pfitzsim

I'm doing some preliminary 'research' around bringing our investments in house and was just curios if any RL'ers are doing the same and who they are using. Looks like CIBC and TD are the front runners outside of Questrade, Wealthsimple etc. Not looking to become a day trader by and stretch of the imagination but rather having a little more control along the way and taking a greater interest (no pun intended) as I inch closer to retirement age.

Cheers.

olegd

I think the big 5 banks' offerings are all very similar in terms of costs per trade, analysis tools, etc. They often run promos where they give you some cash for bringing business over. Maybe something to consider.
I personally been using BMO Investorline for 10+ years and happy with them. Depending where your regular (non-investment) accounts are, you may want to stick with that bank for convenience.

gcurnew

I've used Qtrade for 10+ years. Once set up, allows self-directed trades within RRSP accounts with no hassle. Excellent customer service.

LZRD GRN

There has been some good analysis done in the Globe and Mail on all the major offerings...

AFAIK, the "non major" bank offerings do offer some no/low fee funds the major banks will not allow, they push their own funds...

Have been using TD Web Broker for as long as it has been available (20yr?), am very happy, no screw ups and good service...

But I think Questrade and some others rate higher, have never tried them.....

Managing your own money can be rewarding and a money saver...

But not for everyone...

Good Luck!
Cheers!

pfitzsim

Thanks gents, I'm leaning towards one of the banks just due to my old school nature of knowing their are brick & mortar locations (at least for now anyway). I'm viewing it as a sort-of part time job spending a handful of hours a week looking things over. There are definitely some dogs in my current portfolio that I have held for 10'ish years just because I haven't bothered to challenge my advisor on them.

Turbodan

I recommend robin hood and wall street bets
just kidding but just watched the documentary on game stop and the one on madoff on netflix. great shows as well as one of my favorites the big short.
problem with amateurs trading their own accounts is they often trade and make mistakes based on emotions. IMO you must remove emotions from trades, until after the trade then pat on back or cry
used to be that amateurs would make keypunch errors often.

pfitzsim

I also caught the Madoff Netflix which I found fascinating - both my kids were born when the poop hit the fan so I wasn't overly dialed in at the time. Shocking (to me) that it went on for as long as it did.

SToronto

TD Webbroker platform for me. Something like 25 years now. Fantastic platform and ease of use.

if you are interested in trading on international exchanges, you have to call in the trade. Only downside I’ve encountered thus far.

westcoastj

My wife uses TD and I use RBC DI as we bank with the respective banks. I find the TD interface a little more archaic.

Matt Lane

As mentioned above, TD rates highly among the big 5 banks. Q Trade perhaps even better.

BTW Q Trade is not the same company as QuestTrade.

All the options were just reviewed and ranked again this month by the Globe and Mail, it's a good starting point that covers most of the details.

I am happy with my Q Trade account so far, it's quite easy to use. I have used the customer service for a few questions, by chat, and have received excellent service each time within minutes. Quite impressed with that, I HATE waiting on the phone. No comparison to my experiences with BMO among other big bank alternatives.

Good luck!

M

pfitzsim

Quick thread revival here as I look to take care of some housekeeping before driving season arrives. Does anyone know if any/all of the self directed options would allow you to have an overall portfolio view including spouses RSP, RESP etc or would than entail setting up two accounts and somehow merging the view (if possible). I'm not talking Swiss bank account type stuff here but I would like to have a household view of performance, asset allocation as opposed to looking up individually and using Excel etc. Cheers.

Pags993

Pretty sure the views sought above is a capability of RBCs platform. We arent self directed and we have two separate account #s for my wife and I but as they are connected I can see a consolidated view of all accounts (RSP, TFSA, RESP & LIRA in our case) total total and then drill down by individual / account type / holdings / transactions etc. I would assume this capability in the platform would extend to self directed as well?

pmonag

If you're inching closer to retirement, there's no substitute for reading about finances. I'd suggest Tom Connolly and Henry Mah as a good starting point for developing "an income factory." Obviously there's a ton of info out there(most of it produced by people with "an angle"), but Tom and Henry won't steer you wrong.

SToronto

TD - I have various account types. Single view of all with consolidated analysis and ability to drill down. We don’t manage combined but both self directed. Same for RBC.

believe both have trial accounts, look into that and kick around the platforms to see which is to your liking.

koala

I like Questrade. They make it very easy for me to lose money on meme stocks.