u/ProposalOwn7210

I started a 7-day free trial for an app on the App Store and was immediately charged $157 for an annual subscription. I later found out that I had started a free trial for the same app 3 years ago, which is why the app charged me the annual subscription fee immediately instead of giving me the free trial. But I had no idea I couldn’t do a free trial (why would you even show me the Free Trial option then?).

So I reached out to the app developer. They were very cooperative and pointed me toward Apple Support, since the developers themselves can’t do anything. I “purchased” the subscription through Apple. So I requested a refund on Apple’s website. The request was denied. I was very confused as to why, so I requested again. Denied again.

Then I called Apple Support. Apparently you can only submit a refund request twice, and after that you’ve exhausted all your options. They had no resolution for me, even after escalating to a senior advisor. Apple policy wouldn’t allow them to submit a third refund request or even tell me why it was denied despite the fact that the developers themselves support me getting a refund, this was an accident, and I cancelled the subscription as soon as I realized I’d been charged. I couldn’t get Apple to override the decision or give me any kind of credit.

Now I don’t know what to do here, and I feel stupid for losing $157 for nothing. Can I dispute this with my Bank?

25M, first year working out of University. No debt, about 1/2 of my current gross annual salary saved/invested in TFSA and Emergency Fund.

I am currently sharing a 4 bedroom furnished townhouse with 3 other housemates. Living situation could be worse tbh, you get the typical issues that come with sharing house, but my housing cost is only 15% of my take-home pay. A one bedroom apartment closer to work would put me around 35% of take home pay. Not to mention getting carried away with buying furnitures and random stuff to make the apartment homey. Getting my first own apartment would put my savings rate from 50% to 35%. I know for a lot of people, 35% savings rate is still fine. But, I can’t stop thinking about this just being a lifestyle inflation. And I also like being able to leave. If something opens up in Calgary or Toronto I want to just go, not think about a lease and selling a couch.

I’m struggling with making a decision. Don’t know if I want some strangers’ validation to allow myself to spend a little or want assurance to stick to higher savings rate.

I went through every holding in SPSK, SPUS, SPWO and SPRE (~640 positions) to see if any work for someone avoiding companies with ties to Israel. It’s worse than you think.

Method. Each holding got a tag. "Strong ties" means documented company-level ties: Israeli R&D, subsidiaries, acquisitions, stakes in Israeli assets, military contracts, UN settlement list, or banking agreements. Softer tags cover sales-only presence, state-owned issuers of the UAE/Bahrain/Turkey, and a few I couldn't verify. Private companies don't get tagged for their country's foreign policy, otherwise every US & European holding would need one too.

Results, cleanest to worst:

- SPRE: zero strong ties. Only flag is Dubai Residential REIT (<2%).

- SPSK: 7.5% strong ties. Mubadala (owns 11% of the Tamar gas field), DP World, AerCap and Air Lease (lease to El Al), ADNOC, FAB and ADIB. Another ~14% is state-owned UAE/Bahrain paper. Cut all of it and ~80% remains, mostly Saudi and Indonesian sovereigns.

- SPWO: 11% strong ties. Samsung, Nestlé (Osem), SAP, Unilever, L'Oréal, Assa Abloy (Mul-T-Lock). The catch is TSMC at 20% of the fund. No Israeli operations, but it fabricates chips for Israeli designers. If supply chains count, nearly half the fund is out. 48% have sales only ties.

- SPUS: 62% strong ties. Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Google and the whole chip sector run major Israeli R&D. Microsoft and Google hold Israeli military contracts. PepsiCo owns SodaStream. Booking and Expedia are on the UN settlement list. 23% have Sales-only tie: operates a direct sales & service presence in Israel.

Bottom line: the sukuk and REIT funds are workable, SPWO is a judgment call, and no broad US index fund passes both a Sharia screen and an Israel screen. Strip SPUS and you're left with Home Depot, Linde and Union Pacific leading a very different portfolio.

I built a spreadsheet with every holding tagged, a stated reason for each flag, and re-weighted Israel-free versions of each fund at two strictness levels.

My own research from public reporting, July 2026. Verify before acting. Not financial, investment, legal or religious (Shariah) advice.

Assalamu Alaikum.

I have an employer-sponsored RRSP through RBC Direct Investing. The upside is I can choose my own holdings instead of being stuck in a generic GIC or a mutual fund that isn’t halal. The problem is the commission-free ETFs at RBC aren’t halal. If I want to buy something like WSHR, it’s $9.95 per trade. Same for US ETFs, plus the conversion fees & withholding tax on top.

So right now my RRSP is sitting in cash and I’m not sure how to handle it. Has anyone dealt with this? Worth eating the $9.95 to get into a halal ETF, or is there a better route I’m missing?

Jazakallah khair