Bird Talk » Dollars & Sense

Posted date : Nov 4, 2017.

Dear Bird Talk, Like many snowbirds, I often get asked for my social security number (SSN) for financial purposes, such as applying for credit cards. In particular, AMEX will not provide a card unless I provide an SSN, and I particularly want an AMEX card because it is the only one Costco accepts. (I could […]

Posted date : Nov 4, 2017.

Dear Bird Talk, Re: Form 8840 Is this form mandatory or a nice-to-do thing? F. Helmink Terrace Bay, ON Response: Ed: This is the second most-asked question. The IRA in the United States (that’s the tax department) wants to tax you on your worldwide income! If you spend three months a year in the U.S., […]

Posted date : Nov 4, 2017.

Since I have a condo in Florida, I wonder if I can buy a car there and use it in Canada as my normal car, without having to make any transfer. This means that I would have to immatriculate my car in Florida and get insurance there. Would that be correct for the Canadian authorities? […]

Posted date : Nov 4, 2017.

Dear Bird Talk, Like many other people, I had the problem of not being able to use my credit card at the gas pumps in Florida because I did not have a U.S. zip code to punch into the pump. My solution was to phone MasterCard and temporarily change my billing address to my U.S. […]

Posted date : Nov 4, 2017.

Dear Bird Talk, I have run into banking fees regarding U.S.$ deposits from Canadian banks. Does anyone know of a bank in the Rio Grande Valley which does not have these fees? Richard in ON Response: Ed: This is an ongoing problem for many snowbirds. U.S. banks often charge deposit fees, they may hold up […]

Posted date : Nov 4, 2017.

Dear Bird Talk, I would like to warn CSA members about using ATMs in the USA, based on my personal experience. In early March, I attempted to withdraw US$300.00 from my CIBC Canadian account at a Chase Bank ATM located in a Walgreens Drugs outlet in Mesa, Arizona. Although I received a receipt stating that […]

Posted date : Nov 4, 2017.

Dear Bird Talk, We travel to Arizona in the winter and also like to use credit cards at the gas pumps. It took some time for us to be told of a solution, but there is one that works. We use a credit card – an American $ Visa this year, to avoid paying exchange […]

Posted date : Nov 4, 2017.

Dear Bird Talk, I read the letter from R.D. Burrows in the spring issue of CSA News. We spend the winter in southern Texas and have experienced the same frustrations when attempting to use a card reader at certain gas stations. There is no U.S. zip code attached to our Canadian credit cards and, as […]

Posted date : Nov 4, 2017.

Dear Bird Talk, Here is another suggestion. We obtained a Discover credit card in Florida using our winter address, which was completely acceptable. Discover is good in the U.S. only, as far as we know. If you have a U.S. winter address, then you have a zip code and we use it when buying gas. […]

Posted date : Nov 4, 2017.

Dear Bird Talk, I just read in the spring magazine about the problems experienced in Nevada, Arizona and California when using a credit card at service station pumps. We, too, ran into similar problems this past winter season all along the I-75 and throughout Florida. Upon investigation, we found out that virtually all service stations […]