What You Can Hold in Wealthsimple Trade

Trade is the part of Wealthsimple where I make my own investing decisions, so I went back to its product page to see how it's described today. What stood out to me was less any single feature and more how many account types sit under one roof.

The accounts

As the page lists them, you can open a TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, non-registered account, RRIF, RESP, LIRA and Spousal RRSP. I personally only use a few of those, but I like seeing them all in one app instead of juggling several providers. When I started, having my TFSA and RRSP side by side was a big part of why I stayed.

Fees, as the page presents them

The page says stock and ETF trades carry $0 commission, and that equity options have $0 commission on contracts. It also describes a tier system based on total assets with Wealthsimple: Core from $1, Premium from $100,000 and Generation from $500,000. Higher tiers are shown with higher chequing interest rates and some extra perks, like partner rewards. The page doesn't spell out FX fees, so for those I'd go check the fee details directly rather than rely on memory.

Features that caught my eye

• Stocks, ETFs, options, crypto and futures, listed together
• Access to IPO shares
• Gold trading, shown as available around the clock
• Household accounts, where you can invite a partner and trade on their behalf
• Technical analysis resources

The household feature is the one I find most interesting on paper. I haven't set it up myself, so I can't say how it feels in practice. I can see it being handy for couples who already manage money together.

My take

For me, the appeal is simplicity: one place for the registered accounts I care about, and a commission-free way to buy what I want. It doesn't make investing decisions any easier, though, and plenty of the extras (futures, options) aren't things I use. I treat this page as a snapshot of what's offered, and I'd always confirm the current details on Wealthsimple's own site before acting on anything I've written here.