Moving all your money to canada. How to do it?

[Mirapakay]

I've compared Xoom, TransferWise, WesternUnion and TD Bank. I found TW to give the best rate (although they have some fees associated with every transfer, the overall CAD output is higher than the other three)

Depending on how much amount I would like to transfer in a single transaction, I chose Xoom over TransferWise which gave me more rate.

 

[Nick1233]

I've compared Xoom, TransferWise, WesternUnion and TD Bank. I found TW to give the best rate (although they have some fees associated with every transfer, the overall CAD output is higher than the other three)

Is TW better than knightsbridgefx? knightsbridgefx does require USD and CAD accounts setup in a bank in Canada though.

 

[AjeyaGupta]

Is TW better than knightsbridgefx? knightsbridgefx does require USD and CAD accounts setup in a bank in Canada though.

I haven't checked knightsbridgefx yet. I have an existing TW account, and hence choose that to transfer USD to CAD

 

[jadudas]

I moved my investments (& cash, in USD) from my Vanguard (US) brokerage to Questrade in Canada. In hind sight I wouldn't move cash through a brokerage transfer as it took months as they actually mailed a cheque, assets were transferred within a couple of weeks. I don't think you can trade in your US investment accounts if you don't have any tax status in the US (I might be wrong). I still have the US accounts but don't trade through those nor do they have any assets. I've setup a RBC cross border account for moving money between US & Canada. It is very convenient for paying US credit cards and such bills. They do charge an annual fee of $40 (Canadian banks are notorious with fees). After trying various ways of converting USD<->CAD norberts gambit as mentioned by @sk987 is very cost effective although it takes a few days to journal over the assets so you might get a different rate. If you're planning on active trading, I would highly recommend Interactive Brokers, their trade commissions are the lowest (especially for options) and you can even do forex transactions at market rates (& negligible commissions) without having to do norberts gambit.

Did you pay taxes during the asset movement? Or this was treated as trustee to trustee transfer and no tax needed?

 

[tweedledum08]

Did you pay taxes during the asset movement? Or this was treated as trustee to trustee transfer and no tax needed?

I did the transfer in 2020 so I'll be paying taxes this year. I don't think there are taxes related to just transferring assets. I have dividend payments & capital gains from last year which would be taxed. I'll update once I'm done filing.

 

[levinperson]

It not wise to move all of them. No one is going to take your money. You can still keep invested in US and move the needed money for investment/spending to Canada.

Migration doesnt require to move assets/cash unless its profitable.

Do not close the trading accounts if you plan to continue trade here. You cant easily open it again unless you are resident here as residential proof required to be submitted during account opening. But tax to be paid though in US.

Hello, Thanks for the info! If I don't have a US address anymore and decide to move to Canada permanently, is it still legal to trade trough my US trading accounts? And what about tax filing in this regard? Thanks in advance.

 

[harirajmohan]

Hello, Thanks for the info! If I don't have a US address anymore and decide to move to Canada permanently, is it still legal to trade trough my US trading accounts? And what about tax filing in this regard? Thanks in advance.

Check with your financial company with whom you have trading account if you can give foreign address and they still allow to buy/sell stocks.
Just file the taxes as usual but in your case it would be as non resident. No country denies taking taxes from us. So thats not a problem.

 

[levinperson]

Check with your financial company with whom you have trading account if you can give foreign address and they still allow to buy/sell stocks.
Just file the taxes as usual but in your case it would be as non resident. No country denies taking taxes from us. So thats not a problem.

Thanks for the insight!

 

[paneka penalty]

I have about 300k when i leave USA. What are the ways to move it to canada?

Is it wise to move all of them to canada?

Looking for thoughts

How did you manage to save this much?