Comparing Financial Services Assignment Part 1: Investment alternatives

Transcription

1 Comparing Financial Services Assignment Part 1: Investment alternatives You will be using the website to complete this part of the assignment. 1) From the Products and Services menu (centre); select Bank Accounts. Next, explore both Compare Chequing Accounts and Compare Savings Accounts. After exploring each, briefly describe the differences between the two types of accounts. 2) Select Compare Savings Accounts a) Which is the only account that has unlimited debit transactions at no extra cost? b) Which account charges the most for additional transactions? c) Name 2 additional fees that are charged on some of the accounts. d) What interest rate would you receive if you had a TD Everyday Savings Account with $6000 in it? e) What interest rate would you receive if you had a TD High Interest Savings Account with $6000 in it? f) After comparing the different accounts, which one do you think would be best for you? Why?

2 3) If you explore the How our interest is calculated pdf, you ll learn the following: Daily interest is calculated as follows: Daily closing balance x interest rate for the appropriate tier divided by 365. This means, that if there is a balance of $600 in an account, for a month with 30 days the formula to calculate the interest, if the given rate was 0.05% would be, A = , which means that $0.02 was earned in interest. a) Calculate the amount of interest earned for the month of May, if $750 is in an account paying 0.06% interest. 4) Return to the Home page and again click on Products and Services. Click on TD Canada Trust Investing then GlC s and Term Deposits at the top of the left menu. Answer the following: a) What does GIC stand for? b) What does the name indicate about the risk factor for this investment? c) Where can GlC s be purchased?

3 5. Read the descriptions for the different types of GIC s and decide which would be the best option for the following situations. Explain why. Exclude the US GlC s and the specialty GlC s. a) Ralph got a $4000 bonus from work and wants to invest it somewhere, but he also wants to do some home improvements in the next few months and needs to be able to get at the money. b) Fran is 29 and just inherited $ She doesn t need the money now, and wants to invest the whole amount for her retirement. c) Dave is saving for a trip to Europe next year. He has $1000 to invest in a GIC. 6. Determine the amount of the following investments. From the GIC Term Deposit page, click Rate information in the Resource Centre window at the bottom of the page. a) How much would an investment of $3000 in a TD 1-Year Cashable GIC be worth at the end of a 1-year term? b) How much would a $10000 investment in a Term Deposit Long Term be worth in 5 years?

4 7. In general, what is the advantage of having an investment locked in for a longer term? 8. Click the Products and Services tab at the top. Select TD Waterhouse Investing then search for the following: What is a major difference between stocks and bonds? 9. Use the internet to look up the current price for the following stocks: a) Air Canada b) Sears c) Microsoft 10. If you had 500 shares in each of the previous companies, how much would your investments be worth? a) Air Canada b) Sears c) Microsoft

5 11. You bought 80 shares in Calculators Inc. last month for $ each. Presently, they are worth $ a) How much money have you lost all together? b) Would you want to sell them now? What factors would you consider? Part 2: Credit Cards You will be using the website to complete this part of the assignment. Major credit cards such as VISA and MasterCard are associated with financial institutions. TD Canada Trust for example, is associated with VISA. 1. Not all credit cards are the same. From the menu on the left, choose credit cards Refer to the chart included in your assignment. a. What is the interest rate for all the cards, except for the low interest card? b. Which cards have annual fees? c. Why might someone prefer the TD Gold Elite VISA card, to the TD Driver s Reward card?

6 2. Describe the type of person who might choose each of the following cards. a. TD Platinum Travel Visa Card b. TD Emerald Visa Card c. TD Green Visa Card Credit card bills 1. The following terms may appear on your credit card bill. Define what they mean with regards to a credit card statement. a) Previous balance b) Credit limit c) Available credit d) New balance e) Minimum payment f) Billing date (due date)

7 2. If a payment is made in full by the billing date, no interest is charged. a) This month, Cindy had a previous credit card balance of $45, bought a sweater for $25.50, paid for a dinner out which cost $55.00, bought a book for one of her classes for $62.25, and treated herself to 3 new CD s which came to $ She had made an early payment of $50. How much would she owe on her due date? 3. If the entire balance is not paid off by the due date, simple interest is charged from the posting date until the due date. a) Joseph bought a stereo system on his credit card on May 14 th for $ His due date is May 27th. The interest rate is 19%. He does not make any payments. How much interest would he be charged until his due date? Hint: There are 13 days between May 14th and May 27th, so t = b) What is his new balance?

8 c) After that, interest is compounded monthly until it is paid off. Joseph keeps ignoring his bills, how much will he owe on December 27 th? Use A = P (1 + a) n d) How much does he owe in interest? e) How much does he owe next May? f) He chose his credit card because it didn t have an annual fee, but he could have chosen a low interest credit card that only charged 6% interest, but had an annual fee of $120. After 1 year, which card would he have been better off with? By how much? 4. Answer the following: a) What type of people benefit from a credit card with no annual fee, but a high interest rate? b) What type of people would be better off with a low interest credit card, even if it has other fees?

9 Credit Rating You will use the website or to complete the next part of the assignment. If the answers aren t easily found, explore a little. Do your best they changed the website and have hidden or removed what used to be there. 1. Look for Credit Reports and a description of what they are. a) In 100 words or less, summarize what a credit report is. b) List the seven sections that are found in your credit report. i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) vii) c) Click on credit score basics. What suggestions do they have to improve your credit score (more than 1)?