TD Canada Trust is doing it again: credit card balance special interest rate with TD Visa

TD was the first Canadian bank to increase its dividend in 2011. I wrote in numerous times my experiences with TD Canada Trust banking services (most of them being very very good) and not to name them again, TD Waterhouse. And now, guess what, well, TD Canada Trust is helping me again! This morning, I wrote about my debt problem. I said I wanted to pay off a credit line at 10 000$ that I currently hold at a bit more than 7%. That one is not being hold at TD.

Anyhow, I wrote previously I wanted to pay off 2 000$ on it and so on. But the real reason why I was thinking about paying debt is that I currently hold a close 8k credit card balance at TD that is currently at a special interest rate at less than 5%, which is very good for a credit card. That special interest rate is about to expired this upcoming month of April. Which mean that sometime in April 2011, the regular rate of 19% will apply on that 8k debt... So in preparation of that, I taught about placing some money on my 10k credit line and later on transfer the money on my credit card...

But guess what, thanks to TD Canada Trust, I will be able to get an extension of my special interest rate. This means that I can continue to do whatever I want with my money. I won’t have to deal with a 19% interest rate and, best of all, if I want, I can keep that 2 000$ that I was talking about previously this morning for investment purposes if I really want to... I had been a long time customer of TD Canada Trust as well as other banks. And I can confirm, you simply cannot get a renewable of a credit card balance transfer special interest rate like that ANYWHERE ELSE, no matter how good is your credit score.

Just recently, the only thing that was able to do BMO Mastercard for me is to add an extra 1 000$ to my credit card, no credit check needed. And so what? What do you want me to do with an extra 1 000$ at 19%? BMO Bank of Montreal is such a pain. It’s just reflecting the lack of judgement of their management team.

But with TD Canada Trust, everything is different! I get what I want ALL THE TIME with TD! And with TD EVERYTHING MAKE SENSE. And it’s not like I have a mortgage with TD Canada Trust. I am not that valuable either way for TD in the sense that I don’t hold not even close to 200k in investment with them. See what I mean? So can you answer me why TD Canada Trust is giving me everything I want, and that being all the time? It’s because TD is a bank who care. In 2011, they had been the first Canadian bank to increase their dividend. TD Canada Trust is the only bank being open as early as 8 am in the morning. Many of TD branches are open on Saturday and, well, just like this wouldn’t be enough, many of TD branches are now open on Sunday. And on top of that, TD Waterhouse rep surf the Web looking for customers who had lived a bad customer experience with them and, instead of ignoring them like love to do BMO Investorline, well, you know what, TD Waterhouse has some rep who will initiate a contact no matter how little you are (that happen to me!!!). As a customer, can I really ask for more? I don’t think so.

And now, best of all, I can keep that 2 000$ of mine right inside my pockets and help boost my dividend income and asset value with whatever I want to invest in... (which I didn’t decide yet what to do exactly at this time because of the excitement but I will let you know for sure!!!).

That’s the power of TD Canada Trust as a bank: making things possible for the middle class people with big dreams.

Time has come to pay off some debt?

Today, something strange happen and it makes me realize something. Well, it wasn’t exactly strange, but anyway, I use to purchase one or 2 lotteries ticket every week and a couple of scratch and win tickets if you see what I am talking about, but not that much. I just like to play lottery, but I do not over-play. I didn’t win the jackpot yet lol... but I win a free Lotto Max ticket. Yeah! But as for my scratch and win tickets, I didn’t win anything. And there I was, thinking oh, I didn’t win... And there, I taught about the 2 000$ I had deposit this last Friday in my broker account.

Yeah, 2 000$! Don’t ask me how I make it possible to save such money, but the 2 000$ was really from my checking account (and now there’s less than 100$ left!) and since my rent and other was paid for this month and that I am going to earn a paycheque from my weekend job this week and the week after another one from my daytime job well, I taught, let’s go for it, let’s go purchase 100 units of REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund!

But after scratching my tickets and after I didn’t win, I taught about this newest investment I wanted to made and I taught: am I pushing my luck too far? I had in mind the comments of the Dividend Lover about my debt situation, that after a certain point, it didn’t worth it to go too deep into debt for investment because it’s just not good exceeding a point etc. etc. etc... And at this point, I am close to 70k in debt... But... I really like my portfolio at this all. For 2011, including the dividend received so far, its 6 778.83$ in dividend income, not to include the RRSP dividend ones... Including the RRSP dividend, its reached 7 112.59$. Currently, the value of my portfolio is down of maybe 4k, but it’s in result of the fluctuation of the market. So why should I pay debt instead of investing?

I have real problem to focus on paying debt but yesterday, something happen that make me realize that this might be a good time. So Monday, I will take a 2 000$ + an extra 1 000$ from my margin and deposit that money on my 10 000$ credit line.

After reaching and even the exceeding the 151k in assets, I was happy because I could see I was finally going somewhere. My net worth after debt was of 82k, I was earning great dividend, etc. This is all fantastic but I reach the point where I need to pay off some debt, even just a couple thousand dollars.

Which mean I won’t invest new money in my portfolio over the next months, but I will continue to look into new opportunities. I am still looking forward to make some money out of HZU and, why not, maybe even X, among other. And well, among the way, I could changed my mind and take on some money to invest if SP Brunner is coming on with something as great as K-Bro Linen Inc. (KBL).

This seems a bit unreal at this time still. Paying debt... I would really like to get into the REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund for 100 units. It would had bring in 78$ extra in dividend. I don’t think I am really pushing my luck too far anyway.

And stay tune, because as requested, I will be posting the gain and new investments made in 2010 soon!

Initial public offering of Middlefield Group new REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund

Despite the TSX small plunge that still persist today, my non registered portfolio is at more than 104k. I am confident I will be able to make a good return out of the HZU. In my previous post about Horizons BetaPro COMEX Silver Bull Plus ETF (HZU), a reader comment to be careful with Horizons BetaPro COMEX Silver Bull Plus ETF (HZU), that the lowest value had reached 8$ in the past 52 weeks. HZU value is now at more than 32$ per unit. While taking a quick look at the performance of HZU, any small investors could think that the 8$ per unit value is a sign of volatility of the title. But it’s truly not the case.

In the past 52 weeks, HZU constantly gains value, just like my favorite Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PHS.U). Which mean here that we are not talking here about a title that goes up-and-down without any reason. What we are seeing here is a fantastic case of steady grows. These days had been great for silver investment. Remember, I had been actively following the PHS.U since November 2010. That doesn’t make a silver specialist BUT, I can attest of what I had been able to achieve with my PHS.U. If it wouldn’t be for the extra-value of the Canadian dollars at this time, I would have been able to continue my success story with PHS.U. I am currently trying to achieve with HZU what I had been able to achieve with PHS.U. Meaning a lot of cash... And I have a feeling it’s going to work out! 

I got through something very interesting today: the initial public offering REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund. I am going to explain why I will be investing in 100 units of REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund.

These days, it’s seemed like Rob Carrick is going gaga for my iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE)! I am saying “my”, because I had been holding iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE) for a little while now. According to Carrick, it’s better to hold XRE inside an RRSP or TFSA account because the dividend earns through XRE are a mix of a bit everything involve in real estate. In other words, XRE is not very tax efficient. In my case, I decided to hold iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE) outside a registered account to add something new to my margin. It wasn’t a bad decision to make if you want my point of view, because I didn’t have any interest in REIT before. XRE add a great diversification to my portfolio. I enjoy the monthly dividend.

Ok, but what iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE) have to do with REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund? Well, it’s all a matter of experience. And in this case, my personal experience with REIT. Despite international conflicts going on, the economy is doing better; many jobs had been created in the US. The fact that new jobs had been created in the US is one of the most positive and strong argument about the economy. And with Barack Obama, nothing can go wrong. That being said, the economy is getting stronger. On the long run, real estate is a good investment. I am not a house or condo owner, but I am a REIT units holder!

I had a very good experience with XRE. So far, I made a profit of a bit more than 100$ with my investment in iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE), not to include the dividend earn. Not much, but the title is stable. And this is exactly what I am looking for when I invest: stability and dividend income. And I am getting both of best worlds with XRE.

Now, imagine an investment product that can possibly beat the TSX Capped REIT Index and promised a 6.5% dividend yield (XRE provided a 5.178% dividend yield). Wouldn’t that be great? Well, that’s exactly what REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund is all about. 

For the initial public offering, REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund units are only at 12$. The minimum investment required is of 1 200$ (minimum 100 units) only (and no commission fee!). Sound to me like a great investment and worth a try. I would to get a 100 units for my portfolio. REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund is being offered by Middlefield Group, an Alberta based asset management company.