hey , I was wondering if you as a lot of do not like to put their money in stocks, ETFS etc cause they feel it’s probably not save there me being one of them and try to put our little savings in a savings account with great interest rate like the one Neo offers . But the one problem with these savings account is that ever cent or dollor we get from Neo is taxed by the government. So I was wondering if there could be a way like Neo adding TFSA OR RSP account with the same or better ( hopefully 
) interest rate so we can grow are money tax free ..
This is very much on the radar, in fact I’m hoping we’ll be able to announce more details at the next quarterly Insider session. There will also be opportunities for Insiders to influence exactly what these accounts are when they launch, so do start thinking about what investments you’d like to make through which registered account!
You absolutely should be investing in the market! But individual stocks are not a good idea for most people. Also, only put in what you can afford to keep there long long term. Like until retirement! Broad market index funds (like a total stock market index. you anre basically buying a tiny piece of every company on the market) are your best bet and generally considered safe, but they are a long term investment. Not something your try to time for a year.
I understand what you mean .. for that I would also ask Neo to also give an option where we can invest a sum of that money and keep some safe in a savings account like TFSA OR RSP . What I mean is If Neo could create an account. I think the first of its kind where for eg I deposit a sum of 1000 dollars and then from that 1000 I could use any Amount that I could invest like 500$, 200$ . But then the rest of the amount that is sitting in the account could earn interest of some sorts . Like people like me who don’t feel safe investing. They could have a savings accon Tax free and could also start investing with a small amount .. maybe it’s too far fetched but it’s something to consider…. Maybe
Interesting concept! I think we’re putting the building blocks together for this, with registered savings accounts as well as investment options. Getting to the dream end state might take a while though.
Music to my ears
As a newcomer who has a lot of friend who are also newcomers, we are hesitant to open TFSAs, especially in classical bank institutions because they are poorly integrated into world-wide money transfer (no joke, it took me a month to figure out some technicalities of e-transfer with RBC),
So I am hesitant to open TFSA because I am not yet sure that I will permanently stay in CA for the rest of my life.
and as Canada hosted about 300,000 Ukrainian ‘refugees’ no matter how I talk to the situation is similar.
And most of us relatively young people (millennials so not that young) who are tech-savvy because of Ukraine tech advances, which makes us like Neo more because it reminds is of Monobank and you can check play store ratings of that app.
(as a side note I was shocked because one of the worst - in terms of service - banks in Ukraine has app rating of 4.6).
And if I could open that account easily, and know that from anywhere in the world I will have easy access to that money - I would’ve done it yesterday.
The ideal as I see it breaks down into two categories:
- Functionality: Can I only store cash, or can I buy premade investment bundles, or can I buy specific stocks, options, etc. as I see fit? and
- Experience: Am I left in the dark about what my options are and the implications of actions I do or don’t take, or is it made clear at every point in the UI what’s possible and the implications of each possibility?
It’s exciting to watch Neo build out more functionality with every passing year, because every time they do, it’s with a market-leading experience. My investments are currently at another institution because of this functionality disparity, and so I would love to see specialty accounts at Neo (TFSA, etc.), as well as investment options, because I know they would do a beautiful job of it. Something like:
- Investments, including either premade bundles (as some exclusively offer), and/or self-directed (which I definitely want and need in order to make the switch fully from the institution where my investments reside).
- I realize however this is likely a massive undertaking from a website/app development perspective, as well as taking care of the necessary financial and legal back-end stuff.
- To the best extent possible, fees for buy/sell, as well as more complex actions like options trading should of course be minimized to be competitive.
- Clear indication of status, and warnings & assurances on the impact of actions you take. For example, when viewing your account, or about to take some action with it, display (as appropriate):
- what your current contribution room is, and how much of that has been used thus far this year, as a indicator bar like we see with credit card limits/payment progress
- how withdrawals contribute only to next year’s room
- how deposits should not exceed your limit
- how manual withdrawals are counted as such but institutions can, if invoked, perform movements of the money or account that avoid this issue, such as when transferring the entire account between institutions, etc.
- Elimination of unnecessary friction. For example:
- If a user has two Neo TFSA accounts and moves money between them, it should automatically act as if the institution did it, rather than counting as a withdrawal and new deposit for contribution limit purposes.
- Have just one account “type”. Ie, one kind of TFSA, one RSP, etc. that can be used in any way, whether it’s storing cash or making investments. By contrast, the option to have both a cash-only account, and an investing account would do nothing but create the potential risk and confusion for users described in the money moving example above.
- With regard to the return vs liquidity trade that’s made when buying a GIC/ISA vs just holding cash, perhaps Neo could even do something clever and transparently in the back-end to alleviate that partially or fully to make them more appealing?
- Not sure if this is possible but if all interest a user earns across all accounts could be paid into the TFSA (if present, and if space allows, etc.) to make it tax-free?
- Recommended actions & reassuring clarity. For example:
- Make it clear what options exist, broken down by risk. Show GICs, ISAs, etc. as part of the same bubble as cash so that it’s not even portrayed as an “investment”, just another way to safely store cash.
- Especially for users who have not previously invested and just have cash sitting in the account, and especially for tax-free accounts where income on investments doesn’t carry a fee to be paid later, and money stored is less likely to be withdrawn soon anyway, make these options prominent and encourage them to explore it.
- When exploring any option, details can be shown explaining the safety/risk, tax implications, etc.
This will help make it clear that these other options aren’t scary, mysterious, or reserved for the ultra rich, but rather, the default and something everyone should do, regardless of experience or wealth, rather than just leaving cash sitting in the account, particularly with regard to guaranteed investments made in a tax-free account.
In short, add functionality (like investing) present at other institutions, but give it the Neo touch (as I see it): make it clear what’s safe, optimal, and otherwise keep people informed about their options and the impacts thereof at the point of transaction so they’re never left wondering what might happen, or what they should or could do, or upset after the fact when something unexpected comes up, so managing money is painless and transparent. This is where so many places fall flat, and what can set Neo apart.