Latest news with #fees
Android Authority
4 days ago
- Business
- Android Authority
T-Mobile is ruining almost all of its plans with new taxes and fees charges
Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR T-Mobile will reportedly start charging taxes and fees on top of its tablet, smartwatch, and hotspot plans. Previously, these plans were still available with taxes and fees included in their monthly prices. The change is said to take effect as early as today, with wording on T-Mobile's website suggesting they're already rolling out. Earlier this year, T-Mobile made a pretty significant change (read: downgrade) to its unlimited plans. After almost a decade of bundling taxes and fees into its prices, T-Mobile stopped doing this when it rolled out its Experience plans in April. Now, it looks like T-Mobile is preparing to start charging taxes and fees for almost every plan it sells. If you visit the T-Mobile website today, you'll see that taxes and fees are an additional charge for all of the carrier's cell phone plans. However, T-Mobile's other plans for tablets, smartwatches, and hotspot data still bundle taxes and fees into the monthly price. According to 'multiple sources' from The Mobile Report, this will soon be changing. For example, T-Mobile's Watch Plan Plus currently costs $15/month, with taxes and fees included in that $15 price. But if The Mobile Report's sources are correct, that'll soon be $15/month plus extra taxes and fees on top of it. The same is true for T-Mobile's Tablet Unlimited Plan, 25GB mobile hotspot plan, and virtually every non-cell phone plan T-Mobile sells. T-Mobile smartwatch plans as of June 18, 2025 T-Mobile tablet plans as of June 18, 2025 The Mobile Report claims that the extra taxes and fees on top of T-Mobile's additional plans may take effect either today or sometime soon after today (June 18). At the time of publication, T-Mobile's website still states that taxes and fees are included in its smartwatch plans, though its tablet plans indicate you'll pay the listed price 'plus taxes and fees.' The Wayback Machine indicates that tablet plans were still showing 'taxes and fees included' as early as June 5, so something has clearly changed recently. That said, there is some good news. Anyone who's currently signed up for a tablet, smartwatch, or hotspot plan with taxes and fees included in the price will be grandfathered into that, meaning your price for those plans will stay the same. Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority Additionally, and somewhat confusingly, it's also reported that T-Mobile's home internet plans, which currently charge taxes and fees in addition to the monthly rate, will soon include those taxes and fees in their listed price. It's a bizarre move when T-Mobile is doing the opposite for all of its other plans, but that's what's supposedly happening. As someone who recently left T-Mobile after being a customer for 10 years, this latest move from the company doesn't surprise me, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing. Not having to worry about extra taxes and fees on top of my monthly bill was one of the main reasons I signed up for T-Mobile in the first place. But, obviously, that's no longer something the carrier is interested in. We've reached out to T-Mobile for comment and will update this if/when we hear back.
SBS Australia
5 days ago
- Business
- SBS Australia
Power price hikes to be capped in some states under new government reform
Power price hikes to be capped in some states under new government reform Published 18 June 2025, 8:51 am Households along Australia's East-Coast will soon get greater protection from electricity price gouging and unjustified fees under government reforms intended to limit price hikes. It follows a 16.3-percent rise in national electricity prices over the March quarter as energy rebates came off in some states.
Bloomberg
13-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
The Race to Zero in ETF Fees
Bloomberg The Open According to the latest research from Bloomberg Intelligence, there could be a big sea change if the race to lower ETF fees is over. Athanasios Psarofagis has more on "Bloomberg Open Interest." (Source: Bloomberg)
Daily Mail
07-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
The expensive funds that ARE worth paying for
If there's one thing that's guaranteed to gnaw away at your wealth, it's fees on the funds you invest in. Managers take a slice of your investments every year – and the more they take, the less there is left for you. The impact can be dramatic. If you put £10,000 in a fund that earned 6 per cent a year, you would be sitting on £38,131 after 25 years if the annual fees were 0.5 per cent. But if fees were 1 per cent you'd have just £33,865, and if they were 2 per cent you'd have £26,662 – and would have paid £16,250 in fees. So why would you ever pay fees for a fund that are several times higher than others that hold investments in the same sector? We investigated if it's ever worth paying for the most expensive funds available. What is expensive? Fierce competition and regulatory pressure have forced down fees over the past decade to ensure that investors get a better deal. Actively managed investment funds – those curated by an expert – now charge an annual fee of 0.89 per cent on average, according to regulator the Financial Conduct Authority. Passive funds that follow an index instead of relying on experts are cheaper still – sometimes as low as 0.1 per cent a year. But research for Wealth & Personal Finance reveals there are still 255 funds that charge 1.5 per cent or higher. Their annual charge is a hefty 1.69 per cent on average, compared with the average across their rivals of 0.66 per cent. For every penny more an investor pays in charges, the manager must produce greater returns to outperform the market. Analysis of the funds by research firm Morningstar shows they don't always manage it – but some do. Some 17 of the 255 dearest funds were in the bottom 10 per cent (decile) of performers in their fund sector over one, three and five years. A further 10 were in the bottom decile for two out of three of these time periods. But several funds have consistently outperformed. Eight funds were in the top decile of their sector in all three time periods, and a further seven were top in two out of three of the periods. The Artemis UK Select fund, for example, charges 1.55 per cent compared to an average charge of 0.4 per cent across the UK All Companies sector. It is a top performer over all three time periods and has delivered annualised returns of 19.5 per cent over five years. The Schroder Income fund charges 1.64 per cent, more than double the 0.8 per cent average for its peer group. Over five years it has produced annualised returns of 15.3 per cent, putting it in the top decile of its sector. Ben Yearsley from fund experts Fairview Investing says: 'There is an unhealthy obsession with fees, but the fact is there is no real correlation between charges and performance. If you can deliver consistently after fees, regardless of what the market is doing, then does it matter what the fee is?' When it is worth paying more Darius McDermott, from ratings agency Fund Calibre, says: 'No one should say that charges don't matter, because they do, but the more important question is: did you pick the right fund? Because the right fund will still outperform, even if it is more expensive.' The first check to decide if it is worth paying for an expensive fund is to compare it to similar ones. If you can find another fund doing the same thing for much less, consider switching. Take a look at the annual performance after fees. If the performance is higher even when fees are factored in, it may be worth the money. Also check how much money is invested in the fund – a statistic known as the assets under management (AUM). This information should be easily available in the fund's key investor information document. Smaller funds are sometimes justified in charging more because many of the running costs are fixed, such as the authorisation and legal costs. However, as the fund grows they should pass on the savings, says Yearsley. 'Funds should be passing on the economies of scale as they grow – a £20 billion fund charging 2 per cent would be hard to justify,' he adds. Funds in specialist areas, such as property or infrastructure, may also have higher costs, which are passed on to investors. When checking how well a fund is doing, Yearsley recommends that you should look at the performance across individual years, rather than cumulative figures across several. 'This will help you see a pattern: whether the fund is routinely under- or over-performing, rather than having one very good or bad year that has distorted the overall picture,' he says. These figures can be found on the fund factsheet or through investment platforms and fund research websites. ...and when to switch Paying more does not always get you more – you may be able to invest in the same fund for cheaper simply by switching share 'class'. Some funds have several share classes, which are the same except for their price. Older, so-called 'legacy' share classes, tend to be more expensive because they were created before regulation forced fund managers to strip out commission fees and other excess charges from the cost of investing. Ask your investment platform or contact the fund firm if you are not sure if a cheaper version is available. McDermott points to the Jupiter India fund as one example. It is a top-performing fund, but investors in its most expensive L share class have seen returns of 166 per cent over five years, while those in its cheapest X share class enjoyed 180 per cent returns. 'Even the most expensive share class has beaten the market, but it does still affect your returns,' says McDermott. 'The greater the performance, the bigger the impact of the charges.' So how do funds justify their higher fees? Toby Gibb, head of investment solutions at fund house Artemis, says it is doing its best to encourage investors out of more expensive share classes and that most were now in cheaper versions. He adds: 'If managers are to do better than the market, they must conduct huge amounts of research, and often need specialist external research too. We think the long-term performance of these funds demonstrates that that's worth paying for.' A Schroders spokesman says: 'Our goal is to ensure that clients are invested in the share class that provides the best value based on their investment approach. 'We conduct a semi-annual automatic conversion to cheaper share classes for investors that have had their adviser removed.' Jupiter has been approached for comment. How to work out what you're paying Check the fund factsheet. This should list the annual management charge (AMC), which is displayed as a percentage. It might also be called the ongoing charge figure (OCF) or total expense ratio (TER). Check which share class you are in. Some investment platforms offer cheaper share classes, so you will need to check with your platform exactly what you're paying. Don't forget other fees. Remember the fund charge is on top of your platform fee, so factor this into calculations when considering the overall cost of investing.
The Sun
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Major bank to axe fees for thousands of customers using their debit cards abroad this summer
A MAJOR bank will axe fees for customers using their debit cards this summer. Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, said Rewards customers will no longer be charged a fee for using their debit card abroad. 1 Rewards customers are currently charged a 2.99% fee for using their debit card abroad. That means customers are currently charged an extra £2.99 for using their debit card to pay £100 abroad. However, Halifax said it is waiving the fee for Rewards users come August 1. It comes as part of a shake up of current account offer, which will also see "Extras" for Rewards current account holders axed. Currently, Halifax charges a £3 monthly fee to run this bank account and customers are given freebies in return for hitting certain targets. But the bank has plans to close down this service come September, meaning customers who meet these targets will no longer get a reward. Instead customers will have fee-free debit card spending abroad and a £100 interest free arranged overdraft to existing and new eligible Reward account customers. A Halifax spokesperson, previously told The Sun: 'We're updating the features on our Reward account, introducing fee-free debit card spending abroad, with more benefits to come later in the year.' All Reward customers should be aware of the changes from July, giving everyone at least two months' notice. If the service no longer feels right for holders, they can close the account and choose to bank elsewhere. Halifax is not the only bank which is giving customers a chance to dodge fees for using your card abroad. Club Lloyd customer s no longer have to pay foreign currency or cash withdrawal fees when using their debit cards abroad. It comes as part of wider changes to the package, with the monthly fee to use the account also increasing from £3 to £5. Customers could end up paying an extra £24 a year if they do not meet the £2,000 threshold. This change will also affect customers with Club Lloyds Silver and Club Lloyds Platinum current accounts. These users are charged the standard Club Lloyds monthly fee, as well as respective account fees of £11.50 per month for Silver and £22.50 per month for Platinum. USING YOUR DEBIT CARD ABROAD There are plenty of banks and building societies that do not charge for using your card abroad. For example, Monzo does not charge its customers foreign transaction fees nor does First Direct. Cumberland Building Society doesn't charge you for using your Visa debit card abroad, but you do have to tell them your travel dates and destination. You can do that either through the mobile banking app, by logging onto internet banking, on the phone, or in a branch. If you have a HSBC Global Money Account, you can spend abroad and withdraw from cash points fee-free. Global Money accounts are available to any HSBC customers with an active current account and its banking app. Are there other options to for spending abroad? There are several specialist cards that can give you a great exchange rate. These cards include travel credit cards and pre-paid cards which can let you pay abroad without fees or at a set exchange rate. Senior Consumer Reporter Olivia Marshall explains all the options. Travel credit cards: Travel credit cards allow you to spend money abroad without being hit by any fees or hidden charges. But, they may still charge you for taking cash out. We recommend the Halifax's Clarity Card as it won't charge you for using it abroad, nor are there any fees for withdrawing cash. But you will be charged interest if you don't repay your balance in full at a rate of 19.9 per cent. And you will be charged interest on cash withdrawals until your balance is paid off too, at a rate of between 19.9 and 27.95 per cent depending on your credit score. In other words, just because you are using plastic abroad doesn't mean you don't have to pay these credit cards off like you normally would. Always pay off your balance before the end of the month with these cards to make sure that any money you saved isn't wiped away by paying interest. For more on travel credit cards you can read our guide here. Pre-paid cards: An alternative to carrying cash around is to get a pre-paid card. These cards allow you to put a set amount of cash on the card at a fixed exchange rate. So if the rate is good at the moment, you can put money on your card and it will stay that rate when you are on holiday. Just keep in mind that these cards can sometimes have hidden costs and charges so be sure to read the small print.
