Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Email this9:07 am
May 15, 2007
Offline
Tangerine's TFSA Kick Start Account is back. In short, they will give you double interest on money in a special savings account -- on January 1, 2015 they will automatically turn that account into a TFSA (at the normal interest rate):
9:11 am
May 15, 2007
Offline
I have to say I'm not a fan of this promo: they know that once 2015 rolls around, there will be other financial institutions offering a better TFSA rate (as there are now!), and it will take some work for you to transfer the TFSA elsewhere. (And if you simply withdraw your TFSA amount you have lost that contribution room until next year.)
But, if you're set on Tangerine, this promo still gives you a small bonus.
9:51 am
June 24, 2014
Offline
Tangerine's TFSA Kick Start Account is only better than nothing. If any reader comes here, she/he should be able to find other offers.
I wish to add a comment on "dual interest during settlement days". I did a photo-check deposit on Sep 3. Today (Oct 1) I received its bonus (1.7%) interest. Calculation:
5000 * 1.7% * 28 days / 365 days = $6.52. (6.52 is what Tangerine posted on my account.)
So, the day Sep 3 accrues interest. (The deduction was taken place on Sep 4 at CDF.)
8:55 am
February 20, 2013
Offline
Peter said
I have to say I'm not a fan of this promo: they know that once 2015 rolls around, there will be other financial institutions offering a better TFSA rate (as there are now!), and it will take some work for you to transfer the TFSA elsewhere. (And if you simply withdraw your TFSA amount you have lost that contribution room until next year.)
But, if you're set on Tangerine, this promo still gives you a small bonus.
I agree with Peter about not being a fan of this promotion. I took advantage of it a few years ago and shortly into the new year, after the Kick Start rate ended, they reduced their regular rate on the TFSA account.
Another thing to consider, if you take advantage of the offer, is how easy is it to transfer your funds to another institution by having your new institution do it so you don't have to wait a year before you put it back into a TFSA. I did this with Peoples Trust to transfer from Tangerine last July. Neither institution charges a fee (some do). I had to fill out a paper form and send it to Peoples (didn't check if I could have e-mailed it), it took 7 days from withdrawal from Tangerine to deposit at Peoples. The difference in interest eventually made up for the 7 days loss.
2:43 pm
October 21, 2013
Offline
I would have no expectation that Tangerine would maintain this rate after the end of the year. They never said they would, and they never have.
Basically, assuming stable rates, it means you'll get an annual rate of 2.6% for slightly less than 3 months, at which point you can move it somewhere else. The interest for 2014 portion is not sheltered as it will be later when it gets into TFSA, no matter where you keep it. So, the only question is, is it worth your while to bother with it for the sake of the difference between 2.6 and whatever your best rate is somewhere else. If you are getting 1.95% at Accelerate or Hubert, which, as far as I know, are the best available daily rates, the difference on $5500 is about $8.60. If your existing account bears a lower rate, then it will be correspondingly less.
So, the question is whether it is worth your while for about $8.60 or less, before income taxes (minus interest lost to time wasted in transferring to another institution in January, which should be quite small.). Depending on your marginal tax rate, it will be in fact less in the end. It would be difficult to net much more than $6.80 on this, and probably less. In exchange, you will have to set up the account and then arrange for its transfer later.
Who says we don't work for our money? I'm all in favour of saving a few bucks here and there, but these "deals" aren't as free as they may first seem.
3:06 pm
February 20, 2013
Offline
I agree Loonie, there is no need to take advantage of Tangerine's Kick Start offer if you can get more elsewhere as part of a regular offering (e.g. the recent PC Financial (3.1%) or Tangerine (3%) bonus interest offerings on regular accounts) or the extra you get from Tangerine isn't worth the effort.
I already opened a TFSA account at Peoples Trust. They have offered 3% on their TFSA daily interest account for a while now. I transferred my Tangerine TFSA there in July. So once my 3.1% bonus offer at PC Financial is over I can use some of the balance to deposit in my Peoples TFSA account for 2015.
6:30 am
January 15, 2014
Offline
Of course, you guys do realize that on dec 31 you could withdraw all your funds from your kickstart account and move them to chequing and then to your desired tfsa account on jan 1.
Yes, that does mean the kickstart bonus will go into your tangerine tfsa using up some contribution room, but it will save some of the hassle of paper work and having to contact the banks, while you reap the benefits of double interest.
Just my 2¢.
4:17 am
October 21, 2013
Offline
musicalmaestro said
Of course, you guys do realize that on dec 31 you could withdraw all your funds from your kickstart account and move them to chequing and then to your desired tfsa account on jan 1.
Yes, that does mean the kickstart bonus will go into your tangerine tfsa using up some contribution room, but it will save some of the hassle of paper work and having to contact the banks, while you reap the benefits of double interest.
Just my 2¢.
I like the theory but I find the timing required to act is so tight that I can imagine some glitch appearing unexpectedly, or Tangerine figuring out some way to say you can't do this. Dec 31, being year-end, could be a really busy day on their website or phone lines, or a snowstorm or whatever, and could mess things up. To me, it's not worth it.
What I will do, though, is make sure I have the money in Savings at Peoples in advance, earning at least 1.8 I hope, so that it's all ready to go on Jan 1 and don't have to wait for money to transfer in from elsewhere.
4:29 am
January 15, 2014
Offline
That is a good point, though you could set up a post-dated transaction ahead of time.
To each their own.
It worked last year at least.
5:29 am
January 15, 2014
Offline
Catch is for tfsa kickstart and transaction out of it, that must be done before January 1, or else the funds are automatically moved to your tangerine tfsa, making it much more of a hassle to transfer due to paperwork.
4:19 pm
June 6, 2014
Offline
Just to make sure I understand this right before I get into this:
I already have a savings account & TFSA with Tangerine.
I enroll in a TFSA kickstart account, transfer all my money from the regular savings account into the kickstart account.
December 31 (or earlier if I want a bit of "buffer" zone) I move all the money from the kickstart account back into my regular savings account.
January 1 (or Jan. 2, business day) my TFSA gets a deposit (the "bonus") equal to the entire amount of interest earned from now until December 31 in the kickstart account.
I essentially get a 2.6% interest rate from now until year-end, with 1.3% of that being deposited into my TFSA in January.
Is this how it works, or does my money have to roll over into the TFSA in order to get the bonus?
4:28 pm
January 15, 2014
Offline
Hi Calan,
That right, no need to roll over.
UNLESS... the fine print has changed... Haven't cheecked to see if thy closed the loophole. Let us hope not.
4:34 pm
January 15, 2014
Offline
Looks like its all good.
4:43 pm
June 6, 2014
Offline
Thanks musicalmaestro.
If I'm planning to stay with Tangerine, would it not be a good idea to empty my TFSA into my TFSA kickstart account today, get the 2.6% interest rate (essentially), and then have an amount of my choosing roll back into my TFSA for 2015? Can't see any downside to this other than tax on the regular interest, but that would be far outweighed by the double interest.
Edit: just read the fine print. Max contribution to a kickstart account is $5500, so my plan won't quite work.
5:01 pm
January 15, 2014
Offline
8:11 pm
October 21, 2013
Offline
Maybe I'm missing something, but when you take the money out of the kickstart, can't you then just deduct an amount equivalent to the interest before you deposit into your TFSA?
4:16 am
January 15, 2014
Offline
No, becuase you can't have a negative balance, and the bonus interest is not deposited until dec. 31.
6:18 pm
June 6, 2014
Offline
Got everything set up for this:
Deposited $5500 into the kickstart account.
Post-dated transaction: Dec. 31 transfer $5500 from TFSA to savings.
Willl allow the kickstart to roll into my TFSA on Jan. 1 (to make sure I don't get caught by any fine print about money needing to stay in the account).
Contribution room won't change (except for the additional $5500 room I'll get next year anyway), and I get an extra $16.37 (didn't get in right at the start). Yes I'd be better off moving to a higher interest bank, but I wasn't planning to do that so I'll count this entire $16.37 as "extra" for about 15 minutes of work total. I'm okay with that!
10:17 am
August 9, 2014
Offline
I got an idea,
just put money in Duca, their offer still accept deposit right now.
10:39 am
October 21, 2014
Offline
DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!!! FEES NOW APPLY FOR TRANSFERRING A TANGERINE TFSA TO ANOTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTION!!!!
I have been a customer of ING/Tangerine since 1998. I've done a lot of business with this institution over the years and have recommended ING to many friends. Recently, I've done less business with Tangerine as their rates are no longer competitive. However I have, ever year, taken advantage of the "Kickstart TFSA" promotion. Yes, it was true that there were no fees to transfer a TFSA from ING/Tangerine to another financial institution....until now. There is now a $45.00 (FORTY-FIVE DOLLARS) transfer fee. The customer service representative I spoke to on Oct 17, 2014, said that it had been introduced just three days earlier. I cancelled my transaction, transferred the residual from my Tangerine savings account to my connected bank account and closed my Tangerine account, after 16 years of business. I will no longer recommend this company and will be endeavouring to communicate that message to all my friends and associates whom I previously encouraged to consider doing business with ING/Tangerine (really---Scotia, now).
B
Peter said
I have to say I'm not a fan of this promo: they know that once 2015 rolls around, there will be other financial institutions offering a better TFSA rate (as there are now!), and it will take some work for you to transfer the TFSA elsewhere. (And if you simply withdraw your TFSA amount you have lost that contribution room until next year.)
But, if you're set on Tangerine, this promo still gives you a small bonus.
I agree with Peter about not being a fan of this promotion. I took advantage of it a few years ago and shortly into the new year, after the Kick Start rate ended, they reduced their regular rate on the TFSA account.
Another thing to consider, if you take advantage of the offer, is how easy is it to transfer your funds to another institution by having your new institution do it so you don't have to wait a year before you put it back into a TFSA. I did this with Peoples Trust to transfer from Tangerine last July. Neither institution charges a fee (some do). I had to fill out a paper form and send it to Peoples (didn't check if I could have e-mailed it), it took 7 days from withdrawal from Tangerine to deposit at Peoples. The difference in interest eventually made up for the 7 days loss.
Please write your comments in the forum.