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Lines of Credit for Medical Students (Scotia is the best option)


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3 hours ago, ploughboy said:

You need a new bank(er).  Or an insurance specialist. 

Get disability insurance.

 Is it really worth it? I feel like if something bad happened the insurance company is going to dick you around anyways. It's also ridiculously expensive for what the payout is. It probably is a smart idea but I avoided it. 

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Hi guys, could use some advice dealing with Scotiabank. 

 

I’ve been offered all the regular perks. Is it feasible to ask for the Amex+ passport infinite combo (i don’t want the momentum infinite), and free for med school + residency + grace period? Is that the standard with scotia this year?

 

Thanks and congrats to new 2018 students.  

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16 minutes ago, knispow said:

I’ve been offered all the regular perks. Is it feasible to ask for the Amex+ passport infinite combo (i don’t want the momentum infinite), and free for med school + residency + grace period? Is that the standard with scotia this year?

Yes that's the standard at Scotia: Gold Amex and Passport Infinite, fees waived for medical school, residency, fellowship, and 2 years grace period.

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38 minutes ago, DeeplySuperficial said:

When people are suggesting that med students get disability insurance for the LOC...do you mean get the insurance via the bank you are getting the LOC from or from some other insurance company?

The disability insurance isn't specifically for the LOC, disability insurance is to help with any costs should you be unable to continue your schooling/career (yes, LOC payments will be one thing your disability insurance will help with but you will also need money to cover things like basic living expenses depending on the disability, person's financial situation, etc.)

I did med school in Ontario so it may vary between provinces, but almost everyone I know got insurance from the OMA, and a few from RBC I believe. Personally with how cheap it is during medical school (especially via the OMA) I would recommend everyone gets it, you never know if you could get hit by a bus going to school one day and have your future changed forever. UofT in fact requires students (or at least used to) to have disability insurance to even be eligible for their financial aid program.

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40 minutes ago, futurefamilydoc said:

The disability insurance isn't specifically for the LOC, disability insurance is to help with any costs should you be unable to continue your schooling/career (yes, LOC payments will be one thing your disability insurance will help with but you will also need money to cover things like basic living expenses depending on the disability, person's financial situation, etc.)

I did med school in Ontario so it may vary between provinces, but almost everyone I know got insurance from the OMA, and a few from RBC I believe. Personally with how cheap it is during medical school (especially via the OMA) I would recommend everyone gets it, you never know if you could get hit by a bus going to school one day and have your future changed forever. UofT in fact requires students (or at least used to) to have disability insurance to even be eligible for their financial aid program.

yeah the disability insurance has nothing to do with the LOC. 

I have run into people that get disabled as residents or medical students - MS for instance. Out of the blue they basically cannot work again in their area. That is the point of disability insurance. Stuff like that happens, and it is logical to take steps.

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7 hours ago, Canadiens1234 said:

 Is it really worth it? I feel like if something bad happened the insurance company is going to dick you around anyways. It's also ridiculously expensive for what the payout is. It probably is a smart idea but I avoided it. 

Who are you getting your quotes from?  The plans we were being pitched when I was a med student were quite inexpensive.

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2 hours ago, rmorelan said:

yeah the disability insurance has nothing to do with the LOC. 

I have run into people that get disabled as residents or medical students - MS for instance. Out of the blue they basically cannot work again in their area. That is the point of disability insurance. Stuff like that happens, and it is logical to take steps.

 

I'll insert my usual rant here:  http://forums.premed101.com/topic/82029-are-you-guys-getting-the-cfms-disability-insurance/?tab=comments#comment-928791

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18 minutes ago, Snowmen said:

The plans in Quebec are either free during medical school or pretty cheap. Not more than a disability insurance on the LOC.

Who offers these plans in Quebec?
Are you only eligible for the OMA disability insurance if you're a resident of Ontario? What about CMA insurance? When I looked into becoming a CMA member earlier, it seemed you had to be a member of OMA which I thought was only for Ontarians

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22 minutes ago, cacaonibs said:

Vous trouverez le site ci-dessous:

https://www.sogemec.qc.ca/en/etu/produits/medical-student-disability-insurance.html

mais je pense que c’est moins bon que celui d’AMQ. Mais celui d’AMQ a un premium qu’on doit payer chaque année. 

Not surprising given that it's free, although I couldn't find those details on the site, along with how much they cover (I guess I have to request information). Is it possible to have both? Seems beneficial to sign up with QMA earlier (75$ premium isn't bad) to get more coverage later on. Does Sogemec's plan get better/become comparable to QMA's plan after medical school?

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12 hours ago, Eudaimonia said:

Not surprising given that it's free, although I couldn't find those details on the site, along with how much they cover (I guess I have to request information). Is it possible to have both? Seems beneficial to sign up with QMA earlier (75$ premium isn't bad) to get more coverage later on. Does Sogemec's plan get better/become comparable to QMA's plan after medical school?

Yes, you can have multiple insurances. Because I had surgery, I'm not eligible for the Sogemec one so I have the AMQ/CMA insurance since it doesn't require a medical and then I complete the difference between the AMQ's coverage and RBC's coverage with an RBC insurance, the reason being that RBC has an exclusion period for known-conditions of 2 years after every coverage increase while the AMQ doesn't. Therefore, say I'm covered for 6000$ or wtv by the AMQ and then an extra 4500$ with RBC, if something happens out of the exclusion period, I get the full 10 500$ but I can still get 6000$ if something happens during the exclusion period. Not sure if that was clear.

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14 hours ago, ploughboy said:

it is a good rant ha - and just to say it again I see that sort of stuff all the time as well. Honestly there were probably 3 examples that would fall into that category last night on call alone.

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7 hours ago, Roronoaa said:

does anyone know if pre-existing credit card debt will affect my ability to get the student LOC? I have about 10k in credit card debt and 20k student loans. I have great credit as I've never missed a payment. 

I had more debt than you and got the LOC without issue. 

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12 hours ago, Roronoaa said:

does anyone know if pre-existing credit card debt will affect my ability to get the student LOC? I have about 10k in credit card debt and 20k student loans. I have great credit as I've never missed a payment. 

The debt isn't a problem, just that your 10k in credit cards will limit the credit cards they can give you. You could always move your credit card debt over to the Loc.

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1 minute ago, PhD2MD said:

The debt isn't a problem, just that your 10k in credit cards will limit the credit cards they can give you. You could always move your credit card debt over to the Loc.

Hm. How it worked for me was a dollar for dollar decrease in my LOC - they don't really care if it's credit cards or your personal loans or student loans. For example, you have $275K of professional LOC that you qualify for, but for each dollar you have as your existing credit card limit, you will get a dollar reduction. For example, I had two personal credit cards with limits that totalled $10K before signing up for the $275K LOC. They told me that I would get a dollar-for-dollar reduction and be eligible for only $265K as a result. They said that once I cancel my existing credit cards, then they will raise it back up to $275K. Your Scotia cards they give you have nothing to do with this process as they are in excess of the $275K room. 

 

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Almost 3 weeks since the acquisition of MDFinancial by Scotia. Scotiabank advisors: I can see that the bank has yet to make an official announcement and I get that not too much detail can be released here prior to that. Would you be able to provide any colour on whether or not it is worth waiting for the announcement before signing up, particularly if we are not in a rush to get LoC funds?

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1 hour ago, la marzocco said:

Hm. How it worked for me was a dollar for dollar decrease in my LOC - they don't really care if it's credit cards or your personal loans or student loans. For example, you have $275K of professional LOC that you qualify for, but for each dollar you have as your existing credit card limit, you will get a dollar reduction. For example, I had two personal credit cards with limits that totalled $10K before signing up for the $275K LOC. They told me that I would get a dollar-for-dollar reduction and be eligible for only $265K as a result. They said that once I cancel my existing credit cards, then they will raise it back up to $275K. Your Scotia cards they give you have nothing to do with this process as they are in excess of the $275K room. 

  

I was told that revolving credit was different, ie: anything you've got that's revolving credit is taken dollar-for-dollar from the credit cards.

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1 hour ago, Organeer said:

Almost 3 weeks since the acquisition of MDFinancial by Scotia. Scotiabank advisors: I can see that the bank has yet to make an official announcement and I get that not too much detail can be released here prior to that. Would you be able to provide any colour on whether or not it is worth waiting for the announcement before signing up, particularly if we are not in a rush to get LoC funds?

I can’t speak to the acquisition of MD as I know about as much as you at this point.  The changes that are coming were already in process before the acquisition took place.

 I have been in touch with the product people to get an update and it sounds like we should have the updates by the end of the month.

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