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Residency LOC question


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So Im a resident now, and just wanted some advice.

 

Im with scotiabank, and only used 67k on my LOC (plus OSAP) in med school. Now that im in residency, I have needed to use a good amount more (lifestyle, needed to buy a car).

 

However, as a resident apparently we can only get 20k/year. The overall max is 300k apparently or something like that, and I have only used about 90k, but I am running into the upper limit bc I am a resident and for some reason at this point theyll only give 20k a year!

 

Has anyone run into this? Can anything be done? Im really frustrated bc I was responsible in med school and tried to not spend money, and now that I need it its not there!!

 

Chris

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So Im a resident now, and just wanted some advice.

 

Im with scotiabank, and only used 67k on my LOC (plus OSAP) in med school. Now that im in residency, I have needed to use a good amount more (lifestyle, needed to buy a car).

 

However, as a resident apparently we can only get 20k/year. The overall max is 300k apparently or something like that, and I have only used about 90k, but I am running into the upper limit bc I am a resident and for some reason at this point theyll only give 20k a year!

 

Has anyone run into this? Can anything be done? Im really frustrated bc I was responsible in med school and tried to not spend money, and now that I need it its not there!!

 

Chris

 

Both BMO and RBC will be more flexible with the rate of dispensing money, especially if you tell them that you have a bunch of upfront expenses that you need to pay for now (car etc.).

 

Go to Scotiabank. Tell them what you need and tell them if they aren't willing to work with you, BMO and RBC are more flexible, and you will take your business to them. That'll get their attention.

 

Remember, the banks make money off you. If they aren't being helpful, you can always switch. Don't give your money to someone who isn't willing to work for it.

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So Im a resident now, and just wanted some advice.

 

Im with scotiabank, and only used 67k on my LOC (plus OSAP) in med school. Now that im in residency, I have needed to use a good amount more (lifestyle, needed to buy a car).

 

However, as a resident apparently we can only get 20k/year. The overall max is 300k apparently or something like that, and I have only used about 90k, but I am running into the upper limit bc I am a resident and for some reason at this point theyll only give 20k a year!

 

Has anyone run into this? Can anything be done? Im really frustrated bc I was responsible in med school and tried to not spend money, and now that I need it its not there!!

 

Chris

 

Can't say I have run into that at all - and I have used much more than that as a resident with scotia.

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yes, much more.I mean A LOT more.

 

Well Im at kind of a loss!! My scotiabank said there was no more I can get (despite being no where NEAR the upper total limit). Does anyone know if the banks have some kind of central experts somewhere for LOCs? Like is there a GTA scotiabank location that is pro at this and could better help me out? I live in toronto and my scotiabank branch is in torontos burbs.

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Well Im at kind of a loss!! My scotiabank said there was no more I can get (despite being no where NEAR the upper total limit). Does anyone know if the banks have some kind of central experts somewhere for LOCs? Like is there a GTA scotiabank location that is pro at this and could better help me out? I live in toronto and my scotiabank branch is in torontos burbs.

 

I am a bit confused as well - I mean there isn't even a tracker for a limit on my scotia account, I could go in tomorrow and withdraw significant assets without verification. How are they even stopping you from using the LOC?

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I am a bit confused as well - I mean there isn't even a tracker for a limit on my scotia account, I could go in tomorrow and withdraw significant assets without verification. How are they even stopping you from using the LOC?

 

:( I need your style of LOC!! I am really wishing scotia had someone on here to give advice like RBC does lol living paycheck to paycheck at this stage is brutal...like I would switch banks over this if I needed to

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:( I need your style of LOC!! I am really wishing scotia had someone on here to give advice like RBC does lol living paycheck to paycheck at this stage is brutal...like I would switch banks over this if I needed to

 

what, a scotia rep on the forum? There are two actually, and one is relatively active. We generally let me be pretty low key (I mean the forum is not an advertising board but still the information they can provide is very important).

I will rattle the cage as it were :)

 

You must have something that is restraining your income for you to be that short on 50K a year - probably being in TO doesn't help!

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If you are living alone in DT TO you are probably gonna cut into your junior resident salary. It is easy to spend 15,000-20,000 a year on rent in TO. If you factor in a car you will up this further quickly. This is unless you have done something very specific to avoid such expenses.

 

A side bonus to being outside of TO as a resident is that you may actually chip away at that LOC if you don't live like staff. I wouldn't choose a residency location based on this point. But is nice to be less "in the red".

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A side bonus to being outside of TO as a resident is that you may actually chip away at that LOC if you don't live like staff. I wouldn't choose a residency location based on this point. But is nice to be less "in the red".

 

I would change "don't live like staff" to "live relatively frugally"

 

Even living at 1/3 the level of my staff would easily blow through my residency pay. Hell, if I lived like my friends who aren't big spenders but are 5-8 years into good careers (where I would be now if I didn't do medicine), I'd still have to dip into the LOC.

 

IMO, the key to paying back LOC during residency: Get a spouse with a decent job.

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Hi Chris

 

Every Situation that we run into is a bit different. We certainly don't monitor how you pull money out of your line of credit on a day to day basis. If you have the money already available you should be able to pull out as much as you have available. If you would like to get in touch with me I can have a look at your accounts for you.

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The issue OP is having is that they set a max limit on how much you can pull each year. For example if you owe 80k and they will let you take 20k/year, they will only give you 100k total and then extend it to 120k the year after. So while you can do whatever you want with your LOC, they have already put a limit on how much you can take from.

 

Go talk to the bank and ask for a limit increase as they are generally okay with doing that. I got mine moved from 200k to the full 275k in my first year of residency when I explained I wanted to dump all of my student loans into my LOC and have some money left over for a car.

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The issue OP is having is that they set a max limit on how much you can pull each year. For example if you owe 80k and they will let you take 20k/year, they will only give you 100k total and then extend it to 120k the year after. So while you can do whatever you want with your LOC, they have already put a limit on how much you can take from.

 

Go talk to the bank and ask for a limit increase as they are generally okay with doing that. I got mine moved from 200k to the full 275k in my first year of residency when I explained I wanted to dump all of my student loans into my LOC and have some money left over for a car.

 

Possible - at least there is another rep from scotia that can also act as an intermediary as well if there is some local bank issues. As you can imagine the banks don't exactly what to cover off as being inferior to any other bank - banking is all about service. Any way the OP asked so I brought him into the loop.

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This is another reason it is very important to make sure you are dealing with an advisor that deals with Professional Lines of Credit on a regular basis. They are a product that most advisors will rarely encounter. Therefore you may not get the proper advice or obtain all of the benefits. If you have any questions in regards to your existing product or want information on our products please feel free to e-mail me.

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  • 3 months later...
This is another reason it is very important to make sure you are dealing with an advisor that deals with Professional Lines of Credit on a regular basis. They are a product that most advisors will rarely encounter. Therefore you may not get the proper advice or obtain all of the benefits. If you have any questions in regards to your existing product or want information on our products please feel free to e-mail me.

 

This is very true. It is best to deal with a Scotia Professional Student Plan Advisor, as not every branch will know how to properly deal with these accounts. You can find a list of faculty-specific reps for each city/university here:

 

http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/common/pdf/personal_banking/Scotiabank_SPSP_representative_English.pdf

 

I would highly recommend dealing with someone on that list as opposed to just any small business advisor for your SPSP needs.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I wouldn't necessarily aim to pay back the entire LOC by the end of residency, but you should be able to avoid adding to it by living a normal middle class lifestyle. After tax pay is around $3000 per month in most provinces, which is around the median income for Canadians. Don't get sucked into the conspicuous consumption of your colleagues, live like an average Canadian, and you'll be in great shape at the end of residency. Oh, and don't buy a house, the expenses go up drastically and mobility is very useful when transitioning to permanent employment.

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  • 3 months later...

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