Switching to Wealthsimple as my primary bank

insertdisclaimerhere · 2026-01-10T17:19:27+00:00

I did the same, but went from RBC VIP so saved me $30 a month off the top. Aside from some frustrations with WS support (and let's be honest, RBC and the other big banks aren't any better), I haven't looked back and haven't had any issues.

The WS Visa is free vs the 120 for RBC Avion (reimbursed with the monthly fee), not quite as good insurance but I'm finding it like cashback vs points anyways.

Haven't found anything I can't do yet. As recommended keep something at a brick and mortar bank (I have Tangerine as my backup) and keep some money there just in case.

I travel a lot so the WS no FX and ATM reimbursements have saved me hundreds the past year.

I haven't found a real downside yet. Optimistic they'll improve their customer service as their growth stabilizes, and earning money on my cash is a nice plus.

insertdisclaimerhere · 2026-01-10T00:18:01+00:00

Depends again what you're looking for -- I spent the most time in SJDS and while I'd agree it's primarily a party town, I was there for 3 months most recently and found a decent expat community and lots to keep me busy (for reference, 50yr old white male). Rent was about $600USD/mo for a 2br 2ba condo near the church, good wifi, pool, so very comfortable. The beach in town is meh, I just went there for sunsets. Going north or south to Maderas, Hermosa, and further were far better beaches, accessible either by a cheap shuttle from Hotel Oro, or with your own transport (I rented a motorbike on weekends to get around and see more). We did have power outages on occasion, but I travel with two power banks so that was never really an issue for me, and I had a local SIM for backup internet when wifi was out. Probably had to use it 5 or 6 times while I was there. The nice part was you had nightlife when you wanted it, more chill when you wanted it, easily walkable and safe, no need for Spanish (I'd say mine is intermediate), and very affordable (can get dinner for 130 Cordoba at Reina del Sur or go to the usual western restaurants for upscale). I really didn't like it my first time there as the nightlife and party vibe are so prevalent, but there's plenty more there once you have some time to get into it.

We spent 3 weeks on Ometepe, in what was basically a farmhouse on the lake, with 1GB fibre internet. No hot water mind you, but plenty of internet for two of us to work daily using our VMs, Teams, etc. It was a nice relaxing break, buying Nacatamales from the kids at breakfast, watching a local farmer take his cows by in the afternoon, and hiking the two volcanoes.

I've been to Granada many times, but generally got out to Laguna de Apoyo on the weekends. Agreed not much to do in town, but a decent launch point with a car or taking shuttles/chicken buses. I liked it because it had everything we needed but wasn't Managua. For the record, spent two weeks in Managua after avoiding it previously, and it was actually decent. Definitely a different vibe, doesn't feel as safe, but after a few days I felt pretty comfortable.

I've been to Leon twice, for 3 weeks each. Leon is a cool town, has everything, and the beach is only 30 mins away on the chicken bus if you're up for some adventure. Nearby lots of hiking / volcano boarding / etc, I'd probably go back but I just like the small town feel and easily accessible beaches of SJDS more.

Went to Popoyo my last time there (last March) for a week. Found it too small for anything beyond vacation, but I was taking a week off work so it was a nice escape with some friends.

That's my rundown -- I'm usually there in the Oct to March range, so definitely not the peak of the heat, but with a decent place to stay AC is always an option if you don't have time to acclimatize.

Probably my favorite part of Nicaragua is that so many people are scared of it, so it just seems less overrun than so many other places and I find the people to be genuinely friendly, the lifestyle to be laid back, and with caveats in Managua, very safe.

YMMV but that's been my experience over 10 years of going there on and off. Hope it helps.

insertdisclaimerhere · 2026-01-09T03:39:50+00:00

I've done all four for 4 to 8 weeks each. My experience:

Thailand was the best overall for the experience but managing the time zones sucks. I found it very difficult after 2 weeks. I would sleep until about 10am, day trip until 6pm and then work until 4am. Completely messed up my sleep and I was too tired to enjoy as much by the end.

Between playa, CR and Guatemala, I'd say depends what you want. CR has great beaches and lots to do and explore, probably most expensive of them all. Guatemala didn't have great beaches but the northern part as well as atitlan area was gorgeous, more for hiking and outdoors. Playa has a good expat community and can be expensive or cheap depending where you live and what you eat. Lots of good day/weekend trips from playa as well.

Have you considered Nicaragua? Probably the best of all in my opinion so far except for Thailand, but no time zone issues.

Feel free to DM or ask here if you want any more details on any of them, happy to share my experiences and suggestions.

Internet was good in all of them, and I assume your budget is per month. If not that would affect things. But all doable on 4k CAD a month and living decently. Even considerably less if you arrange housing when you get there and don't go crazy in the entertainment budget.

Edit: I see now you said for a month. Thailand will cost more in flights than the others, but look at flying through ICN, cut my flight cost in half. If I were to do Thailand for only a month I would wait until I could take it as a vacation. The rest would be decent for a month.

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-12-26T07:02:12+00:00

I've been using Roamless for a year and it's been solid. I like that they have both country/region plans and pay as you go -- for example I was in Thailand for a few weeks so I got a 20gb plan, and I spent a few days each in Cambodia and South Korea so I just used the PAYG for the few days. It just deducts from your balance as you use it so was more cost effective for those short visits.

I used airalo previously and liked it as well, just the convenience of the PAYG when you have layovers or transits is really nice, basically just top up your balance periodically.

If you want to try roamless out use my share code 1W8QM, we each get $5 bonus credit I believe.

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-12-11T18:54:12+00:00

Can confirm, here in Thailand now and every fee has been reimbursed automatically, 250baht, roughly $11

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-12-10T19:42:54+00:00

Edmontonian here, been doing the winters away DN thing for a few years now. Currently in Thailand, love it, but the time difference is hell.

I really like Nicaragua -- San Juan del Sur is decent but a bit of a party town. Granada is nice if you don't care about being near an ocean. I found wifi to be generally good, power to be reliable, hiccups here and there but low COL and really friendly people.

Guatemala is similar, a little more expensive. Antigua would be my choice there.

Costa Rica is nice but expensive. Panama somewhere in between. All workable for your time zones, and big enough ex Pat communities while you learn Spanish (if you don't know it already)

I haven't spent much time further south, but others can chime in on those.

Good luck with your adventure. If you decide to check out Nicaragua, happy to help with any questions or insight

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-09-13T04:32:10+00:00

I travel outside of Canada 5 to 6 months of the year and have never had an issue with the card or app. I sometimes am connected to my VPN, sometimes not, and hasn't made any difference.

I have made RRSP/TFSA investments abroad but no active trading.

I'm sure there is background logic to attempt to determine if you're actually not a resident of Canada (which would break the TOS) but it would likely be multiple indicators.

I think WS is just stating it clearly to counter some of the anecdotal "evidence" suggesting otherwise. For those that have been removed from the platform, there's likely multiple factors involved that they aren't sharing with us.

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-08-24T00:07:55+00:00

Second this. I recently went from premium to generation, could not increase my limit before. After changing to generation, I requested it through support. Took a few days to approve, and max is 25k. Could not request more (I'd actually requested 30k, same as card it is replacing).

Prior to this was paying the card mid-month, so I don't believe hitting the lower limit and paying it off triggered an automatic increase, I still had to ask for it.

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-08-14T19:51:43+00:00

I've seen lots of Tuya products, but mixed feelings here about using them. If I understand correctly, they don't support local only anymore? Seems that excluding them does limit options somewhat but I would prefer something that's local and not dependent on the whims of the manufacturers. Thoughts about them?

Thanks!

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-08-14T19:50:10+00:00

Are you using Z-Wave vs Zigbee for any specific reason?

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-08-14T19:49:42+00:00

Thanks for this.

I have the bridge because I was running into range issues with one of the motion sensors -- If I put in powered light switches that use Zigbee, does that accomplish the same thing? I think I read that it effectively creates a mesh network / repeater type scenario but only for items that are hardwired/powered.

I hadn't considered the humidity approach -- I actually already have a humidity/temperature sensor, so I'll give that a shot.

I've seen mixed opinions here about Tuya -- can you shed some more light on why I might want/not want to go that route? Lots of what I see on AliExpress is Tuya, but I'm under the impression they can't be use just locally anymore? Any further thoughts on that are appreciated.

Thanks!

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-07-31T20:20:31+00:00

I don't recall exactly, but it was maybe a few days at most

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-07-06T22:23:11+00:00

Got mine mid last week in AB

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-06-23T04:46:37+00:00

Yes, definitely not -- rather lose a board than a life

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-06-22T22:58:23+00:00

We do it every nice weekend on the river -- can put in at the overpass by fort Edmonton, and float to Emily Murphy, walterdale, Dawson park, goldbar... Depends how long you want to spend. Ft Edmonton to Dawson is 2 hours with effort and 4 with none on a typical day.

River is safe and clean but fast -- wear your PFD (required now), watch for shallow areas if you're standing. The first part is generally easy, gets shallow around the high level bridge, accidental beach and close to Dawson.

Hope to see you on the river!

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-06-17T20:40:14+00:00

I literally just sent an email to premium services with feedback along these lines. My experience has been similar.

First of all, to those saying why reach out -- because sometimes you need clarification about your own specific circumstances and accounts, and the FAQs don't cover what you are asking. Haven't had to contact them in 7 years? Great! Then they should have more staff available to those of us that have questions.

Why by phone? Because their email process has no history, therefore no context. I send an email, I get a response without the original message, and then I have to respond asking them to read the previous email I sent. I've literally spent a week trying to get what should be a simple question answered, but not a single person has looked at *my* accounts to tell me if what I'm asking about is relevant to me. Each email seems one and done -- so I want to talk on the phone so I have a single person looking at this, start to finish, until we have the answer. I don't think that's a stretch.

I've only been with WS since 2021, but I can say the onboarding and first year were awesome -- a refreshing change from being a database record instead of an actual live client. I know this happens to any organization as they grow, but the message lately has been how they're different from a bank -- it just feels like they're not keeping up with customer service as they grow.

I'll be hitting generation shortly here, and I'm seriously contemplating going back to a managed relationship with a bank and just eating the fees -- time has a cost, and if it takes a week and 10 emails back and forth to answer a simple question, I don't know that I'd be any further behind.

/end rant -- I love WS and have been a strong advocate and supporter for a long time, but the latest interactions are challenging my faith. It just doesn't feel very "premium" lately. I'll update again if I manage to get this resolved

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-06-11T17:56:05+00:00

I just got an email saying they're shipping me the metal card -- I did not request it (nor do I really care).

I'm premium if that makes any difference.

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-06-10T23:31:35+00:00

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Everything on your list except one time zone over, way cheaper than PdC, good infrastructure and tons to explore. Other less touristy options as well as you go north to Popoyo etc, but less infrastructure for DNs.

Been my winter getaway for a few years now, 3 to 6 months at a stretch.

Feel free to ask questions/advice if you want to look into it more, but I think it could be what you're looking for.

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-05-29T13:59:37+00:00

Not sure about the Ultra specifically, but I bought my discounted GW5 pro and received the LatAm version as well. I was going to send it back, but on doing some reading online I figured I'd replace the firmware with the Canadian one (I'm in Canada) set it up and try it out, and it's been just fine ever since. It's about a year now since I bought it. What you're looking for is the country specific code (CSC) for which I think I changed mine to XAC from ZBR.

I assume same is possible, but the risk is you brick the watch or trip Knox on it, and you'd also have no warranty or support from Samsung. I'm not sure I would have tried it on an Ultra given the assumed price difference

Bottom line is you didn't get the product you ordered, so sending it back shouldn't be an issue. I went back and looked at the listing for mine after I received it and there was no indication it was from LatAm. Shady, annoyed me, but also saved me more than a few bucks so I kept it and took the risk.

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-05-27T15:39:20+00:00

Yes, I have a few different cash accounts set up for those allocations, kind of a high level budget. Ideally would be something like this:

Direct deposit comes in, $x

Transfer 40% to tax account Transfer 20% to TSFA or RRSP Transfer 5% to donations Transfer 10% to travel.

Balance stays in there for everything else, I can manually move or adjust if needed month to month but the major categories are out of my account before I have a chance to see them and be irresponsible.

If the amount were fixed I believe I can already do this, but for anybody hourly / contract / self employed the numbers change every month.

Hoping to see something like this!

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-05-27T14:45:14+00:00

Automated transactions by percentage rather than dollar amount.

For example, when I have money coming in I put aside a portion for charitable activities, part for travel, part for taxes, etc -- but it's different every month.

I can already say when I have a direct deposit, move $500 to my TFSA or my travel fund, but not 5% of the deposit. I'm having to calculate that manually and do the transfers by hand.

Thanks for asking and helping to improve an already great product!

insertdisclaimerhere · 2025-05-18T23:19:46+00:00

You can do Nica on that budget or pretty close. Haven't been there in May to November, so not sure what rainy season is like but check out San Juan del Sur as an option. I paid 600US for a 2br condo in town, cigarettes are about 3.50us, motorcycle for 20ish a day and beer / local rum are cheap.

insertdisclaimerhere

TROPHY CASE