PERSONA TRACK 02 · BANK FEE AUDIT & BREAKUP ($25,000–$500,000+)

Stop surrendering 35% to 50% of your retirement compounding to 2%+ bank fees.

A 2.15% bank mutual fund fee sounds harmless until you see the 25-year math. When markets return 7%, a 2.15% fee consumes nearly a third of your gross gain every single year—whether your account goes up or down.

STEP 1 OF 3 · QUANTIFY DRAG ⏱️ 2 min audit

Calculate Your 25-Year Compound Fee Leakage in Exact Dollars

Enter your current portfolio balance and monthly contribution to see side-by-side how a 2.15% retail bank mutual fund compares against a 0.20% self-directed index ETF.

✓ On a $100,000 portfolio with $500/mo savings over 25 years, dropping fees from 2.15% to 0.20% retains over $180,000+ in extra retirement wealth
✓ Uncover embedded trailing commissions paid annually to your bank branch regardless of performance
✓ Generate a customized PDF/print fee audit summary for your household records

Typical 25-Year Wealth Kept +$140k to $260k Retained inside your own TFSA/RRSP by cutting MER from 2.15% to 0.20% Launch Bank Fee Drag Auditor → Read Full Investment Fee Guide →

STEP 2 OF 3 · PORTFOLIO X-RAY ⏱️ 3 min inspection

Uncover Closet Indexing Overlap & Hidden FX Conversion Spreads

Many investors hold 4 or 5 different bank funds that secretly own the exact same top 10 stocks, while paying 2.0% currency conversion markups when buying U.S. securities.

✓ Run the ETF & Fund Overlap X-Ray to spot duplicate holdings across Canadian, U.S., and global funds
✓ Learn to convert CAD to USD for a flat ~$10 instead of a 2.0% bank FX spread
✓ Compare low-cost index replacements that track the exact same benchmarks for one-tenth the fee

FX & Overlap Reduction Save ~1.9% FX Eliminate closet indexing redundancy and bank currency markups Run ETF & Fund Overlap X-Ray → Calculate Norbert's Gambit FX →

STEP 3 OF 3 · TAX-FREE EXIT ⏱️ 3 min generation

Execute a Direct Registered Transfer Without Triggering Tax

You do not even need to call your bank advisor to break up. Your new discount brokerage initiates the institutional T2033 registered transfer on your behalf—preserving 100% of your TFSA/RRSP tax shelter.

✓ Never withdraw cash manually to your chequing account—always request a direct institution-to-institution registered transfer
✓ Select "In-Cash" transfer for proprietary bank mutual funds so they are liquidated inside the tax shelter before moving
✓ Most brokerages automatically reimburse the $150 bank transfer-out fee on balances over $15,000–$25,000

Tax Impact of Direct Transfer $0.00 Tax Direct T2033 transfers preserve 100% of registered TFSA/RRSP room Compare Zero-Fee Brokerages → Generate Breakup Letter in Auditor →

COMMON QUESTIONS & PLAIN-LANGUAGE ANSWERS

Frequently Asked Questions for This Track

Click any question below to expand the mathematical breakdown. Only one section stays open at a time to keep your screen clean.

Does transferring my TFSA or RRSP away from my bank trigger capital gains tax or use contribution room?

No—provided you initiate a direct registered transfer (Form T2033 in Canada) through your new receiving brokerage. The funds move directly from shelter to shelter. Never withdraw the money to your personal chequing account yourself, as a manual RRSP withdrawal triggers immediate withholding tax and permanently destroys RRSP room.

Should I choose an "In-Cash" or "In-Kind" transfer when leaving bank mutual funds?

If you hold proprietary bank-branded mutual funds inside a TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA, select "In-Cash". Because there is no tax on sales inside registered accounts, your old bank will sell the high-fee mutual funds at zero tax cost and send the cash directly into your new registered account, ready to buy low-cost index ETFs.

Will I have to pay a $150 transfer-out fee to my old bank?

Outgoing banks typically deduct a $135–$150 transfer-out fee, but almost every major Canadian discount brokerage reimburses 100% of that fee when you transfer $15,000 to $25,000 or more.

WANT A FULL HOUSEHOLD SCORECARD?

Run the 10-Minute Financial Health Diagnostic

Benchmark your savings rate, fee drag, tax shelter sequence, and crisis resilience in one unified check—and automatically sync your profile across all calculators.

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