Norbert’s Gambit: The Savvy Way To Reduce Currency Conversion Costs

Technology and competition have dramatically reduced the cost of investing, but currency exchange remains one of the financial industry’s great rip-offs. Consider the rates posted on the Bank of Montreal website in early February 2014. On a day when the U.S. dollar was worth about $1.1018 CAD (according to the Bank of Canada), BMO was offering to buy U.S. dollars for $1.0745, while selling them for $1.1325. That’s a spread of over 5%,...