Advice on money transfer business
"As soon as I see the word ""friends"" along with money transfer I think scam. But ignoring that red flag.... You will have American companies reporting to the IRS that you are a Canadian Vendor they have hired. Then you are transferring money to people in Bangladesh.  Assuming also that you fill out all the regulatory paperwork to establish this Money transfer business  you may still face annual reporting requirements to 3 national taxing authorities. In the United states there are situations where the US Government hires a large company to complete a project. As part of that contract they require the large company to hire small businesses to complete some of the tasks. In a situation where the large company is imply serving as a conduit for the money between the government and the sub-contractor; and the large company has no other responsibilities; the usual fee for providing that function is 8% of the funds. This pays for their expenses for their accounting functions plus profit and the taxes that will trigger. Yet you said ""At the end of the day, I will not earn much, but the transactions will just burden my tax returns.""  The 8 percent fee doesn't include doesn't include having to file paperwork with 3 nations.  Adding this to all the other risks associated with being an international bank, plus the legal costs of making sure you are following all the regulations...No thanks."
Hi,   This is treated as a electronic balance transfer. There may be a fee for performing this. Cash advance interest will apply on the EBT. You may get a teaser rate for a limited amount of time. After it expires, the normal cash advance interest rate for the credit card will kick in.   Check your credit card statement. Somewhere, you'll see a section listing the interest rates. One for retail purchases, one for cash transactions.   Do not do this. If you need to borrow money to pay off a large debt, do one of the following:  1) Switch to the lowest interest rate card your bank offers  2) Apply for a credit card with another bank that is offering a great teaser rate, transfer the balance, cut your living expenses and send every penny to paying off the balance before the teaser rate expires  3) If you cannot get access new credit or switch credit cards, seek advice from a professional credit counsellor on your options and the best one to choose  Sorry to ramble. I've seen far too many people fall into the debt trap. You don't want to go there.   Source: I work for a bank which offers credit card products. "In addition to the advice of @karancan, If you wish to stay strictly with GICs, there are better ways to find good GIC rates, than looking at advertising from institutions you are already dealing with. This site, http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/data/rates?order=d&pageType=gic_long&sort=IR1&page=1&tax_indicator=N (among others) display impartial GIC rates for many institutions and terms of investment, in sortable form. Many of these institutions allow on-line purchases and transfers, requiring only a ""regular"" bank account as a source/destination for on-line transfers..." If you use the account on a regular basis follow MrChrister's advice.   If you don't use the account very often the fastest method is to just transfer the money out and then call to close the account.  In the US there is no tax or credit score implications from closing an account. "&gt;The problem is that the Boomers will only start dying when GenX starts retiring.  Ah, but the key there is when GenX **starts** retiring (meaning when the OLDEST GenX'ers hit retirement age).  The younger GenX'ers will still be in the prime of their life (late 40's and 50's -- and so certainly able to own/operate the funeral homes, casket &amp; urn manufacturing operations, etc -- especially those who finally inherit their ""Silent Generation"" parents assets/savings).  &gt;While your advice made me chuckle, it is better directed at Millenials. :)  The GenY Millenials will certainly have the *opportunity* to benefit, but (especially the younger ones -- yet to reach adulthood) will likely be the ""menial"" labor of the Boomer ""death/dying\* boom"" (but as I have said in other places, they can probably pretty easily demand HIGH wages for said menial labor, because the demand will outweigh the supply -- thus the accumulated ""assets"" of the Boomers will {one way or another} be transferred to GenX &amp; GenY, even if it is a bit belatedly and perforce).  ;-)  \*It's not limited to the funeral part, there's gonna be BIG BUSINESS in things like nursing homes, and a high demand (and thus high wages) for bedpan changers, and sponge-bath givers, etc. (at least if the boomers want to be RESPECTFULLY treated by their sponge-bath givers... they will learn to ""tip"" with $100 bills for having their crack ""properly"" wiped, those who don't {or can't} tip will be left to ""stew"" in their own juices so to speak)." "To summarize your starting situation: You want to: Possible paths: No small business Get a job. Invest the 300K in safe liquid investments then move the maximum amount each year into your retirement accounts. Depending on which company you work for that could include 401K (Regular or Roth), deductible IRA, Roth IRA. The amount of money you can transfer is a function of the options they give you, how much they match, and the amount of income you earn. For the 401K you will invest from your paycheck, but pull an equal amount from the remainder of the 300K. If you are married you can use the same procedure for your spouse's account. You current income funds any vacations or splurges, because you will not need to put additional funds into your retirement plan. By your late 30's the 300K will now be fully invested in retirement account. Unfortunately you can't touch much of it without paying penalties until you are closer to age 60. Each year before semi-retirement, you will have to invest some of your salary into non-retirement accounts to cushion you between age 40 and age 60. Invest/start a business: Take a chunk of the  300K, and decide that in X years you will use it to start a small business. This chunk of money must be liquid and invested safely so that you can use it when you want to. You also don't want to invest it in investments that have a risk of loss. Take the remaining funds and invest it as described in the no small business section. You will completely convert funds to retirement funds earlier because of a smaller starting amount. Hopefully the small business creates enough income to allow you to continue to fund retirement or semi-retirement. But it might not. Comment regarding 5 year ""rules"": Roth IRA: you have to remain invested in the Roth IRA for 5 years otherwise your withdrawal is penalized. Investing in stocks: If your time horizon is short, then stocks are too volatile. If it drops just before you need the money, it might not recover in time. Final Advice: Get a financial adviser that will lay out a complete plan for a fixed fee. They will discuss investment options, types not particular funds. They will also explain the tax implications of investing in various retirement accounts, and how that will impact your semi-retirement plans. Review the plan every few years as tax laws change." "This is the biggest blunder I see in money handling.  ""Oh I'm a good person and everyone knows my intentions are good.  And they're really happy with me right now, so it'll stay that way forever, right?  So I can just do anything and they'll trust me.""  And then in hindsight 10 years later, the person realizes ""wow, I was really stubborn and selfish to just assume that.  No wonder it blew up.""  Anyway, to that end, your requirement that all the money be in one account and ""this will simplify taxes"" is horsepuckey.  No one will believe a legitimate financial advisor needs that, but it's exactly what a swindler would do. And that's the problem.  If anything goes wrong, their trust in you will be forgotten, some will say you intended to scam all along, and the structure will be the first thing to convict you.   Money makes everyone mistrusting.  Ironically, the concept is called a ""trust"", and there's a wide body of law and practice for Person X responsibly handling the money of Person Y.  The classic example is Person Y is a corporation (say, a charity) and Person X is on the Board of Directors.  It's the same basic thing.   The doctrine is:" You can make a capital contribution, not a loan. It's not a taxable event, no interest, and you can take a distribution later when the business has the money to pay you back. So yes, transfer the money. If you use software like Quickbooks, make use of unique accounts for tracking the contribution 1.  this is not the correct sub, try /r/Entrepreneurs or similar 2. Banks only care about 1 thing: collaterals with personal guarantee from the owners/shareholders of the business. Nothing else matters, don't waste your time with a business plan.  (Yes ELI: bank only give money to people who have money).