Consumer Bulletins

Bulletin: Updated Consent Letter and What to Expect document

OBSI is pleased to announce the launch of our newly updated Consent Letter and What to Expect document.
 
Our Consent Letter is the document that consumers sign to allow us to begin investigating their complaint. In this letter, the consumer gives their permission for us to exchange information about them and their complaint with the firm involved and sometimes with another person if they have someone helping them with their complaint.
 
The consent letter ensures that consumers...

Seven Things to Remember when Considering a Group RESP

A Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) is one of many ways to save for your child’s education. When choosing an RESP it is important to shop around and to understand the range of different RESP types available in Canada. RESP types include individual plans, family and group plans. Banks, credit unions, investment firms and scholarship plan dealers provide RESP plans and investment products. However, group plans are only offered by scholarship plan dealers and they have very different restrictions...

Identifying and protecting yourself from fraudulent investment products or financial scam artists

Identifying and protecting yourself from fraudulent investment products or financial scam artists

The financial concerns commonly faced by seniors are at the forefront of Canadians’ minds during senior’s month, 2016. Many investing seniors are seeking to maximise their retirement income. In the current low interest-rate environment this often results in them steering away from conventional GICs or government bonds, towards higher-yielding investments that are often riskier than GICs and may have complex...

Not investing in typical GICs? Know your options

Stretching your hard earned savings becomes more important as you approach retirement. If you have a financial advisor, you can work with them to explore investment options that may help to maximize your retirement income.

In the current low interest-rate environment this often results in steering away from typical GICs or government bonds, and toward higher-yielding investments. The interest earned from a typical GIC is often not enough to provide the investor with a monthly income that will sustain...

Seniors investing with high risk

Is it true that “seniors cannot afford to take any risks” when it comes to investing?

We often receive complaints from seniors about investments that have lost money, and some suggest that any high risk investments should have been considered unsuitable by their investment advisor. While a client’s age and life stage are very important when determining suitability, there are misconceptions about seniors’ common characteristics. In reality, every investor, regardless of their age, will have...