[stephenheath]

Thanks for the heads up! Unfortunately it's too late in the year to make switching too effective ($50 transfer fee, interest savings = $5000 * (3%-.75%) *5 months/12 months = $46.88) but if ING keeps it at that rate I'll be withdrawing it all December 31 and moving it over January 1st, along with next year's contribution!

 

[stephenheath]

Does anyone know if PC Financial charges you a "transfer out" fee when removing money from the Interest Plus Savings account?

If it's not inside the RRSP or TFSA, no. If it's inside the TFSA, then there is a $50 fee to transfer out. Inside the RRSP the last time I did it about a year ago it was $50, but they had mentioned they were raising it, and I can't find what the fee is now on their website.

 

[stephenheath]

This is interesting... I was on the ING website looking all over to see if the 3% was a limited time offer, and there were no details anywhere. But I left it on the main page and if you wait long enough, the animation changes the coffee cups to a 3% rate that says "until October 1st 2009"... leads me to think this is a limited time promotion to get everyone's TFSA there and then it will jump down.

I think this is going to be one of the big weaknesses of the TFSA system. Since you can't move it throughout the year without paying a fee, the only time it will be cost effective to move is near the year end when you can withdraw on December 31st and redeposit on January 1st. I have a feeling this will lead to a lot of good rates then followed by a lot of rate drops once the funds are tied up for another year.

 

[stephenheath]

I'd say it's a great place to put your TFSA in if you're looking at keeping it liquid... you get 3% until October 1, and even if the rate is lousy after that, it's only for 3 months before you can withdraw on Dec 31 and redeposit on January 1st.. even if they go down to 0% interest you're still ahead overall for the 5 and a half month period compared to PC financial's .75%.