I think he is wrong.

Don't know about the Royal, but I had to pay some fees at Can. Tr. when I withdrew some, years ago when I was doing commiss. sales and not making enough to live on - was it $25. pr withdrawal? Sorry - I forget. That was a deposit account, where I paid no annual fees, but I never carried a self-directed with them.

I did have a self-directed with a stockbroker and the amount grew to large enough that they stopped charging fees on it. Same through a couple of amalgamations of carrier companies.

When my RRSPs were winding up, I moved them all into one RRIf, with that stockbroker.

When they told me that there'd be an annual fee on the RRIF account, I objected, saying that it was a carryover from my RRSP - to no avail.

So I contacted some other potential carriers, neither of which I'd wanted to have used, one dealing but I saw no reason to impart that information to the stockbroker.

As my pensions pay more than I need, I have a RRIF withdrawal yearly from my self-directed stock brokerage account, and I don't think that they charge a fee on it.

Goota go - library closing.

ole joyful

The librarian at that small library wanted to go home for supper - multiple staff here, so no problem.

Amendment to the previous message:
"So I contacted some other potential carriers, neither of which I'd wanted to have used, but I saw no reason to impart that information to the stockbroker."

Additional comment:
While the custodian of my RRIF account doesn't withhold tax when they make my annual payment (I just have them send the minimum allowable, late in the year), they provide me with a T-3RIF (or T-5RIF) about the amount withdrawn as current income which is added to my other income for tax calculation.

When one makes a withdrawal from an RRSP of up to $5,000., the carrier is required to withhold 10% (if I remember correctly) to send to the government at that time, then send you a statement ater year-end of the amount you withdrew, plus the amount withheld, as income from your RRSP, then state the amount that they withheld as tax, for addition to your income and withholding in that tax year.

If you withdraw up to $10,000 (or $20,000.?) the percentage withheld is 20%, I believe, which amount means that you'll have that much less cash in hand now - but that much less to pay when tax reporting time comes.

ole joyful

P.S. You may have read elsewhere around here that I, along with a few other personal financial advisors, and in contrast to the vast majority of them, don't like RRSPs much, in most circumstances.

o j