The Benefits of Consolidating Your Assets

Have you ever had a ‘spare cash windfall’?

You know when you plunge your hand into the pocket of your winter coat and pull out a $20? Or peel back a couch cushion to find a goldmine in change? What about the holy grail of spare cash epiphanies: the birthday cheque you forgot to cash?

When we’re talking spare change, these are nice surprises. Unfortunately, the same thrill may not apply to investments scattered among multiple accounts at different financial institutions.

When your money is all over the place, it can be tough to keep track of how it’s working for you and you might be missing out on opportunities and overpaying for service charges.

That’s why you might consider consolidating your assets.

Why consolidate?

At-a-glance information. Consolidating your investments at a single institution allows you to view and access all of your investment assets in one place. It’s much easier to see any gaps between your current situation and your financial goals. For a big picture view, group your accounts together. To do this, click on Create and Manage Account Groups under My Portfolio on the site menu.

More investment opportunities. When all of your assets are grouped together, you may have access to investment opportunities you may not have with smaller investment balances in different places.

Transferring securities between accounts is easy. Contributing or withdrawing securities in kind, (meaning investments are transferred between accounts as is, without selling), is possible because your accounts are all in one place. For example, if you have to make a withdrawal from a RRIF account and you don’t need the money, you could choose to transfer securities of equal value to a non-registered account. Once in the non-registered account, they can also be contributed to a TFSA.

Reduced fees. There are incentives to hold your portfolio in one place. For example, when you hold combined assets of $15,000 or more across all of your RBC Direct Investing accounts⁺, you don’t pay a quarterly maintenance fee. Or, contribute $100 per month through the pre-authorized contribution plan and you’ll save $100 a year in maintenance fees. Check out the complete Commissions and Fees Schedule for more details.

⁺ Open a maximum of 10 accounts for a combined maintenance fee of $25/quarter. Additional maintenance fees will apply if you open more than 10 accounts.

The clean closet satisfaction. Ever notice how good it feels when you’ve cleaned out your closet? Your favourite things are easy to find and there’s actually room to poke around. Once you’ve reduced the clutter in your investments, you’ll get the same lift. It’ll take much less time to adjust your assets as your needs and market conditions change. And it’ll be easier to track your progress.

Tax time is less stressful. Doing your taxes is never a joy, but tracking down all of the information you need from various institutions and accounts just adds to the pain. When you’re consolidated, you’ll have less paperwork to manage and the time spent doing taxes will be cut considerably.

Inspired to bring all your hard-earned assets together like one big family? It’s not as hard as you might think and the rewards could help your money grow!