pentel said

Thank you for the info. These alerts will be useful especially when out of country. Will consider getting this card for the no-fee 1% cash back and no FX fees.  

Keep in mind that the 1% cashback only applies to purchases in CAD. It's an okay card as it's a real no FX credit card and makes a great backup card. If you can get the Wealthsimple card as well, that's a real winner of a card. They are beta testing a no-fee version of the card, no rumors as to when it will be publically available.

ponyFlower said
I get a notification for every single transaction happening on that card, meaning even a $0.01 charge will trigger an app notification. I believe it can be adjusted so notifications don’t trigger below $100. I’m not sure if it supports SMS notifications though.  

Thank you for the info. Good to know it support alerts, it would have been better if it supports a text notification (assuming no text support, which is a bit backward since most CC do support text notifications except for Tangerine which needs the app to get notifications)

JohnnyCash said
Yes, you can set various alerts, but they don't seem to arrive promptly and tend to arrive as emails. Fraud alerts from what I recall arrive as a text with a prompt to reply to approve or decline.  

Thank you for the info. These alerts will be useful especially when out of country. Will consider getting this card for the no-fee 1% cash back and no FX fees.

JenE said
The 4% 2-year GIC sounds tempting. Does anyone have negative feelings about this?  

What's not to like? CDIC insured, has option of paying interest annually. I will be definitely using it when my current Tangerine 4.0% promo ends.

Rail Baron said

Alberta looks like a good place to die, from this perspective!

Anyone know the probate fees in BC? I'll bet that Norman1 has it at his fingertips.  

Seek And Ye Shall Find ➡️ https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/c.....0_99004_01

Dean

Currently in the process of selling the deceased’s house now.

Rail Baron said
Alberta looks like a good place to die, from this perspective!

Anyone know the probate fees in BC? I'll bet that Norman1 has it at his fingertips.  

https://www.taxtips.ca/willsan.....ritory.htm

FYI, BC is a gouger like Ontario.

For Ontario residents, the avoid probate strategy might still make sense. it did for my wife and family. It's not a stretch to see probate fees before lawyer top $20,000, which is quite the leap vs Alberta. 😉

Although the interest rate hit for Insurance based GIAs vs chasing highest GIC rates, is real, it can be mitigated considerably by a good laddering strategy and the magic of compound interest. In our case we had multiple 5yr GIAs paying over 4%, with top rate being 4.95%, with Manulife. Of course there were others paying considerably less.
Bottom Line: As you pointed out in the Manulife 3.0% Offer thread, for some folks, it's better to accept the Probate, and other fees, than go the route we did. It all depends on the particular situation. For our family, having 100% of MIL's estate covered by Beneficiery designations was the correct one, for a number of reasons.

Anyone know the probate fees in BC? I'll bet that Norman1 has it at his fingertips.

Jim Sherat said

Having never experienced the "probate" process, how does one arrive at the expected fee in Ont. ? Is that $525 for lawyers fees ?, or does a lawyer even have to be involved, if the Will is not being contested ? Also, I assume if the family home is still in the name of the deceased, then that is a whole other complication, with higher Probate fee ? thanks, Norman.

Probate taxes are paid to the provincial court for the probate grant order. Lawyer fees are in addition to the probate taxes.

The tax is based on the value of the assets covered by the order. Each province has a formula.

In Ontario, the probate tax is

• $0 for the first $50,000 of assets and
• $15 for each $1,000 (or part thereof) above $50,000.

The probate tax in Alberta is not as onerous:

A lawyer is not required if one is up to doing all the paperwork. One will need a lawyer or commissioner of oaths to do any required affidavits.

Transaction fees, like land transfer fees and stock brokerage fees, are also extra.