Hurlabrick

Wow, that was a big increase! I haven't kept up with next years limits as I will not be using them.


As I am sure you will have discovered, there is no transfer route (like QROPS - except that there are no Canadian QROPS any more - at least not at the moment) to be able to transfer UK ISA's to Canadian TFSA's - so you will have to sell your UIK ISA's and take them over as cash then gradually build up your Canadian TFSA's year by year.


FWIW, I agree with your view of the UK market - it is at an all time high, fuelled to an extent by the cr*ppy GBP exchange rate - and all of this in spite of BREXIT uncertainty. I have moved my own investments into 'safer' funds (certainly with much less UK equity exposure) and hope for a Sterling recovery (not sure that will happen much until the UK increases the base rate).

Shakyuk

I did notice that about the QROPS, I didn't know it applied to ISAs though to be honest, I thought it was only pensions. I have a SIPP too but I think I'll keep both the SIPP and the IISA in the UK when I eventually move over to Canada. Myself and my girlfriend have said we'll try Canada for a minimum of 2 years and then make our mind up if we're going to stay. I think we'll only know for sure when we've lived there awhile if it's truly for us.

It is an odd time right now for investing, I'm a bit uneasy buying as I think a lot of things are overpriced. I've recently started buying Next again and Easyjet as their P/E ratio's are quite attractive and they're relatively low debt. Even bonds aren't really safe with the potential for increased interest rates which is why I started doing the peer to peer lending thing. I'm not sure if they have it in Canada but that may be worth checking out. You can set your own lending rate in the UK.

Hurlabrick

Sorry! Possibly clumsy phrasing on my part. What I was trying to say is that there is NO transfer facility for ISA's (unlike QROPS for pensions - not that there are any now anyway).

not2old

cough cough on the easyjet

https://markets.ft.com/data/equities...mary?s=EZJ:LSE

https://markets.ft.com/data/equities...asts?s=EZJ:LSE

P2P 'investing' in Canada too risky

https://www.lendingloop.ca

http://financialuproar.com/2016/11/2...-lending-loop/


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Snowy560

My understanding is that you can continue to hold UK ISAs when you leave but not continue to pay into them.

not2old

"If you open an Isa while you live in Britain and then move abroad, you can keep the Isa open and still get the tax relief on the money held in it"

https://www.gov.uk/individual-saving...-abroad-or-die


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Edo

All major Canadian banks have trading platforms that you can use to invest your TFSA funds. There are also some low cost brokerage firms that offer the same service for a reduced price. I highly recommend the one that I am currently dealing with. You can PM me if you would like details.

Photoplex

This is old school thinking. There's good debt, and bad debt.

I max out my TFSA and RRSP each year, and make on average 5 to 10% a year through various investment strategies. This far outweighs the 2.89% on my mortgage, meaning I am better off keeping this particular debt, than paying it down, despite having the free cash to pay off my mortgage today.

BristolUK

Isn't there also "the value of your investments may go down as well as up, with past performance not necessarily a guide..."?

So yours only goes up? What's the secret?

Photoplex

Hedging, and covered option calls Oh, and a few exceptionally lucky picks... like TECK.B when it was at $5, and topped out a year later at $36. And I did say average.

The point however is that it really isn't that hard to cover the 2.8% mortgage loan rate. Hell, an index tracking ETF will yield better than that in the long run. It's good debt, so long as you can make more by holding onto the cash than the loan costs to service.

Shakyuk

Yeah EasyJet does seem to have a hold/sell consensus, it's a bit of a gamble but when I buy I'm generally in it for the long run and I think on the 2-5 years front they'll come good... But I guess we'll see! I'd be quite happy for them to remain low for a few years then I can buy some on the cheap.

Regulation only recently caught up with peer to peer lending in the UK to be honest, the interest rates are quite tame really but it's another diversification.

That's right you can hold an ISA but not add money if you're not resident in the UK. You can still actively manage the ISA too so any dividends can be reinvested.
I need to look into it but I think I'll have to pay tax in Canada on the income and growth (if I sell) even though it's tax free in the UK.

Hurlabrick

I have looked into this and you will be liable to Canadian tax from the date you left the UK for income, growth and FOREX 'growth'.


Not certain if one is allowed to counter-balance FOREX loss if the GBP is lower when you eventually sell though (can it really go lower??!!).


So important to get an exact value and FOREX rate on the day you land in Canada.


I have recently 'sold' our Nucleus ISA's (so locking in the recent stock market gains) and am ready to transfer to CAD in the next couple / few months max.

Shakyuk

Yeah, when I looked into it, the policy read quite typical... we'll tax you on any gain but any losses won't be offset

When I read about people transferring large sums of money to Canada I always think it must be pretty daunting deciding when to actually transfer. I guess you just have to go for it and then avoid all mention of exchange rates just in case!

Hurlabrick

TELL ME ABOUT IT! I was straining to transfer when it was $2.00, but I was only in a position to start to transfer cash to a Canadian account three days after the BREXIT vote - so not a happy camper!


I am now watching the rate like a hawk, but have only moved a small amount over to date. I am risking a better rate between now and the summer (when I expect to have to transfer). If it break say $1.70-ish, I might transfer. I may or may not end up kicking myself one way or the other, but hey - that's life - 'conventional wisdom' has been spectacularly wrong of late!

BristolUK

Although I read that 2.8% I didn't actually 'absorb' it if you see what I mean.

I never had a mortgage in Canada but I did back in Bristol and interest rates were somewhat higher than 2.8.

Old skool thinking on this point is perhaps more about personal experience like thinking of UK rates which were in double figures for much of my house buying time (14% ) so a mortgage rate would have been much harder to cover then than now.