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By Gigi Suhanic
National Post
FP Money
Saturday, January 31, 2004
Question: I'm trying to establish a monthly withdrawal system from my RRSP account. Since I don't have a pension, I require this money to live on. I would like the dividends and interest to flow to me monthly, but the bank wants to charge me a $50 fee for each withdrawal. Is there some other method to have monthly cash flow from my RRSP?
Adrian Mastracci, investment counsel and president of Vancouver based ‘fee-only’ KCM Wealth Management, says, “A little moral suasion goes a long way, especially if you have multiple accounts with the institution.”
Answer: Unfortunately, all financial institutions are typically going to charge you to do what you're describing, says Adrian Mastracci of Vancouver-based KCM Wealth Management. "Normally, I don't have clients complain about this sort of thing. They're with institutions where the fees are not that bad," he says, adding the $50 fee "does sound a little high."
To try to get a better deal, Mr. Mastracci recommends first talking to your bank to see if it will give you a break.
"A little moral suasion goes a long way," he says, especially if you have multiple accounts with the institution.
It could also be that your bank doesn't like to do these kinds of transactions and is trying to discourage them with high fees. Mr. Mastracci suggests simply taking "a walk across the road" to check out fees at other banks.
If you want to stay where you are, you could always take the money out quarterly instead of monthly to save on fees.
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