Author Topic: ABSA's TFSA offering.  (Read 15543 times)

Mr_Dividend

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 586
  • Karma: +21/-0
    • View Profile
ABSA's TFSA offering.
« on: July 01, 2015, 09:37:45 am »

Interesting - might use them from next year.

Although I cannot fault EE for their offerings and for guys on a limited budget they have been a breath of fresh air, my one reservation with them is that when buying individual shares, as I understand it, they are not registered in my name at compuserve. So if they go bust, you could loose everything? Or do I have that wrong?

Still think they are great for lots of smaller trades - but over a certain amount, and if you already paying for a stock account, it might be better having the money with the bigger guys. IMO

Quote
Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)
We are glad to announce Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA). Below are some key features you should know:

Brokerage is set at 0.2% with no minimum and No monthly admin Fee E.g. An investment of R500.00 will cost you a total amount of R5.54 including statutory costs
No Securities Transfer Tax (STT)
No Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when you sell these products
No Dividend Withholding Tax (DWT) on dividends earned
No tax on interest earned.
There is a R30 000 annual contribution limit and a R500 000 lifetime contribution limit.
Selected Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are suitable.
Profits made in the TFSA account do not contribute to existing tax annual limits (interest and capital gains), and may be re-invested in the TFSA account without utilising the contribution limit, provided they are not withdrawn.
Simplicity in terms of product features, fee structures and administrative processes.
Investment amounts are restricted to the annual and life-time product investment limits - currently R 30,000.00 and R 500,000.00 respectively.
It is the responsibility of the investor to avoid exceeding the above limits or they may be held liable for related penalties issued by SARS.
Currently only selected Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are suitable.
All you need to do is follow these 5 easy steps:

Go to www.absastockbrokers.co.za and click on create an account
Select personal account as TAX FREE SAVINGS ARE ONLY FOR INDIVIDUALS
Complete the personal details page to view what is on offer and to complete the mandate
Complete the Online mandate and accept the T&C’s
Once your account is activated Transfer you funds electronically to us to start trading:
Absa Stockbrokers (Pty) Limited
Account number 01026911695
Branch code 632005
Reference ”TFSA + your account number”

Patrick

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2551
  • Karma: +47/-2
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2015, 09:51:42 am »
Wow 0.2% with no minimum is even better than EE, I may have to use them for next years allotment.

Have you got an account yet? Do they offer the same ETFs as EE?

Mr_Dividend

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 586
  • Karma: +21/-0
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2015, 10:03:40 am »
Wow 0.2% with no minimum is even better than EE, I may have to use them for next years allotment.

Have you got an account yet? Do they offer the same ETFs as EE?

Have not signed up yet - but no need to FICA if you have a stock account with them. I am guessing the ETF's would be similar/same. Would be interesting to see if they price's on the ETF;s were the same.

Patrick

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2551
  • Karma: +47/-2
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2015, 11:22:24 am »
I have an account with them so I'll give it a go. If they went to 0.2% and no minimum with their regular accounts they'd have many many happy users.

Orca

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2280
  • Karma: +54/-3
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #4 on: July 01, 2015, 12:14:47 pm »
They only mention CGT. What if you trade your stocks?
I started here with nothing and still have most of it left.

Mr_Dividend

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 586
  • Karma: +21/-0
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #5 on: July 01, 2015, 12:25:12 pm »
They only mention CGT. What if you trade your stocks?

This is for the TFSA - so it'll only be selected ETF's that you can choose from, and again max 30K per year can be added to the account per year/ to an overall max of R500K of contributions.

Orca

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2280
  • Karma: +54/-3
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #6 on: July 01, 2015, 02:33:32 pm »
I know it is a TFSA thing but you can still trade your ETF's without gearing. Selling your ETF within the 36 month holding period is after all considered by SARS to be "trading".

Simon Brown from "One Last Lap" is trading his ETF's in a TFSA.
I started here with nothing and still have most of it left.

T_Thunder

  • I've just arrived
  • *
  • Posts: 10
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2015, 02:48:29 pm »

Interesting - might use them from next year.

Although I cannot fault EE for their offerings and for guys on a limited budget they have been a breath of fresh air, my one reservation with them is that when buying individual shares, as I understand it, they are not registered in my name at compuserve. So if they go bust, you could loose everything? Or do I have that wrong?

Still think they are great for lots of smaller trades - but over a certain amount, and if you already paying for a stock account, it might be better having the money with the bigger guys. IMO

Quote
Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)
We are glad to announce Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA). Below are some key features you should know:

Brokerage is set at 0.2% with no minimum and No monthly admin Fee E.g. An investment of R500.00 will cost you a total amount of R5.54 including statutory costs
No Securities Transfer Tax (STT)
No Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when you sell these products
No Dividend Withholding Tax (DWT) on dividends earned
No tax on interest earned.
There is a R30 000 annual contribution limit and a R500 000 lifetime contribution limit.
Selected Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are suitable.
Profits made in the TFSA account do not contribute to existing tax annual limits (interest and capital gains), and may be re-invested in the TFSA account without utilising the contribution limit, provided they are not withdrawn.
Simplicity in terms of product features, fee structures and administrative processes.
Investment amounts are restricted to the annual and life-time product investment limits - currently R 30,000.00 and R 500,000.00 respectively.
It is the responsibility of the investor to avoid exceeding the above limits or they may be held liable for related penalties issued by SARS.
Currently only selected Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are suitable.
All you need to do is follow these 5 easy steps:

Go to www.absastockbrokers.co.za and click on create an account
Select personal account as TAX FREE SAVINGS ARE ONLY FOR INDIVIDUALS
Complete the personal details page to view what is on offer and to complete the mandate
Complete the Online mandate and accept the T&C’s
Once your account is activated Transfer you funds electronically to us to start trading:
Absa Stockbrokers (Pty) Limited
Account number 01026911695
Branch code 632005
Reference ”TFSA + your account number”

Hi Divi,

Thanks for all of your posts on the site they provide a lot of useful insight. I posted about EE in another section of the forum but never got any replies. I am a little worried about the safety of my money that I have with EE and found this on their site:

"WHAT PROTECTIONS DO YOU HAVE?

Whole Securities   
Are held in safe custody by a nominee company in your name. Your Whole Securities belong to you and will be kept separate from our estate and our assets.

Profit and Margin in respect of Fractional Share Rights   
When you enter into a CFD Transaction you must pay us Margin in terms of clause 11.6(3) - 11.6(5). You may also earn a Profit in terms of clause 11.6(4) - 11.6(6).
The money that you give us as Margin or that constitutes your Profit is either:
held in trust by a nominee company for your benefit; or
is paid by us to Peregrine, and Peregrine holds that money in trust for our benefit.
We have a right to claim Margin and Profit from Peregrine, and we cede you this right as security for any payments we may owe you under the Agreement.

TRADING RISKS

Profits and Losses   
You are responsible for all Trades on the EasyEquities Platform.
We do not give you any advice or recommendations regarding Trades.
The issue of CFD Transactions is not subject to FAIS and you may not rely on the provisions of FAIS in respect of your CFD Transactions.
You are responsible for any profits or losses as a result of Whole Securities which you buy and sell or decisions you make regarding close out of a CFD Transaction.
Engaging in this type of transaction can carry a high risk and you may lose all of your money in respect of Whole Securities and CFD Transactions.
CFD Transaction trading does not occur on a recognised exchange and, may consequently expose you to greater risks than exchange based transactions."

Can anybody put this in more lamen terms than it already is?  :wall:
I don't see the option to trade CFD's anywhere in the platform so why do they reference it? :wtf:
And who's name are the shares and ETF's that I buy registered in? :question:

gcr

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1008
  • Karma: +28/-1
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #8 on: July 06, 2015, 10:09:33 pm »
I know it is a TFSA thing but you can still trade your ETF's without gearing. Selling your ETF within the 36 month holding period is after all considered by SARS to be "trading".

Simon Brown from "One Last Lap" is trading his ETF's in a TFSA.
I am not sure if I understand you correctly - you can't trade any instruments within the TFSA there is a defined amount (R30,000) that you can make to the TFSA per annum but you can make more than 1 deposit within the calendar year - monthly payments are acceptable. However once you sell all or part of the R 30,000 in a calendar year you can't top it up in the same calendar year. So trading is not an option with the TFSA, what you are permitted to do is to exit one of the investments and re - enter into another agreed investment with the suite of instruments within the TFSA - I think there were 32 instruments. That's my understanding and the question of CGT is somewhat unclear to me   
Not everything that counts, can be counted, and, not everything that can be counted counts - Albert Einstein

Patrick

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2551
  • Karma: +47/-2
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2015, 07:36:41 am »
I know it is a TFSA thing but you can still trade your ETF's without gearing. Selling your ETF within the 36 month holding period is after all considered by SARS to be "trading".

Simon Brown from "One Last Lap" is trading his ETF's in a TFSA.
I am not sure if I understand you correctly - you can't trade any instruments within the TFSA there is a defined amount (R30,000) that you can make to the TFSA per annum but you can make more than 1 deposit within the calendar year - monthly payments are acceptable. However once you sell all or part of the R 30,000 in a calendar year you can't top it up in the same calendar year. So trading is not an option with the TFSA, what you are permitted to do is to exit one of the investments and re - enter into another agreed investment with the suite of instruments within the TFSA - I think there were 32 instruments. That's my understanding and the question of CGT is somewhat unclear to me

I had a fairly long chat with one of the account managers at Easy Equities. It was mostly about the 10% in one company rule (which doesn't apply to ETFs), but I also asked about trading inside your TFSA. The understanding he had was that you're only allowed to deposit R30k into a TFSA per year, but as long as the money doesn't leave that account, you're free to do pretty much whatever you like with it. You can hold it in cash, buy ETFs, sell an ETF and buy another. In theory at least, that seems to mean you could trade, though it's not something I would recommend or attempt myself.

Mr_Dividend

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 586
  • Karma: +21/-0
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2015, 08:45:41 am »
That's how I understand it - and should add, as it's a tax free account, no tax on the "trading profit" . But by their nature ETF's are not nearly as volatile as shares - so trading on such low volumes (with the 30K limit - once you get to 200K or so, maybe) - well, your time would probably be better spent car guarding at your local SPAR.

Mr_Dividend

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 586
  • Karma: +21/-0
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #11 on: July 07, 2015, 08:59:12 am »
T_Thunder:

They way I understand "normal" stock brokers:
My shares are held under my name at the JSE - the broker is just the intermediary and facilitates the buying and selling process.

With easyequitites, the shares are not in my name at the JSE (or compushare/wherever) - but under their name. Their site goes on and on about FSR (fractional share rights) - but clear as mud on other aspects.

That said, has anyone received and voting forms from shares held with EE? That would clear up this little mystery.

I still think, if you doing small trades under R5K a pop - they great, but maybe once you get to R100K or so start thinking about opening a normal account. IMO.


gcr

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1008
  • Karma: +28/-1
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #12 on: July 07, 2015, 11:31:26 am »
I hold my entire share portfolio in nominees with my brokers who are also a sub operation of the large 4 banks. Over the last 40 years I have always held them in nominees as going back years when you needed to transfer the share certificates into your own name it was a 14 day exercise, it was better to hold in nominees because they were then always in good order and available if you wanted to sell in a hurry. With the 3 year holding period there is little opportunity to buy and sell within a week unless you want to be classified as a trader. Also to have the shares in a nominees account you have a certain degree of anonymity which I prefer, as the banks don't divulge the account holder details - other than SARS. I don't get notifications per my holdings of when AGM voting is going to happen, other than on my monthly statement it has a section covering forthcoming events and there they record details of when voting will take place at the AGM. However as your holdings are in nominees you need to obtain a proxy to vote at an AGM
Not everything that counts, can be counted, and, not everything that can be counted counts - Albert Einstein

T_Thunder

  • I've just arrived
  • *
  • Posts: 10
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
Re: ABSA's TFSA offering.
« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2015, 03:23:59 pm »
Thanks for the reply Mr_Dividend!

My plan was to do exactly what you have suggested. So I am currently adding to positions in the EE TFSA & Equities accounta and all transactions are under 5k until such a time that I have some more confidence and a clearer strategy to use. At that point I will then use some of my unit trust savings at a more reputable establishment. I'll be back for more advice and opinions then!