So, you have decided to put this year’s RRSP contribution into a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) to protect your capital. No problem. After all, everybody needs some fixed income assets to help smooth out the peaks and valleys of the equity market.

I am sure that when you walk into your bank, you will be greeted cheerfully by your financial advisor as they escort you into their office. You then tell them that you would like to purchase a GIC this year for your RRSP contribution. They oblige - after all, you are the customer - show you their posted rate and begin filling out the paperwork.

At that point, you casually say “Before you finish filling out that form, I hear that Achieva Financial is offering a 5-year GIC paying 4.85%.” At that moment, I am sure the financial advisor will be a little flustered. The financial advisor will likely bring up the website and have a look themselves. “That can’t be right? 4.85%!”

The advisor will then launch into the old “Achieva is not a bricks and mortar type of institution and can therefore offer higher rates as they have no overhead.”

Your rebuttal could be “That is true. But you are also probably 10 times bigger. I am sure that there must be economies of scale that you can leverage.” And then silence.

The preceding ‘example’ is how things went for my mother. The best advertised rate being offered at her bank was 3.9384% increasing rate GIC (5 year). After bringing up the Achieva Financial rate, the financial advisor was able to raise her rate to 4.5384% on her 5-year increasing rate GIC.

That was good enough for my mother. She is close to retirement and doesn’t really want to move her money now. But, if that had been me, I would have moved it to Achieva Financial. I am a long ways a way from retiring and every bit helps!

Moral of the story: Don’t be afraid to bargain with your bank. Without your business, they wouldn’t have one.

As an aside, you really should check out Achieva Financial. They have the best rates that I have seen for high interest savings accounts (currently at 3.35%) as well as GICs (1 year GIC at 4.05%).