Finance

Five sneaky good deals in investing and personal finance to pursue in 2024

Published

2 years ago

January 2, 2024

Five sneaky good deals in investing and personal finance to pursue in 2024

Some of the best deals in investing and personal finance never get any hype or marketing, which means they’re quietly waiting for you to discover them. Here are five examples I have accumulated over the past year. Take a moment to see if any of them can help you in 2024:

4 per cent savings accounts

Three financial players offered 4 per cent interest on savings in early 2024 – the investment company Wealthsimple, and the alternative banks Neo and Wealth One Bank of Canada. A fourth alt bank, Motive Financial, offered 4.1 per cent. Motive and Wealth One are members of Canada Deposit Insurance Corp., while deposits with Wealthsimple are protected because they are held with a CDIC member. Neo’s account is provided by Peoples Bank of Canada, which is a CDIC member. Big bank savings accounts are typically below 2 per cent, while alternative banks are typically in the 2.5 to 3.8 per cent range.

A 4.55 to 5 per cent investment savings account

Investment savings accounts are just savings accounts for your investment account. They trade like mutual funds, which means they’re accessible through all online brokers. Most ISAs pay 4.55 per cent to 4.75 per cent, which is pretty good considering your money is covered by deposit insurance and thus virtually risk-free. One ISA that pays 5 per cent is the F-series version of the Scotiabank Investing Savings Account, with the order symbol DYN6004. It’s available to clients of Scotia iTrade.

No-cost ETF investing

Exchange-traded funds in their classic form are a cheap, well-diversified way to buy into the stock and bond markets. If you’re looking to move out of safe havens like guaranteed investment certificates in 2024, give ETFs a look. And, look for a digital broker that lets you at least buy ETFs at no cost. BMO InvestorLine, Qtrade Direct Investing and Scotia iTrade all have a limited menu of ETFs available commission-free. There’s enough at each broker to build a diversified portfolio. CI Direct Trading and Questrade allow clients to buy ETFs commission-free, but there’s a cost to sell. And, or course, National Bank Direct Brokerage and Desjardins Online Brokerage have no commissions of any kind for stocks and ETFs. One more option is the mobile all TD Easy Trade, which offers no-cost investing in TD’s family of ETFs.

Asset allocation ETFs

These ETFs are gaining traction quickly, but they should be more popular because of the low-cost simplicity they offer. Each is a fully diversified portfolio of bonds and stocks from Canada, the United States and the rest of the world. Just pick your risk level – conservative, balanced, growth or all-stocks. Costs are as low as 0.2 per cent, compared to around 1.5 to 2 per cent for balanced mutual funds.

Pre-paid bank cards

Load money on cards issued by EQ Bank, Koho, Wealthsimple and Wise and you can pay for purchases outside Canada without incurring the 2.5 foreign currency fee applied by most credit cards. These prepaid cards are connected to credit card networks, so they’re accepted wherever major cards are. These cards are unlike the first generation of prepaid products, which were loaded with fees and expiry dates.

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Finance

How to make your offer stand out in a competitive housing market

Published

5 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

How to make your offer stand out in a competitive housing market

With the weather finally thawed and kids out of school, spring and summer are the busiest seasons for homebuying. This can mean more options to choose from on the market — but it can also mean more competition.

Going through the work of putting together an offer on a house you are excited about, only to get beat out by other buyers, can feel like a major letdown. So, how can you make your home offer stand out if you are wading into a hot housing market? From having your own affairs in order to being flexible and savvy in the offer you craft, here are some tricks you can implement to improve your odds of winning out.

Have everything in order before bidding

If you are trying to buy in a fast-moving, competitive market, it is vital that you have all your ducks in a row before you get to the point of submitting an offer on a home. This means working with an experienced, knowledgeable real estate agent you can trust, and already having mortgage preapproval in hand, so you have a ballpark idea of how much you will actually be able to borrow.

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The former will help you ensure you are putting your best (and most strategic) foot forward when you make an offer, and the latter will provide peace of mind for the seller, given that “in a competitive market, sellers will likely have multiple offers to choose from and will look for a buyer who is able to close on the sale,” said Zillow.

Understand the market, the property and the seller

When it comes to this, the real estate agent you work with can make all the difference. “Their deep market knowledge allows agents to identify accurate comparable listings and help buyers price offers more strategically,” said USA Today. They will also “know how quickly homes are selling in a given area and can communicate quickly and effectively with listing agents.”

An agent can often get insight into what is most important to a particular seller — whether that is a quick closing timeline, the security of a cash offer or an above-listing price — and help ensure your offer checks those boxes.

Consider ways to sweeten your offer

Depending on what feels reasonable and is doable for you, there are a number of steps you can take to make your offer more enticing, including:

Increase your earnest money deposit. This is a deposit made upfront to demonstrate your seriousness about and ability to purchase the home. Typically, it is “around 1% to 3% of the purchase price,” but “in a competitive market, you may choose to increase this to 5% or higher to stand out and prove your commitment,” said Investopedia.

Add in an escalation clause. With an escalation clause, your offer automatically increases, up to a specified maximum, if another buyer in the running outbids you. This can “help you stay in the running if another offer comes in for slightly more than yours,” said Rocket Mortgage, though it is not always necessary or even allowed in certain markets.

Offer concessions. Offering the seller concessions can “make your offer more attractive,” said Rocket Mortgage, though it is also vital here to ensure what you offer is workable for you. Common examples of concessions include offering to pay certain fees, such as the agents’ commission or the seller’s real estate attorney fees, or purchasing the property as-is.

Finance

By the Numbers: Financial report reveals scale of financial costs, growth

Published

17 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

By the Numbers: Financial report reveals scale of financial costs, growth

Following a year marked by financial turbulence, Northwestern’s financial report for fiscal year 2025 revealed the University’s struggles and growth as they navigated a tumultuous landscape in higher education.

The latest report detailed fiscal year 2025, which began Sept. 1, 2024 and ended Aug. 31, 2025. It did not include the University’s stipulated $75 million payment to the federal government, which was part of the agreement struck in November 2025.

According to the University’s 2025 financial report, net assets sit at $16.2 billion, up from 2024’s $15.6 billion. However, the University spent almost $148 million more than it brought in during fiscal year 2025.

In the last five fiscal years, the University has increased steadily in operating costs for assets without donor restrictions.

Year-to-year increases in operating costs hovered around 10% in the past five fiscal years. Simultaneously, revenue growth has decreased year to year, from 12.8% between 2021 to 2022 to only 3.9% between 2024 to 2025.

Amanda Distel, NU’s chief financial officer, identified “rising benefits expenses, litigation, new labor contracts, and rapidly unfolding federal actions” as key challenges in fiscal year 2025 in the report.

Before the deal, NU invested between $30 to $40 million each month to sustain research impacted by the federal freeze, interim President Henry Bienen confirmed in an Oct. 24 interview with The Daily.

In an attempt to reduce costs, the University announced a switch in July to UnitedHealthcare from Blue Cross Blue Shield as the University’s employee health care administrator, effective Jan. 1. However, faculty and staff have reported increased out-of-pocket costs for certain services like mental health care.

Financial aid increased from $618.3 million in fiscal 2024 to $638.3 million in fiscal year 2025. Among undergraduate students in the 2024-25 school year, 15% are first-generation college students and 22% receive federal Pell Grants. According to the report, most families earning less than $70,000 per year attend at no cost, and most families earning less than $150,000 per year attend tuition-free.

Tuition is the second largest source of revenue behind grants and contracts. By the end of the fiscal year, the University held $778 million in outstanding conditional awards, an increase from fiscal 2024’s $713.5 million, according to the report.

Distel wrote that the number of gift commitments above $100,000 reached its highest in University history, calling it a “strong year of philanthropic support.”

Donor funds are categorized by whether or not restrictions were imposed on the time, use or nature of the donation. In fiscal 2025, University net assets without donor restrictions totaled $9.59 billion, or 59.1%, while net assets with donor restrictions totaled $6.65 billion, or 40.9%, of total net assets.

The University’s investment in construction efforts saw an immense uptick from $275.2 million in fiscal 2024 to $750.5 million in fiscal 2025.

This cost is spread across multiple projects, such as Ryan Field, which started construction in 2024 and is slated to open October 2026. The project operates with a $862 million budget, including a $480 million contribution from the Ryan family.

The Ann McIlrath Drake Executive Center, Cohen Lawn and Jacobs Center renovations also continued during the fiscal year.

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Related Stories:

— The Daily Explains: How does Northwestern spend its money?

— Northwestern NIH, NSF grant cessations total more than $1 billion

— Northwestern announces 3.3% tuition increase ahead of 2025-26 academic year

Finance

When should kids start learning about money? Advice from local financial advisor

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

When should kids start learning about money? Advice from local financial advisor

REDMOND, Wash. — When should kids start learning about money, and preparing for adult expenses like rent, car payments, and insurance?

It’s a question asked recently by an ARC Seattle viewer.

We took the question to Adam Powell, Financial Advisor at Private Advisory Group in Redmond. Powell talked with ARC Seattle co-anchor Steve McCarron to share insights on the right age to form money habits, common financial mistakes parents unknowingly pass down to their children, and practical tips to set kids up for long-term financial success.

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