Hobbess

I've seen a few people post over time that they use OANDA to transfer money across the pond as I have. I've used it for the last few transfers and liked it as it's all online allowing me to play with a few ticks based on when I click go and the rate has been good with only a $15US fixed charge. It was also nice and quick - my last transfer I had from UK account through OANDA to CAD in about 3 days.

However I just got notice last week that I can only keep the account open if I qualify as an "accredited investor" in Alberta. Broadly this requires assets of $1mil+ (not including residence) or annual income of $200k+ individual or joint of $300k+. I thought this would only count for their FXtrade account with actual positions and not just their money transfer account but it applies to both.

Anyway, I unfortunately (would be nice...) don't meet any of the options and it looks like I might need to shop around for other FX transfer options. This latter part isn't a huge issue as I've used other options previously, but just intrigued to see if others who've used OANDA in Alberta have seen this and if there is anything I can do to keep using the service?

tribec

Take out a $1m term 10 life insurance policy. This will fulfill the criteria.

Novocastrian

Eh?

To the OP there are many other ways of transferring money online between countries/currencies which are no more expensive.

tribec

I agree with the OP, there are many different ways to transfer money online. What I was saying was how to get around being an accredited investor either for this is for other investments that you wish to make. If you do not fit in the financial categories of earnings or net value, one way around this is to take out an inexpensive term life insurance policy. For a 45 year old male it will cost around $600 per year. The returns from the investments for an accredited investor will more than compensate you for this initial outlay. So if you have the opportunity to invest in investments that require you to be an accredited investor, this is a relatively cheap undertaking. Just be careful to read the investment prospectus.

Novocastrian

You sound as if you know what you're talking about, but it seems very strange that a policy which only pays out after you die would be counted as assets.

There's no mention of it here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accredi...adian_Criteria

Hobbess

Though from here: http://www.albertasecurities.com/sec...0PUBLISHED.pdf

Financial assets are defined as:
Anyway I checked my insurance policy and I'm short of the million, and I think if I pool my assets we get close but I'll probably just shop around. Just a bit of a pain as I like the online nature of OANDA and it means re-applying with another company blah blah