unusual bookkeeping for Oaken?  

Topgun, sorry about the slow reply. Thanks for the tip on using brokerages to purchase 3rd-party GICs to alleviate CDIC limits. I am not understanding how that works but not disputing the concept. The only 3rd-party GIC I have ever purchases ended up with Wealth One and it, and tax receipts, were issued to me by Wealth One. It was a tedious manual effort and I found I could have obtained a better interest rate dealing directly with the issuer. There was no CDIC advantage there.

I do have a broker account (Investorline) but have not been active with them in some time. They do offer GICs on their website.

I passed on the Parma Credit Union promotion this time around. Last Wednesday I initiated transfers from EQ Bank accounts to our hub at CIBC and then moved that money on to Oaken Trust and Oaken Bank where it was applied to GICs @ 1.6% for 18-mo. All was completed by Friday and I am ecstatic that this was completed so quickly. Kudos to these FIs for the good service.

With respect to unusual bookkeeping at Oaken. Most FIs tend to post the principal amount of the GIC in your account balance through the life span of the GIC and then credit the total interest payment at maturity (or when otherwise arranged). Oaken calculates the interest on a daily basis and credits, on a daily basis, that amount to your GIC balance. Not a big deal but it caused me some concern when I had many GICs active and a fanatical desire to balance my books with the vendors'. I solved the 'problem' by creating a spreadsheet separate from my accounts that tracked the daily changes. I applied the accumulated interest to my regular accounting at maturity.