A fee charged once a year for certain financial products, like credit cards. Check if the benefits of the product outweigh the cost.
What to consider
Notice if an annual fee is eating into your benefits.
Compare similar products to see if a no-fee option might work better.
Think about how the rewards stack up against the fee you pay each year.
Real world scenarios
Paul compares two credit cards and chooses the one with no annual fee to keep his overall costs down. He decides perks from the higher-fee card aren’t worth the expense.
Daphne reevaluates the annual fee on her premium travel card each year. She weighs the fee against the miles and lounge benefits to see if it’s still worthwhile.
Before signing up for a new membership, Marcus factors the annual fee into his budget to avoid surprises later.