Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Money and banking

How readily does Mint add new banks?

marylucycraft — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:43:29 -0800

How readily does Mint add new banks? I have just decided to use Mint... just got married, finances a bit more messy than before. Anyway, when I tried to add my bank, I was told that they don't have it and are working on establishing a connection.

So my question is: how likely is it to expect that they'll get my bank up in working order anytime in the near future? It's a regional credit union with three (fairly large) branches in the Northeast. Any experience/ advice here is welcome.

P.S. I've also moved, recently and kept my bank because I have so much history with it... might it be worth it to change the bank to somewhere I can deposit checks etc. without driving over an hour?

Depositing plain cash with ATMs?

Askiba — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:34:10 -0800

How safe is it to deposit plain old cash into a bank's ATM? This seems like a really strange question, but follow along with me for a bit.

Ever since I've gotten my bank account (at Chase) my mother has dissuaded me from making deposits, especially just cash, into ATMs. She insists that I can't trust them for such a procedure because the machine's contents are removed by people who don't work for the bank (on that note: is that even true?), and that I'm going to get robbed at some point.

Being teenage and all, I think my mom's theory on this is baseless. The one time I suggested that might not be true and that I'd just like to save everyone some time and just slip it in a deposit envelope, she gave me a disapproving look and said "Fine, do what you want, it's not my problem if you get robbed."

I've never heard such a thing happening to anyone, and I likely would have, because who wants their money getting swiped? But the idea got into my head and I've always used a clerk behind a desk to make a deposit in person. Personally, I'm getting extremely tired of it and I think it's wasting my time, not to mention the hapless clerk I have to ask to deposit the cash (especially when I just want to throw in $10 and no checks). I'll probably always use a desk clerk for large deposits involving several kinds of money, though.

So, should I really believe my mother's reasoning?

Keeping moneys separate

Precision — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:14:19 -0800

What's the best way to keep my summer income separate from my savings? It's the summer between high school and university, and through scholarships (I'm a National Merit Scholar) and working quite a few hours at a part time job during high school, I've managed to save up enough to pay for the entirety of my first year of college, and likely the rest.

I quit my job upon graduating, promptly got bored with my idle time, and got a job waiting tables. I'd like to keep this money separate from my savings/checking accounts at Chase, and either use it at the end of the summer to buy a nice guitar, pay for a trip to Europe, or any number of things. I'm honestly only working right now for the fun of it.

I figure I have a few options: 1) Just tag all the income on Mint as "Summer Income" and tally it that way. 2) Open up another savings account at Chase with my first $300 in income and keep it separate that way. 3) Open up an account at Wells Fargo ($100 minimum balance, no monthly fee for college students) and keep it all over there to ensure it doesn't get mixed in with my money.

What's the most painfree way to do this?

How broke is broke?

JuiceBoxHero — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:45:01 -0800

When people say they're broke, do they literally have no money? With or without the current recession, do people who rack up credit card debt, default on their mortgages and miss payments on loans really not have any money? As in, are all of their bank accounts actually at zero?

It seems that if I were in a position where I was up to my eyeballs in debt and/or were about to foreclose on my home, I'd tap into my 401k, IRA, investments, savings accounts or whatever else I had to continue to provide for my family. So when people choose default or bankruptcy, have they already exhausted these resources (assuming they existed to begin with) or do they just not have the current inflow of cash to support their lifestyle, but hold on to any other resources they have?

Best way to get cash into my online checking account?

subclub — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:11:04 -0800

What is the best way to get this cash into my online checking account? After dealing with Bank of America for about 10 years I finally shut that account down and I'm doing all my banking online (Fidelity). I never really deal with cash at all so it has worked beautifully.

Well, until now. I just sold some stuff and have a few thousand dollars in cash that I'm not really sure what to do with. Fidelity won't accept cash deposits, even at their physical branches. I don't have an old school bank account to make a deposit with (and I really don't want one; this is something that might come up once every 2 or 3 years).

Is anyone else in the same boat? How do you deal with this? Will a bank write me a check for my cash if I'm not a customer? Should I just give the cash to a friend with a checking account and get a check from him? I don't necessarily want to saddle a friend with a big wad of cash.

Help me before I just head to the nearest strip club!

How do I start investing my money?

curiouskitty — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 19:48:04 -0800

My New Year's resolution is to develop a grown-up financial plan for myself. What should I be doing in terms of investments? Please spare some financial advice for a total beginner. Some background info: I'm 29 years old, have a steady income and have managed (finally!) to amass some savings. Not a lot, but it's a start. For a number of reasons, I've never gotten financial advice from anyone. I bank almost exclusively via ATMs and online, and I now realize I don't know what I am supposed to be doing to make the most of my money. Beyond my savings accounts, right now my current "strategy" basically consists of a modest RRSP (I'm Canadian). My husband and I also own a condo (and have a sizable but manageable mortgage). He has a well-paying job but also quite a bit of debt, which we hope to finally clear off this year. I'm otherwise debt-free, and we have nobody to care for financially besides ourselves.

I have read that this current economic climate presents an opportunity for potential investors, in that there are some bargains to be had. Also, the Canadian government just introduced TFSAs (Tax-Free Savings Accounts), which allow people to invest in securities and the returns are never taxed. I am clueless about investments, but I've been thinking for a while that I should buy some stocks for the sake of diversifying and I'm young enough to tolerate some risk right now. I would be comfortably playing with $6,000, maybe a bit more. My questions:

- Is getting involved in the stock market a good idea right now, given our situation? Or should I be putting my savings into 1) a lump-sum mortgage payment, 2) against my husband's debt or 3) some other strategy I haven't thought of? I am very reluctant to pay off my husband's debt on his behalf, since he is prone to splurging on stuff and I don't want to "bail him out" and reinforce his bad spending habits. His parents have, in the past and on more than one occasion, paid off his debts, only to have him rack up more, hence my position on this.

- If buying stocks is a wise idea for me, how should I go about this? Can I trust the financial adviser at my local bank, or would I be getting better guidance from an independent adviser? Do these people have any kinds of biases that I should be aware of? What kind of fees should I expect to pay this person (i.e. what rate is reasonable and what is too much)?

- Would it be incredibly foolish of me, a total amateur, to just sign up with a discount online brokerage and pick my own stocks? I'm admittedly not good with numbers, but I am good with research and I'm reasonably bright. Since the market has been slumping, wouldn't it be good to just pick up some well-reputed stocks and wait for a few years? I know there are no guarantees, but again I can tolerate some risk and am looking for a long-term plan since I'm still young.

- What are some good resources for learning about investing (ideally, content in plain language that even math dunces can understand)?

Thanks in advance for your insights!

Where in Toronto can I buy a money order in US Dollars, drawn on an American bank?

winston — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:34:21 -0800

Western Union no longer sells US Dollar money orders in Canada. Where in Toronto can I still buy a money order in US Dollars, drawn on an American bank? (The ones from WU were drawn on a Wells Fargo branch in Colorado) My payee won't accept postal money orders, nor money orders drawn on a Canadian bank. CIBC and RBC used to sell money orders or drafts drawn on an American bank, but apparently they don't anymore (assuming the people I spoke to in the branches know what they're talking about).

A money order (or other form of cheque drawn on an American bank) is the preferred payment method.

Why doesn't my bank want my money?

SpecialK — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:42:22 -0800

I operate as a sole proprietorship in the State of Texas and use my personal name as the name of my business with "Consulting" tacked on the end of it as per state rules. My bank has recently stopped accepting checks made out to anything but my real name because of "The Patriot Act" and "your business and personal finances are different according to the IRS", but won't let me open a business account since I don't have a separate EIN. Are they just blowing smoke or is this really a problem? We're talking Bank of America in case anyone cares.

Now, I realize that the most obvious ways to get around this hurdle are to either get an EIN or to take my banking elsewhere... but I just finally got all my banking consolidated at B of A, and really really don't want to have to do it over again.

Frankly, I've got enough to worry about as far as keeping track of numbers and bank accounts and I don't want to add to the mess because it doesn't make me anything extra. I don't do enough business to make it worth incorporating or paying a CPA or lawyer to do lots and lots of extra paperwork for me. (We're generally talking $5000 or so, max.) I pay estimated tax quarterly... not because I need to, but it keeps me from having a big bill in April. Incorporating in Texas carries a giant paperwork and financial penalty in the form of franchise tax and a lot of other little sticky requirements like filing yearly shareholder meeting minutes with the secretary of state. As a sole proprietor, I only have to file a tiny sales tax form.

The branch manager told me, "Either get the check made out to just your name, or you will not be depositing it here." and dismissed me. My point was that my business tax ID is the same as my personal tax ID, and therefore we are the same entity, so I should just be able to deposit it in my personal account whether it was made out to "SpecialK", "SpecialK Consulting", "Mr. SpecialK is an unsophisticated doofus" or "SpecialK, Esq." etc...

So, hive mind -- what are the actual rules I need to be held to when depositing a check made out to "(My Real Name Here) Consulting"?

For the sake of completeness, I'm in Texas, I am on file with Texas as a sole proprietorship doing business as (My Real Name Here) Consulting, my clients are out of state, I provide form W-9 to my clients and they file 1099-MISC to report their payments to me using my SSN. I report income and expenses using schedule C on my annual tax return. I don't mind that my client has my SSN. I'm not worried about assuming personal liability for client losses or other reasons for incorporating.

Why doesn't my bank want my money? Barring answering that, how do I find a regional vice president or such to complain to?

Who's going to be the next Washington Mutual/Fortis/B&B?

fuzz — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:31:29 -0800

How can I keep track of the health of European banks? I've got some of my retirement money spread around in banks in Spain, France, and the UK. I'm looking for indicators that help me understand whether my banks are getting in trouble.

Can you give me any Web resources to keep track of which banks are on government watch lists, what the current CDS spreads are, who's got a lot of toxic debt, or any other useful information? Bonus points if you can explain what the indicators mean.

Wamu failure: Action items?

everichon — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:04:55 -0800

We have some money in a Wamu checking account, and an equity loan. Since the word is that Wamu is teetering, what should we expect to happen to the checking account money and the equity loan? Specifically:

* If they get bought up, will we lose anything?
* If they simply fail, will we lose anything?
* Does it make sense to yank our checking account?
* What happens to your loan when your lender folds? (I know you don't get off the hook, I just want to know if there are action items).

Credible returns on investment in virtual world finance?

vizsla — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:30:37 -0800

Anybody have experience in investing in virtual world banks/businesses/markets (such as those in SecondLife.com etc)? Do they provide a serious way of making a sensible risk/reward on five or six figure investments? I have found discussion of investing in virtual worlds in this article for example which concludes its very high risk but maybe someone has heard of a viable diversification strategy out there?

Do I need checks?

Riverine — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:20:06 -0800

I'm thinking of moving entirely to online bill pay. Have I thought this through? Will I regret having no way to write a paper check? I'd like to simplify my banking life by moving entirely to paperless banking, This is 80% done, but I still write checks for rent, massage, dog license and other random things. If you've moved away from checks, what expenses do you have to scramble to deal with, which I might not have thought of: deposit for a new apartment? The plumber? Help me know what might come up.

Thanks!

Swallowed by the BoA behemoth

Saucy Intruder — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:55:51 -0800

Question for Bank of America checking account holders re: electronic bill paying. I need to make a monthly direct deposit to my mortgagee's non-BoA bank account. The mortgagee is not set up to receive automatic transfers through BoA's online bill pay system. How do I accomplish this without making a wire transfer (which involves walking into a branch each month and paying $20 for the privilege)?

The only solution I can come up with is to have BoA cut a check directly to the mortgagee's bank, and specify in the memo field the routing number and account number. I suspect, however, that this is not terribly secure or dependable. Any thoughts?

Credit cards worth it?

Flamingoroad — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:36:03 -0800

I'm thinking of getting a credit card -is it worth it? I'm 22, in the UK and thinking about getting a credit card -I don't feel I need one (not a big or enthusiastic spender) apart from establishing a credit rating -is it worth it?

I understand the benefits -insurance, cash-back etc but it seems like a hassle -I'm perfectly happy just spending money that I have using my debit card.

However, as credit scores are partly based on duration of credit history I'm thinking I should get a credit card if only to prove to future mortgage providers (perhaps 3 or so years in the future) that I'm responsible with credit etc.

As I've also learnt that cancelling cards reflects badly on credit rating so any card I do take out is hopefully going to last me a long time.

I bank with Natwest and am thinking of taking out a credit card with them as it would be easy to pay it off each month with my current online banking setup. But there are no benefits/cash back with it. Aren't credit cards desperate for people to sign up? I might not too excited about credit cards but I don't want to miss out on decent benefits like cash-back etc if there's available.

In summary is it worth getting a credit card and if yes, which is the easiest to use, best 'perks' and recommended over the long term so I don't end up dealing with the 'financial clutter' resulting in opening up other cards in the future?

Any UK specific advice/opinion would be much appreciated!
Thanks

Lazy Money

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:56:26 -0800

What is the best way to invest $10-15,000 if you don't want to tie the money up for longer than, say, a year? I have money that is currently sitting in a bank account doing nothing. I would like it to start working for me, and I was thinking CDs might be the way to go since they're easy, but I'm wondering what the other options may be. I don't want the money to be tied up in any investment for longer than a year at a time. Another way of putting that is saying I want to be able to get it out without too severe a penalty if things start going haywire. Also, how do I, as an investor, beat our current high rate of inflation?

I want my two dollars!

headnsouth — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:18:57 -0800

Finance-filter: why does my bank take so long to make my deposits available to draw from? I can't make sense of the way banks hold on to my money and don't make it available to me for much longer than seems necessary. Electronic transfers ought to take nanoseconds ... and when I make a transfer from BankA to BankB, the deduction from BankA is immediate. However, an entire week can pass before BankB lists the funds as part of my "available balance." They may be listed before then as part of my "collected balance" and as part of my "current balance," but if I tried to use those funds I'd be charged overdraft fees.

This happens whether it's an electronic transfer across banks or within one bank, or whether I deposit cash, personal checks, or even USPS money orders. The only thing that seems to be available right away is employer direct deposit.

I can understand the bank wanting to hold that money overnight to make a quick buck in interest, or in the case of personal checks, give it time to clear, but otherwise it seems really excessive.

Can you guys explain to this English major (1) why guaranteed funds would need so long to clear & how banks justify keeping my money from me like this, and (2) the real difference between collected/current/available balance?

The Prints and the Popper

Christ, what an asshole — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:27:18 -0800

I have this money-making idea in mind, and I wanted to test its potential viability and profitability with some of you who may know more about banking and credit cards... So my idea is pretty simple. For starters, I have great credit. My plan is to take out a couple new credit cards with a $10,000 line. I take it off one and invest it into a CD account with 4% interest (like ING, for example). Every month, I pay off the $10,000 going back and forth between cards, and in the span of a year, I net $400 from interest on the CD account.

Or take out 24 cards and net $400/month (104 cards/$400/week, etc.).

So yeah, it seems simple enough in my head, at least other than for the potential non-FDIC insured $520,000 I'll have floating around and the nightmare of paperwork on tax day.

So do I have it wrong anywhere? Am I overlooking anything?

Best/cheapest US bank for initiating international wire transfers online?

stephthegeek — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:48:09 -0800

I think I've determined that the best way to send regular payments from the US to Europe/Asia is simply a wire transfer (but willing to entertain ideas I haven't considered yet). Now the question is -- B of A sucks for online/international wires -- what bank is better? After a long trail of looking at paying international subcontractors via:
- Western Union (they charge it as a cash advance on your CC, plus it's expensive)
- PayPal (eats a lot of fees, especially with the extra 2.5% on top of the foreign exchange)
- Moneybookers (have to either wire money to them, or they eat 1.9% on loading via CC and have low limits)
- Priority Mailing a cheque (slower, too analog, high fees for others to deposit)

I think a wire transfer is both going to be the cheapest, fastest, and easiest for people we're paying regularly. Unfortunately all our business banking is with BofA, which charges $45 and you can't do it online. I've since learned that this is pretty crappy and other banks seem to have better options, so I think we're going to open a second account elsewhere just for this. Plus we're moving back to Canada in a couple of years and it'd be nice to have a way to move money back and forth easily, and it's not looking like BofA is that answer.

Can anyone recommend a bank for this?

What to do with all that money?

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:41:00 -0800

I will soon receive an inheritance of about $100,000-$150,000 (numbers are vague right now). I'm looking for tips and advice for managing that money. I have talked with a financial advisor from one of the major firms about this and they would be happy to help me with my money at the rate of 4.5% per year. Frankly, I view that as extortionary. I even remember once hearing advice that said to not pay more than 1% in fees. This sounds reasonable to me. My current IRAs and other means of saving that do charge, charge less than 1%. I doubt it's 1/5th of a percent. I'm pretty sharp and generally good with money. I think that with the right research, and proper dedication, I can manage this money myself and save scads of fees.

Ideas so far:
1. I have a small amount of debt that I want to pay off immediately. Less than 10K.
2. I have a 13-year-old daughter for whom I want to sock aside somewhere between 20-30K for college. This is very important to me.
3. My mortgage is split 80/15 (the 15 being about $23K). I am toying with the idea of paying off the 15%. The interest on that portion is 8.25%.

For what it's worth, I am a late-thirties male with decent (not great) income and a proven ability to live frugally when I set my mind to it. I have no car payment. Only regular payments are child support, house, utilities, subscriptions etc. Currently, I am paying towards that small amount of debt on a monthly basis.

I need help on figuring out how to manage the rest of the money and my future money since I will ideally be out of debt aside from the mortgage. So, pointers, advice, tips, reading material, ideas, what have you?

email can be sent to AnonyMeFimomoney (at) sbcglobal.net

Quick, en-lighten me!

ChrisR — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 12:26:55 -0800

How do I set up Quicken without ending up with a negative balance at the end when I import historical account information? I've got Quicken 2007 for Mac, and I'm trying to import all of my old account information (from TD Canada Trust, if that makes a difference). This would seem to be straightforward, except that the end result of these imports is that I have a negative balance; it starts all of the imports from a $0 balance, despite the fact that my balance at the start of the import was much higher than that. Moreover, I can NOT change what Quicken sees as the starting balance on the accounts. This has been the blocker for me when I've tried to track my finances this way before, but I don't want to give up this easily again. So, can someone walk me through the right way to start using accounting software like this with historical information, in a way that does not result in my going mad?

Newbie warning: Much of the terminology in dealing with accounts ("reconcile"?) is unfamiliar to me. I may require some hand-holding.

Thanks in advance!

Need a bank!

Willie0248 — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 08:30:21 -0800

I'm fed up with my bank. I want a new one. The other choices in my podunk town aren't appealing. What now? A while back my debit card was stolen, and as you would suspect the thief bought quite a few things throughout Texas before I could have the card canceled. Long story short, my small town bank told me that I could shove my fraud report, because I was sure as heck going to pay those fraudulent charges. Supposedly, after a lot of whining on my part, they were going to "look into the matter," but that was nearly six months ago and no one there will even talk to me about it now.

So, like any good consumer, I'm taking my vast fortune (by which I mean paltry earnings) to another bank. Trouble is, every bank here is a small-town operation. The only large bank here is Bank of America, which I trust about as far as I can throw them (their building is too big for much distance). So what are my options? All I want is a checking account with no fees, so I should be able to find one pretty easily, but is it a good idea to join up with a bank that has no nearby physical location?

The More Bank Accounts the Better?

andoatnp — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 09:56:25 -0800

Any reason not to open a couple more bank accounts for all the gifts/rewards/incentives they offer? Right now I have an old bank account from California (checking and savings) and a credit card attached to it which I use frequently, a new bank account for the city I moved to, which doesn't have any branches of my old bank (checking only), and a credit card with a third bank, that I only use a couple of times a year.

This more than covers any banking needs I would actually have, but a number of local banks are offering various incentives to open an account, most enticingly, 75 dollars in free groceries if I set one up.

If I am financially able to park whatever the minimum amount is in a free checking/savings account for a year, is there any other downside to opening up a couple more accounts for the rewards?

I'm specifically wondering if it does any damage to my credit score, as I understand having a number of unused credit cards would. Is there any other reason not to?

Advice for living overseas but getting paid at home

Nothing — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:03:35 -0800

I'm looking for advice on banking while living overseas but getting paid in the US for a year. The details: I will be working for a US company and being paid to a US account, but I will be living in Dakar, Senegal. I need to be able to get to my money for living expenses without paying ridiculous fees for the transfer / currency conversion. Almost everything is done in cash in Dakar. Online banking is a must, of course, but local access is just as important.

I have heard Citibank is pretty good for this kind of thing. And I have a PenFed account that might be useful. I plan to call my current bank and talk to them too. But I am sure anyone who has actually done this before will have lots of advice.

loooooong term bank account

mrmarley — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:46:27 -0800

ok, i know this is crazy. but is it possible to: --set up a cross-generational US bank account (say, not to be accessed for say, 200+ years) -- aquire a substantial gain, using the factors of TIME/INTEREST to build a sizable amount money to accessible a distant relative yet to be born. (don't think this would be a Dynasty Trust, since I would be starting out with some nominal amount, say $1000.)

It's not me the ID thieves are killing. It's poor Mr. Quicken down the street.

rileyray3000 — Tue, 15 May 2007 18:58:12 -0800

Lots of closed accounts. A few ID thefts. And hell on the checkbook balancing. Here's the magic question: how will it affect my Quicken? I've been a victim of ID theft a few times. Largely on the part of my bank, who seems to keep handing out my info to random homeless people when it's drunk. I find out when I get a notice and a new card in the mail that says "sorry" and "cut up your card and open a new account.'

It's amazing how many times I'll come back for hot bank cashier girls.

But here's where it gets tricky. I've just started using quicken. I needed to get the info from several closed accounts. It was tough but I did it. Now I've got several dead accounts in my list and it seems to take forever to get online info from them.

How does one clear the money corpses but still hold onto their reciepts?

Also, whomever answers this the best should expect several quicken followup questions in the future, as I'm just learning how to move past the 100 reciepts in an envelope field of my life.