How your bank’s fees are hurting your growth

It all adds up: each dollar you save, each investment you make, each fee you pay. 

That’s why where you invest makes such a difference. You’re not just choosing if you prefer a red app or a green one, you’re deciding which vehicle will get you to your goals fastest—and when you look at how Questrade compares to the discount brokers of the Big 5 banks in Canada, the numbers speak for themselves.

Fees aren’t just an inconvenient price of admission you pay to get into trading, they directly affect your outcomes, too.

Think of it this way: a $10 trading commission means that each and every trade you make has to earn you $10 just to break even. Anything less and your bank is making money, not you.

This makes frequent trading far less effective, hamstringing your ability to capitalize on an ever-shifting market. Not only that, but banks charge you just to open an account, further sapping your hard-earned money.

And if you trade options? Your bank takes even more. At a glance, the difference between paying $0.99 per options contract and paying $1.25 may look small. After all, how often have you second guessed spending 26 cents? 

But there’s more to the equation than that. Because it’s not just 26 cents more—it’s 26 cents, plus their trading commissions. That’s as much as $11.24 out of your pocket every single options trade you make with a bank. 

Again, it all adds up: you’re paying banks to let you use your money. Even if you don’t trade several times a day, this adds up fast. It’s similar to eating out for dinner—do it once a week and you may not notice the dent in your savings, pay for it regularly, though, and your account takes a big hit.

It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Questrade has zero commission trading and no annual account fees. Buy or sell, basic orders or advanced ones, can be done for free. That means each trade you make here is more valuable than if you made the same one at your bank.

Events that shape markets don’t care what time of day it is, especially in a globally connected economy where changes abroad create immediate shifts in North American exchanges.

The earliest you can trade at a Big 5 bank, though, is 8 am ET. Most Big 5 banks stop processing trades around 5 pm ET, too, limiting your chances to capitalize on opportunities. 

Questrade gives you a better trading window. Start a whole hour earlier, with pre-market trading for U.S. exchanges beginning at 7 am ET, and keep going until 8 pm ET. 

That means each day you’re getting at least two extra hours of trading. Over a week, that’s 10 hours. And a month? A whole 40 extra hours. Imagine how many opportunities you could find with 40 extra hours.

The window is about to get bigger, too. It starts with launching 4 am ET trading soon—and it doesn’t stop there. This summer, you’ll also get to trade all night long! This revolutionizes how you can react to world news. A quick look at the timezones shows why: 4 am ET is 4 pm in China, right before markets close, and 9 am in the U.K., right as markets open. 

'Zero commission trades', '$0 commissions', '$0 trading', 'trade commission-free' and similar messages, refer to commission-free trading for trades placed online through Questrade, Inc.'s website or mobile apps for stocks and ETFs that are listed on a stock exchange in the United States or Canada. Other fees may still apply.

Questrade may close or modify fractional share positions in stocks or ETFs no longer eligible for fractional trading at any given time. Questrade Fractional Shares Disclosure Statement.

Note: The information in this blog is for educational purposes only and should not be used or construed as financial or investment advice by any individual. Information obtained from third parties is believed to be reliable, but no representations or warranty, expressed or implied, is made by Questrade, Inc., its affiliates or any other person to its accuracy.