A Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) is a secure investment product, where both the principal and interest are guaranteed for the term of the investment at a competitive rate of interest. GIC amounts of up to $100,000 are protected by the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC).

When your GIC matures, you can add to the amount invested when you purchase a new GIC.

Developing a laddered plan can be an easy way to help you maximize GIC returns while maintaining a secure portfolio. This method of investing (also known as a laddering strategy) can help you reduce the risk of interest rate fluctuations and potentially increase your portfolio's overall return. This is achieved by splitting an investment equally over all GIC terms (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years). Click here for more information on GIC laddering.

Typically you can only access your GIC upon maturity. Registered GICs can only be redeemed before maturity in the following circumstances:

• Withdrawing to participate in the Home Buyers' Plan
• Withdrawing for a Lifelong Learning Plan

Withdrawal due to extreme financial hardship (subject to approval)

GICs are eligible for deposit insurance from the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) up to $100,000. For further information, please contact CDIC directly at 1-800-461-CDIC (1-800-461-2342) or visit their web site at www.cdic.ca.

An RESP is a registered education savings plan that lets you contribute a lifetime maximum of up to $50,000 per child. Unlike an RRSP, your contributions to an RESP are not tax-deductible, but the investment income earned is tax-deferred until withdrawn. When income and any Government Assistance paid into the plan is withdrawn to pay for the child's education, it is taxed at the student's tax rate, which may be lower than that of the contributor.

• Tax-deferred growth — Although your contributions are not tax deductible, all investment income generated in the RESP is tax deferred as long as it remains in the plan
• Tax savings — When plan income and government assistance is used to pay for the child's post-secondary education, it is taxed in the child's hands. The child may pay little or no taxes on the money if they otherwise have little or no taxable income.
• Government Assistance (see next question below)

Basic Canada Education Savings Grant:

• As a savings incentive, the Government of Canada offers the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG). The government will contribute an extra 20% on the first $2,500 contributed every year, which amounts to an extra $500 per year, up to a maximum lifetime grant of $7,200 per child.

Additional Canada Education Savings Grant:

• Families that qualify, based on income, can receive an additional CESG
• Families with a net family income of $45,916 or less are entitled to an additional 20% grant on the first $500 of RESP contributions
• Families with net family income of more than $45,916 but not more than $91,831 are entitled to an additional 10% grant on the first $500 of RESP contributions
• These are based on 2017 income brackets. Income brackets are updated yearly

Canada Learning Bond (CLB):

• Available for children who qualify — The CLB is available for children born after January 1, 2004, who live in families entitled to the National Child Benefit. The CLB provides an initial $500 after the RESP is opened, and up to 15 annual CLB payments of $100 for each subsequent year that the children's family is receiving the National Child Benefit supplement. All CLB payments are deposited directly into the RESP account. The maximum CLB available for a beneficiary is $2,000. CLBs cannot be shared with other beneficiaries

Alberta Centennial Education Savings Plan (ACES):

• An initial $500 grant for beneficiaries born or adopted in 2005 or later, to Alberta residents. Subsequent grants of $100 are available for children enrolled in school in Alberta at age 8, 11 and 14, if their parents live in Alberta. Subsequent grants require a minimum matching deposit to the RESP of $100 per beneficiary, per request, within one year before the application date. All applications must be received within 6 years of the applicable birthday or date of adoption

In order for an RESP to receive government assistance, the child named in the RESP needs a Social Insurance Number. 

For an RESP mutual fund account comprised of individual funds, government assistance is paid monthly and deposited directly to CIBC Money Market Fund. For an RESP mutual fund account comprised of a portfolio, government assistance is paid monthly and is allocated proportionately to the various mutual funds in the portfolio.

Anyone! A family member, friend, relatives, or guardians can all open an RESP for a beneficiary. However, in all cases where the beneficiary is under the age of majority, the primary care giver (usually the parent or legal guardian of the child) must sign forms required by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), which administers the government assistance for RESPs. If the beneficiary is over age 18, the beneficiary must sign the HRSDC forms.

Minimum: To get started with your RESP offered through ¹Simplii Financial™, you can either contribute $25 a month or $500 as a lump sum.

Maximum: The lifetime RESP contribution limit is $50,000 per child. There is no annual maximum contribution limit. There may be restrictions depending on the type of plan and the age of the beneficiary.

Yes, in order to open an RESP through ¹Simplii Financial™, you must provide a Social Insurance Number for the beneficiary (child) named in the RESP. It is also a requirement in order for an RESP to receive government assistance.

Family plan RESP
With a family plan, you (the subscriber) can name more than one child as a beneficiary of the plan, but all beneficiaries must be your child, grandchild, great-grandchild or sibling, by birth or adoption. If the child for whom the plan was originally intended decides not to go on to postsecondary education, the funds can be used for another child named in the plan. 

Individual plan RESP
You can name only one child as beneficiary on an individual plan. He or she does not have to be related to you.

If you have a family plan, you can use the earnings to pay for the education of another child named in the plan. With an individual plan, you may have the option of naming another beneficiary, but government assistance may have to be returned to the government.

If no beneficiary chooses to pursue higher education, you may be able to transfer up to $50,000 of accumulated income earned in the plan tax-deferred from the RESP to your RRSP subject to these special conditions:

• You must be a Canadian resident.
• Your normal RRSP contribution limits apply. If you do not have sufficient RRSP contribution room, you may be able to withdraw plan earnings, however, some restrictions and additional taxes may apply.
• The RESP must have been in effect for at least 10 years and all RESP beneficiaries must be at least 21 and not currently seeking higher education, or all beneficiaries are deceased

You can always get back the contributions you made to the plan that haven't already been withdrawn but if they aren't used for the beneficiary's higher education, the government assistance in the plan may have to be paid back. You cannot transfer any government assistance amounts to your RRSP. If they are not used as educational assistance payments for a beneficiary, they are returned to the government.

In order to open an RESP account through ¹Simplii Financial™ and to receive government assistance into the RESP, the child named in the RESP needs a Social Insurance Number. Lifetime RESP contribution maximum: $50,000 per child. If more than one RESP is opened for the same child, total contribution amounts contributed for the child (including contributions by anyone other than you, and whether to the same or different RESPs) cannot exceed the allowable lifetime maximum.

In the mutual fund RESP offered through ¹Simplii Financial™, government assistance paid into the RESP is paid monthly and deposited directly to CIBC Money Market Fund. You can then change how that amount is invested in the usual way. Any government assistance paid into an Index Portfolio Rebalancing Service account is allocated proportionally to the various mutual funds in the portfolio.

For more information about RESPs, please call 1-888-723-8881.

An RRIF is a tax-deferred account designed to provide owners (annuitants) with a source of income after they have retired. It is designed to generate income from the savings accumulated under an RRSP or a registered pension plan. You can only transfer property to an RRIF from an RRSP, a registered pension plan, or from another RRIF. An RRIF is one option available when you are required to choose a retirement income option for your RRSP when it "matures", by December 31st of the year in which you turn 71. When your RRSP matures, you can choose from a number of options, including a taxable cash withdrawal, a registered annuity, an RRIF or any combination of these.

One of the most common options is to transfer your RRSP to an RRIF. With this approach, you can benefit from continuing tax deferral on the growth of the assets that were in your RRSP. You can establish an RRIF anytime, but it must be done no later than the year in which you turn 71. Once you establish an RRIF, minimum annual payments must start coming out after the year it is set up.

Your choice depends largely on the type of current retirement plan you hold. RRSPs are most frequently converted to a RRIF, in order to maximize continued tax deferral.

There is a minimum amount that you receive annually from an RRIF. This amount is calculated by the financial institution that holds the RRIF on the basis of the age of the account holder at the time of opening the account. Alternatively, the payments can also be calculated on the basis of the age of the account holders spouse or common-law partner. You have one time to make the decision of whose age to base the minimum payments on - before the first minimum payment is made − and it can't be changed after that.

A LIF is a life income fund (referred to as LRIF in Newfoundland and Labrador). LIFs are RRIFs that hold locked-in pension funds, funds that came from a registered pension plan Locked-In RRSP, or a Locked-In Retirement Account. LIFs must pay out the annual RRIF minimum but they also have maximum annual payments and other features based on the pension law that governs the locked-in funds.

A mutual fund is a pool of money managed and invested by investment experts. When you invest in a mutual fund, you're really combining your money with that of other like-minded investors. Each mutual fund has a professional investment manager who researchess, chooses and monitors investments for the fund. Each fund also has an investment objective, which determines the type of investments the fund owns.

¹Simplii Financial™ personal banking customers can purchase mutual funds through CIBC Securities Inc¹ CIBC mutual funds have approximately $6.4 billion in index funds under management as of June 30, 2017. CIBC Securities Inc. offers you:

• 12 index funds, a money market fund, and 13 unique Index Portfolio Rebalancing Service portfolios
• Canada's only index fund to track the Wilshire 5000, the broadest equity index in the U.S.
• An Index Portfolio Rebalancing Service to monitor and automatically rebalance your portfolio and keep your investments on track
• Competitive management expense ratios (MERs)
• A special management fee rebate for ¹Simplii Financial™ customers
• The flexibility to invest on your own terms − for as little as $25 a month

¹CIBC Mutual Funds are offered by CIBC Securities Inc., a subsidiary of CIBC. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed; their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Ask for more details.

You can access your mutual fund account online by signing in to your online banking, mobile banking through your smartphone or by calling 1-888-723-8881 and asking to speak to a mutual funds representative. There is no accessibility to your mutual fund account at CIBC bank machines.

No. The special offer by CIBC Securities Inc. for customers of ¹Simplii Financial™ is not available in Quebec at this time. CIBC mutual funds are not offered to non-residents of Canada.

You can request an account open kit either online or over the phone at 1-888-723-8881.

A management fee is the fee paid out of fund assets to the fund manager for investment portfolio management.

A management expense ratio is the management fee plus any other expenses incurred for the operations of the funds expressed as a percentage of the funds’ total assets.

All CIBC mutual funds offered to ¹Simplii Financial™ customers have fees paid by the funds expressed as the Management Expense Ratio (MER).

The only out of pocket fees that customers will pay are specific to mutual funds held in registered  plan accounts, and to the Index Portfolio Rebalancing Service (IPRS). There are semi-annual administration fees, withdrawal fees and account closing fees associated with registered plan accounts, and there is an annual fee associated with the IPRS.

For more information on mutual fund fees, call 1-888-723-8881.

With this special offer for ¹Simplii Financial™ customers, you'll receive a management fee rebate of 10 basis points, which translates into a savings of approximately 10% off of the current management fee. The special management fee rebate is calculated as follows:

• calculated daily, paid quarterly
• based on closing market value of the index funds within an account for the previous day
• paid to the investor's account through a distribution of additional units of the funds 
• considered income to non-registered account holders and reported on the Statement of Trust Income and T3 tax slips. Applicable sales taxes included

If you redeem or exchange all units of a mutual fund, you will be entitled to receive any accrued rebate up to and including the date of the trade.

No. The ¹Simplii Financial™ RRSP Loan cannot be used in conjunction with the CIBC mutual fund special management fee rebate offer at this time.

Mutual funds provide you with the potential to earn higher returns than some other investments such as fixed income securities, and provide for portfolio diversification. Diversification, which is often difficult or too costly for individual investors, may limit potential total losses. If one of the securities in the fund you own is losing value, its losses may be offset by other securities that are performing well.

Investing in mutual funds allows you to put your money to work, even if you have a relatively small amount of money to invest. However, mutual fund investing also has risks. Some mutual funds have relatively lower risk. Others have relatively high risk, but even then, they are generally less risky than an individual security because of the benefits of diversification. In general, the greater the risk, the higher the potential return on your investment. For more detail on specific risks associated with investing in mutual funds see the simplified prospectus and Amendment No. 1

In January of each year you will receive a year-end account report for each investment account you hold. The new report includes a detailed view of the performance of your account and our fees associated with it.

Your year-end account report will include text, tables and charts that explain:

• How your account’s market value has changed
• How your account has performed
• Fees you paid
• Fees paid by others in connection with your account