This is great news.
Especially for those that are frequent traders, who can take advantage of IB's low-fee commission structure.
Especially for those that are frequent traders, who can take advantage of IB's low-fee commission structure.
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While $50/year/account may appear a bit steep I have looked at my current annual statements. For my RRSP I am paying well over $300 per year in commissions with TD Waterhouse and I consider myself rather an investor than trader. I mean - sure, I would probably trade a bit more if it was cheaper. Look, a simple purchase of some stock plus selling covered call on that position is $9.99+$9.99+$1.25/contract with TDW. So, it is at least $21.23. I have a margin account with IB and this sort of transaction may cost somewhere around $5 or more - but would rarely reach $20. Not to mention the $43 exercise commission with TDW that kills many deals. Think about it - $21 + $43 = $64 just to exercise a very simple trade that makes you some money over 1-2 months on a covered call in one of the good scenarios. RSPs are usually relatively small - a large RRSP can be around few hundred thousands at most and TFSA - we are talking about dozens of thousands. Not talking about small number of investment gurus here 
So, transactions like this, buying few hundred shares of a company and selling the covered call to make few hundred dollars may be quite typical.
Checked the annual commissions for TFSA - same story, way over $100. And this is, again, considering that I could not do some trades in that TFSA because it was not practical.
I think that even with $50/year I may be saving money on commissions with IB. Will seriously consider to switch. Big bank's brokerage commissions are way too high.
Also I think IB will readjust their strategy for RSPs in the future. I think they are doing it not so much to make tons of money, but rather as additional benefits for existing customers. I may be wrong but personally I do see the value of keeping the investment accounts with as few firms as possible.
So, transactions like this, buying few hundred shares of a company and selling the covered call to make few hundred dollars may be quite typical.Checked the annual commissions for TFSA - same story, way over $100. And this is, again, considering that I could not do some trades in that TFSA because it was not practical.
I think that even with $50/year I may be saving money on commissions with IB. Will seriously consider to switch. Big bank's brokerage commissions are way too high.
Also I think IB will readjust their strategy for RSPs in the future. I think they are doing it not so much to make tons of money, but rather as additional benefits for existing customers. I may be wrong but personally I do see the value of keeping the investment accounts with as few firms as possible.
Just explored this new account situation with IB a bit and found a little "devil in details".
They assess each account value and if you do not do transactions for $10/month, then they will charge you the rest. Thinking about a typical family with 2 non-registered accounts, 2 TFSAs and 3 RRSPs (say, two RRSPs and one spousal RRSP) - that makes total of 7 accounts. Including 5 registered ones. Even if we ignore the RSP fees (assuming they are offset by savings on commissions) you still need to do transactions for at least $70/month. They waive it for $100K + accounts, so, assuming 2-3 of these accounts are over $100K that will probably reduce the requirement to something like $40. So the "formula of savings" becomes a bit more tricky.
I feel a need to put all numbers in Excel for the past year with my broker and do the math
They assess each account value and if you do not do transactions for $10/month, then they will charge you the rest. Thinking about a typical family with 2 non-registered accounts, 2 TFSAs and 3 RRSPs (say, two RRSPs and one spousal RRSP) - that makes total of 7 accounts. Including 5 registered ones. Even if we ignore the RSP fees (assuming they are offset by savings on commissions) you still need to do transactions for at least $70/month. They waive it for $100K + accounts, so, assuming 2-3 of these accounts are over $100K that will probably reduce the requirement to something like $40. So the "formula of savings" becomes a bit more tricky.
I feel a need to put all numbers in Excel for the past year with my broker and do the math
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