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how to save money on currency conversion
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if you want to convert more than a few thousand dollars, one somewhat complex method is to have two investment accounts at a discount broker that operations both in canada and the usa, then buy securities for usd on a us exchange, have your broker move them to the canadian account, then sell them on a canadian exchange for cad.  this will, of course, incur trading fees, but they should be lower than most currency conversion fees if you convert more than a few thousand dollars, because trading fees typically have a very small percentage component. using a currency etf as the security to buy/sell can eliminate the market risk. in any case, it may take up to a week for the trades and transfer to settle.
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