Free iPhone 15 with $100K new deposit / transfer | Page 2 | Wealthsimple | Discussion forum

Don't forget that Wealthsimple isn't paying full retail on those iPhones. They would no doubt negotiate a bulk deal.

Does this matter to you? Maybe not, but it does affect what their marketing department does to attract your cash.

In general, any perk that costs you isn't likely to be worth it. Like subscription discounts, such as the one recently promoted by Canadian Tire. $90 a year for a points program update!

There is a cost if you use Cash (or Save) account, as a lower rate compared to a GIC.

There is a cost to the managed investing as a .4-.5% per year.

The self-directed investing is the best way to take advantage of this promo (if you have 100k of securities to transfer, or think that this is a great time to buy). Just watch out for the currency conversion on USD trades.

Norman1 said
The risk is that Wealthsimple may change its offerings during those 365 days and it becomes no longer worthwhile to keep that $100,000 or $200,000 at Wealthsimple.  

HSBC offered similar promotions and that is exactly what happened. After the promotional bonuses were paid, their rates dropped into the toilet and my funds were 'trapped' for another year. I didn't lose out, but I didn't make anything additional, either. That's the last time I fall for one of those long-term conditional promotions. I either get my promos immediately and can leave or I simply ignore whatever gimmickry offered.

Fool me once, et al.

everhopeful said
There is a cost if you use Cash (or Save) account, as a lower rate compared to a GIC.

There is a cost to the managed investing as a .4-.5% per year.

The self-directed investing is the best way to take advantage of this promo (if you have 100k of securities to transfer, or think that this is a great time to buy). Just watch out for the currency conversion on USD trades.  

Ok, I use self-directed investing and understand what you mean but don’t look at it like that. If one needs his investments managed then WS is competitive so no cost at all. And WS HISA is extremely competitive, particularly if we ignore 6-months HISA promotions. Comparisons with GIC are unfair. You can withdraw from WS HISA. If you don’t need the phone then don’t take it. If you do and take all your money out after getting the phone, then paying for it is only fair.

The USD point is very true. Its not a good place for USD assets until they start allowing NG.

People always think promo are always ‘too good to be true, something must be wrong’. To quote an example, Airmiles recently did a dollarama max pass, bot the pass for $10, use it at dollarama and earn bonus airmiles. I did it 7 days in a row, bought Amazon gift card $30 * 7, received a total of 2800 cash airmiles back which is almost $295.back. So spent $220 and get $295 back. Does that cost me anything ? No I net made $75. I buy from Amazon and I redeem the airmiles at Metro and Shell. Why BMO does such a stupid promo you may ask, that’s their marketing budget.

I admire you. That’s a lot of work for $75.

Norman1 said
The offer requires the client to pay Wealthsimple either the C$1,129 MSRP for the Apple iPhone 15 or the C$1,449 MSRP for the Apple iPhone 15 Pro if the client doesn't keep the $100,000 or $200,000 with Wealthsimple for at least 365 days after the promo end of December 15, 2023.

The risk is that Wealthsimple may change its offerings during those 365 days and it becomes no longer worthwhile to keep that $100,000 or $200,000 at Wealthsimple.  

And the day will never come where I pay a company a financial PENALTY to use MY OWN MONEY. Just think about how insane that is, WS will charge you $1129 for the privilege of using your own money. Yes they are banking on the "Robinhood" crowd of dummies.

I got the transfer fee rebate already and WS are saying they are sending the phone, so that shouldn’t be a concern. The timing might be; lets see. Thats a really good point, although I personally don’t care.

What does 40 basis points loss refer to? That lost me. Surely WS share account reduces costs vs TDDI - assuming its TSX assets.

mordko said

Now… here is a real question. Not that it matters but it does have me confused and curious.

I transferred a Questrade TFSA to WS. In kind. Got a $50 bonus from WS. The Iphone is supposedly on the way.

Questrade is showing $150 admin fee for the transfer. Plus HST. WS is reimbursing it by adding to the WS TFSA.

I don’t see where QS took the fee from. I only had $8.47 cash in the account (the rest being shares). Questrade has an activity entry called “Canadian Shareowners Invest TFSA Transfer.” Never seen such an entry before. It has the $150 fee plus HST minus $8.47 against it. But the money hasn’t been charged to any balances on the remaining Questrade accounts. The WS account has all the shares plus the bribes in cash. Puzzled

  

Ok, this puzzle got resolved. Questrade charged WS the $150 fee directly and WS reduced cash reimbursement amount by the same amount.

mordko said
No idea why you became trapped but you are doing something wrong and it does not mean that everyone and everything is the same.

I was trapped the way Norman1 identified; I had to keep the balance at HSBC for 1 year after the promo paid and their HISA rate had dropped into the toilet. Otherwise, I would be subject to clawback. Of course, I could have 'escaped', by paying back the promotional bonuses received and then moving my funds. In the end, I was neither behind nor ahead. I've learnt my lesson.