Getting a better college aid offer
And more of the week's best financial insight
Here are three of the week's top pieces of financial insight, gathered from around the web:
Getting a better college aid offer
More families are haggling over financial aid with colleges before the commitment deadline, said Douglas Belkin in The Wall Street Journal. "For decades, schools made an offer" on need or merit-based financial aid, "and families either accepted or rejected it." Colleges had the leverage in these negotiations because they "long held most of the information" on pricing. But new websites like TuitionFit let students check their grade-point average, ACT or SAT score, and family's financial status "to see merit based offers given to comparable students." A growing number of consultants have also begun offering "advice on how best to negotiate for more merit aid." And a growing number of families are listening: Last year, 40 percent of students appealed their aid package.
The rise of high-yield savings
It may be time to "break up with your bank," said Michael P. Regan in Bloomberg Businessweek. The introduction of a 4.15 percent savings account from Apple and Goldman Sachs knocks "another brick out of the wall of inertia protecting traditional banks" from having to raise their own rates. Bankrate.com is one of almost two dozen other online banks sporting yields on savings above 4 percent, and the highest rate being offered now is 5.02 percent. By comparison, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America "pay as little as 0.01 percent" — yes, you read that right, one-hundredth of 1 percent — on basic savings deposits. It may not make sense to ditch traditional banks entirely just for the sake of yield, but you can stick "with one bank for your regular bill-paying, checking, and cash needs," and push "the excess into a better-paying online account."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Lobbying to keep noncompetes
Business groups are ramping up their campaign against a federal plan to ban noncompete agreements, said J.J. McCorvey and Sara Ruberg at NBC News. "The lobbying crossfire comes in addition to more than 26,000 comments from the public" gathered last week by the Federal Trade Commission, which says barring noncompetes will boost workers' earnings. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week sent a letter signed by 280 organizations arguing that noncompetes encourage investment in employees. Small-business owners have also voiced concern. "There is absolutely no incentive for me to teach anyone anything I know," wrote one medical practitioner, "only to have them move into the neighborhood and compete against me."
This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Antony Gormley's Time Horizon – a 'judgmental army' of 100 cast-iron men
The Week Recommends Sculptures are 'everymen questioning the privilege of their surroundings' at the Norfolk stately home
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'King's horses take free rein through London'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is pop music now too reliant on gossip?
Talking Point Taylor Swift's new album has prompted a flurry of speculation over who she is referring to in her songs
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
The rise of the world's first trillionaire
in depth When will it happen, and who will it be?
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
The truth about who founded bitcoin
under the radar Satoshi Nakamoto's true identity is one of tech's biggest mysteries
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Geopolitics and the economy in 2024
Talking Point The West is banking on a year of falling inflation. Don't rule out a shock
By The Week UK Published
-
Labor market strong as inflation sinks
Feature And more of the week's best financial insight
By The Week US Published
-
Holiday season: Fed optimism cheers investors
Feature The feds believe their 'pivot' will make a recession unlikely
By The Week US Published
-
Older workers stay in the labor force
Feature And more of the week's best financial insight
By The Week Staff Published
-
America's most in-demand job
Feature And more of the week's best financial insight
By The Week US Published
-
Currency: the long reign of the mighty dollar
Feature Argentina is planning to drop the peso in favor of the US dollar
By The Week US Published