Snowbird Banking
I was curious about the best way to handle our money while in Florida for the winter. For the last two seasons we have taken US cash and used our American Visa for purchases and Frau Blücher would pay...
Forum Discussion
As a poster suggested, probably the best bet is to open an account at TD in the US if you are close to a branch there. Unfortunately I can't do that as there are no branches in the area we go to down there.
I finally got around to getting a US$ credit card from my Canadian bank last winter (I'm a slow learner!) to eliminate those hidden fees buried in the exchange rates when using a Canadian $ CC. I transfer US$ from my US$ Canadian account electronically to pay off the US$ CC. We try to buy most things on the CC and carry minimum US$ dollars down there and when needed we try to find a Bank of America ATM to get US$ out (no fees for some reason) and we get out enough $ at one time to minimize conversion fees.
This winter's project is to minimize the effect of my banks "spread", what they ding me with when converting C$ into US$ so I can move C$ into my US$ account to pay off the US$ CC. My investment guy offered to make the currency trade on their currency trading desk, probably at a better rate than my bank is offering, so I will transfer C$ funds electronically to my investment account, the trade will be made on the trading desk and he will transfer the US$ funds back to me electronically into my US$ account. I'll also electronically convert some funds at my bank on the same day to see what savings I get.
I finally got around to getting a US$ credit card from my Canadian bank last winter (I'm a slow learner!) to eliminate those hidden fees buried in the exchange rates when using a Canadian $ CC. I transfer US$ from my US$ Canadian account electronically to pay off the US$ CC. We try to buy most things on the CC and carry minimum US$ dollars down there and when needed we try to find a Bank of America ATM to get US$ out (no fees for some reason) and we get out enough $ at one time to minimize conversion fees.
This winter's project is to minimize the effect of my banks "spread", what they ding me with when converting C$ into US$ so I can move C$ into my US$ account to pay off the US$ CC. My investment guy offered to make the currency trade on their currency trading desk, probably at a better rate than my bank is offering, so I will transfer C$ funds electronically to my investment account, the trade will be made on the trading desk and he will transfer the US$ funds back to me electronically into my US$ account. I'll also electronically convert some funds at my bank on the same day to see what savings I get.
