What is your LOC Thread

[FrankTheTank]

What year was it signed?: 2017

Bank Name: Scotia

Interest Rate: Prime - 0.25 (will stay the same during repayment)

Grace Period after Graduation from Residency: 12 months after residency/fellowship

Credit Card: Amex Gold/Momentum Infinite Visa (had to negotiate for the momentum)

Additional Perks: Whole $275k upfront, overdraft protection

[wwitb6945]

What year was it signed?: 2017

Bank Name: TD

Interest Rate: Prime - 0.25% (will stay the same during repayment)

Grace Period after Graduation from Residency: 12 months after grad

Credit Card: TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card

Additional Perks: $68750 release each year. I'm sure I could ask for more. Bonus portable bluetooth speaker. 

 

NOTE: After I left RBC, their rep emailed me saying:

Quote

but just to let you know that our internal department will soon release some great news about the Medical and Dental program which will enhance the student account package, credit card and the credit line itself.  Really hope that you will reconsider RBC again.

Anyone have a idea of what this may be? 

 Like this

[icanmakeyourmedrock]

1 hour ago, wwitb6945 said:

Anyone have a idea of what this may be?  Like this

2yr grace period and prime -.25% during repayment....unless this was already a part of your initial offer. 

[bundleofhers]

2 hours ago, wwitb6945 said:

NOTE: After I left RBC, their rep emailed me saying:

Anyone have a idea of what this may be? 

 Like this

There was a post on this in another LOC thread, but I believe they waive the annual fee for all 4 years on the Avion card with VIP banking.

[Goku]

What year was it signed?: 2017

Bank Name: TD

Interest Rate: Prime - 0.25% (will stay the same during repayment)

Grace Period after Graduation from Residency: 12 months after residency/fellowship

Credit Card: TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card (fees waived every year).

Additional Perks: Bonus portable bluetooth speaker ($200 value). All-inclusive banking plan (unlimited transactions, free certified cheques and drafts, no TD or network fee for non-TD ATM use anywhere in the world. Fees waived every year)

Advisor: Robert Valentini at Fairview Mall, Toronto

[justwannabeadoc]

29 minutes ago, Goku said:

What year was it signed?: 2017

Bank Name: TD

Interest Rate: Prime - 0.25% (will stay the same during repayment)

Grace Period after Graduation from Residency: 12 months after residency/fellowship

Credit Card: TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card (fees waived every year).

Additional Perks: Bonus portable bluetooth speaker ($200 value). All-inclusive banking plan (unlimited transactions, free certified cheques and drafts, no TD or network fee for non-TD ATM use anywhere in the world. Fees waived every year)

By every year do you mean until the end of residency/fellowship?

[Goku]

29 minutes ago, justwannabeadoc said:

By every year do you mean until the end of residency/fellowship?

Yup!

[Darkchrono]

20 hours ago, darthberry said:

There was a post on this in another LOC thread, but I believe they waive the annual fee for all 4 years on the Avion card with VIP banking.

Met with RBC today and indeed, no more fee for the VIP banking (unlimited transaction, multiples accounts, free interac, prime rate for mortage etc). The credit cards of your choice including Avion. 24 months after residency, prime -0,25%.

Very interesting and got a good service!

[palefire]

Did anyone here set up a LoC in Montreal? If so, which advisor do you recommend at TD/Scotia. The ones I've spoken to so far haven't been the most helpful

[Snowmen]

21 hours ago, palefire said:

Did anyone here set up a LoC in Montreal? If so, which advisor do you recommend at TD/Scotia. The ones I've spoken to so far haven't been the most helpful

Kyle Ives. He's either at CDN or might have moved to the Laval regional office, not 100% sure.

[palefire]

15 minutes ago, Snowmen said:

Kyle Ives. He's either at CDN or might have moved to the Laval regional office, not 100% sure.

 

I'll check. Thanks!

[MHCClassII]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to sign a LOC with Scotia and my advisor has told me that any other credit cards I have will have to be closed or their max limit will be subtracted from 275K. I haven't heard of this before- has anyone else encountered this? This is concerning since they're also not offering the momentum card. 

Thanks.

[Olaf]

1 hour ago, MHCClassII said:

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to sign a LOC with Scotia and my advisor has told me that any other credit cards I have will have to be closed or their max limit will be subtracted from 275K. I haven't heard of this before- has anyone else encountered this? This is concerning since they're also not offering the momentum card. 

Thanks.

That's definitely not something I had to do with my LOC that I just signed for at Scotiabank in Ottawa! I have had a Scene Visa card for years and am keeping it in addition to the gold American Express card that I signed up for along with my LOC, with no penalties. 

[Altemoc]

1 hour ago, MHCClassII said:

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to sign a LOC with Scotia and my advisor has told me that any other credit cards I have will have to be closed or their max limit will be subtracted from 275K. I haven't heard of this before- has anyone else encountered this? This is concerning since they're also not offering the momentum card. 

Thanks.

They told me this as well, but it was no big deal to me

[ameltingbanana]

Tuition is usually way more than those figures. At Mac, we pay on average $27 000 per year (x 3 years). Rent in most ON cities is much more than $400/m, even with roommates (the lowest figure I heard in my class was $700/m, and that's for Hamilton - imagine TO or Vancouver). As well, most students have to cover their own housing and transportation during electives (which it sounds like you're not interested in doing, but your mind might change depending on what you want to do). Finally, the CaRMS period involves a lot of travel in a short span of time (once again, it sounds like you're interested in remaining in Quebec but you might find that you need to branch out depending on where your career interests lead you). 

So your estimates don't really apply to the majority of medical students. If you don't need loans/if provincial assistance can cover you, that's great, but the average medical student in Canada leaves their undergraduate MD holding ~160K in debt (based on figures in 2012, if I recall correctly). And even if you think you don't need the LOC, it's good to have just in case (e.g. what if you decide you LOVE plastics, and need to book electives/housing/interviews far and wide) - you don't have to use it if you don't need it. Just my opinion.

Mind if I ask which school you're going to? $5000 tuition is unreal, as is the fact that they will be housing you x 2 years!

[ameltingbanana]

If you don't withdraw from the LOC/have a running balance, you shouldn't incur fees (that's my understanding at least). I'd recommend getting it - as you can see in this thread you can usually snag a credit card that's way beyond anything you can qualify for legitimately at this stage, as well as other perks like a better bank account, free checks, etc.

[JarBlues]

On 6/7/2017 at 10:31 AM, FrankTheTank said:

What year was it signed?: 2017

Bank Name: Scotia

Interest Rate: Prime - 0.25 (will stay the same during repayment)

Grace Period after Graduation from Residency: 12 months after residency/fellowship

Credit Card: Amex Gold/Momentum Infinite Visa (had to negotiate for the momentum)

Additional Perks: Whole $275k upfront, overdraft protection

Can you confirm that Scotia offered you prime - 0.25 that stays the same during repayment? I know that the prime 0.25 stays the same during grace period, but after the grace period is over my advisor told me that it gets changed to prime.

[mcatthrow101]

14 hours ago, smaz said:

They told me this as well, but it was no big deal to me

Same here, also just getting the amex gold and keeping my other cards since they are better than the passport

[van1466]

On 6/3/2017 at 5:35 PM, Snowmen said:

What year was it signed?: 2016

Bank Name: Scotia

Interest Rate: Prime (gonna take care of that once the school year is over)

Grace Period after Graduation from Residency: 1 year I believe

Credit Card: Visa Passport Gold and AmEx Gold

Additional Perks: 200k up front with an extra 75k during residency

Advisor Name, Review, Contact Info [Optional]:

Hey Snowmen! I have pretty much the same - I signed last summer at Prime - are we able to get re-negotiate for the prime -.25%?? 

 

 

[rmorelan]

52 minutes ago, van1466 said:

Hey Snowmen! I have pretty much the same - I signed last summer at Prime - are we able to get re-negotiate for the prime -.25%?? 

 

 

you can - if you have the right adviser they may already be looking at doing it for you. There seems to be resistance at some places for obvious reasons but welcome to the new competitive landscape. 

(which why getting a good adviser is key ha)

[Snowmen]

1 hour ago, rmorelan said:

you can - if you have the right adviser they may already be looking at doing it for you. There seems to be resistance at some places for obvious reasons but welcome to the new competitive landscape. 

(which why getting a good adviser is key ha)

If my adviser refuses, I'll just go at RBC and my girlfriend with me. I think he might say yes!

[ArchEnemy]

On 2017-06-07 at 0:31 PM, FrankTheTank said:

What year was it signed?: 2017

Bank Name: Scotia

Interest Rate: Prime - 0.25 (will stay the same during repayment)

Grace Period after Graduation from Residency: 12 months after residency/fellowship

Credit Card: Amex Gold/Momentum Infinite Visa (had to negotiate for the momentum)

Additional Perks: Whole $275k upfront, overdraft protection

Which Advisor did you speak to, to get the Momentum Infinite Visa fees waived?

[rmorelan]

13 minutes ago, Snowmen said:

If my adviser refuses, I'll just go at RBC and my girlfriend with me. I think he might say yes!

yeah that is (in a polite way) the correct approach

 

[quacksflaptogether]

On 2017-06-06 at 8:52 AM, Coronaxtra said:

Hey northo60,

I was told it would have fees waived for all years during studies (4 years for dental school). Initially, my advisor said no however, he did do it in the end when I got aggressive about staying with my own bank instead of switching to Scotia. Heard others had similar success when negotiating. Good luck!

Would you mind saying (or PMing) the city/branch gave you the Momentum Infinite? I'd really like that card too

[palefire]

21 hours ago, 1997 said:

Can someone explain why so many medical students have a LOC, where as students in other fields dont? Why does going to med school require so much more money? 

This is my first time living in a different city/away from parents and I don't know much about residency matching (and any fees/costs associated with that) so I might be forgetting something. Here's what I expect to pay:

Tuition: 5000$/y x 4y = 20 000$

Rent + electricity/heating/etc: 400$/m x 10months x 2 years (i think the school provides housing during 2 years of rotations so I will only be paying 2years of rent) = 8000$. I'll be living really close to the school/hospital, within 5min walking distance so I don't think I would spend a lot of money on gas.

Food: 300$/m (I don't cook well so I expect to eat frozen foods and take-out quite often) x 12m x 4y = 14400$

Medical tools: I'm assuming this would be 500$ max? I can find the PDF version of most textbooks online and I'm sure I could buy a stethoscope and other tools off of upper year medical students for a cheaper price.

I only expect to apply for residency spots in Quebec so I don't think transportation/housing would be a big expense, since I wouldn't need to take a plane or live in a hotel.

Wouldn't government loans be enough to cover this amount?

And would it be wiser to only use government loans, since the interest on a bank LOC accumulates right away where as for government loans, the interest only starts to accumulate after you graduate?

Sorry this post is probably super ignorant, but I was studying PT before and the tuition was about the same (5000$/y, 4 years) and no one in my program demonstrated any interest in taking a LOC, I don't understand why my peers who got into med from PT with me are all so obsessed with getting bank loans all of a sudden.

I had the same questions you did but then decided to have a LOC anyway. My reasoning was, I only have to make interest payments for it or any other sort of payments IF i end up using it at all. The quebec loans and bursaries should cover living expenses and tuition but it doesn't leave much else for me if i wanted to indulge myself ever. Second, once we have to start paying back the Quebec loan portion the interest rate is 3.2% where as on an LOC the interest rate for repayment is 2.45% currently. I was thinking i could pay off all the Quebec loan with my LOC after i'm done and then make repayments on the LOC cause of the lower interest rate. 

 

And finally, the LOC comes with pretty sweet account and credit card perks, which basically have their fees waived throughout the duration of our studies. It's almost like a free upgrade if you don't up using the LOC.