Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner
I also use US Bank... had lifetime free checking... but that seems to have gone away... each time they would make a change I would have to go in with my paperwork and the manager would have to put in a special request... did that 3 times over the years... finally they won... it just was not worth the effort to have them make good on THEIR promise of lifetime free checking which also included checks!
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Don't despair, 'Runner, your US Bank lifetime free checking is back, or will be back. Sr. citizens get free checking accounts, so do vets. Of course I don't know if they'll withdraw that offer some day. My prognostic abilities seem to be restricted to the stock market. It will open "up" today.
This is the second time I've abandoned B of A forever. I should have listened to myself after the first time, in the '70s. I forgot why I opened an account this time. I think it was after my mother died and she had a CD of significant value for my sister and I to share (in a trust) and I did it to facilitate the transfer of my half when the CD matured. They were even kind of nasty then because in most cases banks will cash out CDs when the owner dies. B of A said they'd do it and then later they decided they wouldn't. We had to wait about a year for the CD to cash out. For me B of A has always been a difficult bank to deal with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner
I do love my Credit Union and...
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I like my credit union too. I have pretty much everything there except my business account at a commercial bank. I have the usual savings (required at most credit unions, that is where you keep your dollar "investment" as a shareholder in the union), checking, money market, overdraft protection loan (never used), credit card (they won't meet the industry standard 1% cash back), home and auto insurance, S&P 500 annuity (via partner company), stock trading account (again via partner company). I've been a member over 50 years since a summer job in the '60s where membership was one of the job benefits. At the time they were just checking, savings, loans. I guess that dollar in my savings account is a '65 or '66 dollar.
I've never paid a penny in fees except the few times I used my overdraft protection to float for a few days. I guess I paid a few dollars interest once when I wrote the wrong amount to pay off my credit card. I've always paid off my credit cards each month except for this one mistake. Oh, and I've never paid anything for bank checks. I guess if I had to pin down a number I may have paid perhaps $10 or $15 in fees. That's not much for 50 years of banking with them, watching them grow until they have almost every financial service they could have.
The only reason I have a commercial account at another bank is because I want to keep my business money separate from my personal money. I get a free checking account there because I'm a landlord and my sole remaining rental mortgage is there. When I sell the house next year and permanently leave the ranks of landlords I'll close that account which would not be free without the mortgage that qualifies me for a free account, but would have no reason to exist since I won't have a business then.
Over the years I've tried to convince friends to join my credit union just because it's such a good deal but so far none have taken my advice. I would get a reward ($200?) if I got somebody to join but I'd still recommend them without the reward. In fact I think the reward was a recent development, after I had been recommending them for years.
I had been using my B of A account to anchor my PayPal account. I called it a "piggy bank" account, and with PayPal being kind of "iffy" I prefer to not have an agreement with them that allows them to dip into an account (my CU) with substantial funds. US Bank now serves that duty, I keep a few hundred in there and use their ATM card to gas my car. Funny, PayPal never checks to see if your anchor bank account is still there. I'll switch PayPal to US Bank if I need to transfer funds to/from PayPal. As an eBay seller I usually have enough input to PayPal to support my infrequent purchases via PayPal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner
I know the times are a changing... there is still one 30+ career teller at my local BofA who is as sharp as they get... she was really sad when she said she had to charge for Bank Check... they had always been free... I said not to worry... just give me the $8500 in cash... somehow they were able to waive the fee???
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That reminds me, I know all the important people at my local CU branch by first name and about half of the tellers. Last December when I got the hots to open my trading account I wanted to get in the market RIGHT NOW! It usually takes a few days to mail in your signed agreement and get your trading account funded. I hand carried my application to my local branch (well I could have, it's 10 minutes by car even if school is just letting out), so I asked the manager to put my application in their overnight courier to the main office and I had my trading account open before close of business the next day and funded the day after.
That was the day I bought a whole bunch of AMZN! That's what I had the hots for! I'm up over 20% since early December on my Amazon stock! If you ignore the fact of "unrealized profits" and pretended it was some sort of interest bearing account that's about 80% APR. I'm VERY happy with Amazon!
I'm also very happy to have rid myself of 3 rentals and the last one scheduled to go on the market January 2nd, 2019. My last tenant is a very nice woman who hasn't mastered the concept of personal finances yet. She makes her rent due date about 50% of the time, bounced only two, maybe three rent checks on me. I usually ignore a few days late. I was kind enough to give her a January due date of the 10th and she paid on the 16th, still hasn't paid me 6 days late fees. If she were better at personal finance I would expect she would figure out she's moving on November 30th (when her lease expires) but I bet she's clueless. I'll offer to give her a sweetheart deal to buy the house instead of moving but my bet is that she won't be able to scare up a loan. Not if she's used her financial acumen on others like she's used it on me. Nope, that house will go on the market on the 2nd and will close escrow in February. And I'll celebrate the end of my landlord career and close my commercial bank account which will no longer be free without the rental mortgage.
And then I'll have all my funds at one institution, my beloved credit union! Well except for my piggy bank account at US Bank.
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