Weekend Reading: Bank Fee Recap Edition

Earlier this month I sent out a note to our e-newsletter subscribers asking for feedback and examples of their most hated bank fees.  Incredibly, I received over 50 responses and stories about how the banks can nickel-and-dime us at every turn.

I was collecting the information for a feature story I wrote for the Toronto Star, which will be published next week.  Here are some of your responses:

On ATM fees:

Sandra said: “ATMs were introduced to make it easier for people to bank and for banks to provide cheaper services because there were no bank tellers to pay. Now it’s cheaper to bank in person.”

On business accounts:

Andy said: “I pay $39 for my business account per month, and $12 per month for a personal account.  Same service.  Rip off just because it’s a business.”

On email transfer fees: 

Mike said: “Recent increases to $1.50 for electronic and email banking transactions seem punitive to me.”

On account activity fees:

Brian said: “In the old days when a transaction involved person power time, charging me a fee if I went over the freebie limit I had no argument with, however, the limit has decreased and the processing of the item has become automated, so why the fees?”

On no-fee banking:

Bernie said: “About 12 years ago I switched to no-fee President’s Choice Financial.  Over the years I have saved hundreds in bank fees while accumulating thousands in PC points. I couldn’t have been happier with the switch!”

Garth said: “We switched to PC Financial in about 1999, so basically haven’t paid any bank fees since the last century! I can’t understand why people still pay bank fees when they don’t have to.”

Thanks to everyone who replied to the email and shared their stories.  If you haven’t signed-up for our free e-newsletter yet – what are you waiting for? Join over 3,500 members and sign up today.

Weekend Reading

Here are my top 12 personal finance reads from around the web this month:

Comparing Canadian Chequing Accounts Side-by-side

Urban Departures · Let’s take a look at the different options through a comparison of the chequing accounts available in Canada. Open this article

Dear Big, Enormous Bank With Little Competition, Please Blow My Mind

blog.springpersonalfinance.com · Imagine how happy your employees would be if you announced that all sales targets were abolished, and that their performance would be evaluated by how delighted the customers were with the level of service they received. Open this article

Stop Using Your Debit Card Canada!

HowToSaveMoney.ca · Canadians love their debit cards and for the life of me I can’t exactly figure out why. Open this article

My Banking Utopia

The Passive Income Earner · Ever wondered what banking could be like if it serviced you according to your preferences? Here are 4 services that would add to my banking satisfaction as a customer. Open this article

Do you qualify for the pension income tax credit?

BrighterLife.ca · It’s not just for seniors. If you report pension and/or annuity income in your tax return, you may be eligible to claim up to a $2,000 tax credit. Open this article

A Retirement Income Strategy

Michael James on Money · I find most rule-of-thumb strategies for drawing retirement income from savings very unsatisfying. Here I introduce my own candidate strategy for generating retirement income. Open this article

What I did with $100,000 and Dividend Income Update

youngandthrifty ·  I finally faced my investing inertia and did something with the $100,000.  I spent hours and hours thinking about it and finally took action. Open this article

Do I Regret Paying $2,000/mo Extra Into Our Mortgages?

Budgets Are Sexy · An interesting question was left on my blog recently, “With income slowing (hopefully temporarily) do you regret the 2Ks into the mortgage vs having it in your liquid or stock account?” Open this article

All-in-one simplicity: The portfolio in a box

The Globe and Mail · Investing these days is like sitting down at a restaurant with a 500-page menu. Even savvy investors can be overwhelmed by the number of investment choices available in Canada: Open this article

More DIY Investing Challenges

Canadian Couch Potato · In my last post, I looked at some of the biggest challenges faced by DIY investors. Here are a few more that need to be overcome if you want to be a successful DIYer. Open this article

Why Golf Channel, TSN and traditional cable are worth my $40 per month

My Own Advisor · Alright, I get it. Paying for cable is foolish because Over-The-Air (OTA) TV, subscribing to Netflix or using other online service providers to get content on your TV is fun, cool and less expensive than cable. Open this article

5 Financial Principles from a 34 Year Old Millionaire Investor

Million Dollar Journey · I asked regular reader Philip to share his story of how he grew his net worth to over $1M before the age of 35. Enjoy! Open this article

Have a great weekend, everyone!