1. Bank of America 2. Checking, savings, brokerage, money market fund, basic savings 3b. They send the PIN via standard USPS mail. They sent mine out, but it never showed up. I actually had to pay a fee just to get a "new" one issued. 3d. The card reader keeps turning itself on; I have a feeling the battery is about to give up. I’ve started jamming a little scrap of plastic between the battery and the contacts when I'm not using it to keep it off. 🙈 4. 👍 5.6. I rarely use it, so 🤷 (to be honest, aside from cards, I don't see why anyone needs much cash. If you need to check your balance, you can just hop onto online banking. Personally, I try to keep my checking account sitting right at zero; I let the money sit in a money market fund until the credit card bill comes due. 😁)
blueridge32 said:Look, I know my stuff,😁 I just haven't had the energy to write out anything useful lately.😁 In my book, an investment life insurance policy is a killer product—way better than basic term life. The only catch is they're a nightmare to sell, so agents don't push them much. Doing the math on the fly is tough, and most folks aren't educated enough to feel confident selling it. Honestly? I'd take it over standard life insurance any day. It’s just way better.🤷
If something happens and you can't keep up with payments, it's a lifesaver—especially if you hit some snag during the year. Plus, the investment portfolio is totally different. I said "different," not necessarily "better."😉 I think you could see something like a 28% return over 4 years,🤔 but hey, that's just me shooting from the hip.
Personally, that's a sweet return. But look, if you actually know how to handle mutual funds and stocks yourself, you're better off doing it solo and just getting a cheap term policy.
I think you missed my point. I was actually saying that major banks offer similar products—like investing in funds with principal protection—so there's really no need to go it alone.
blueridge32 said:Look, you aren't betting the whole farm, just a slice of it. You can make some serious bank with that small amount, so why on earth would you need a guarantee that you won't lose money?
I don't see how that relates to life in general. 😕
You could just go about it directly without all that extra layer.
James Hayes6 said:It all felt like a total blur—completely unconscious—as long as the money kept flowing in. Same story over here. I’m tied up in retail, and it’s the same old cycle: people have these tiny little storefronts, but sales just keep climbing and climbing and climbing... meanwhile, the floor space stays exactly the same. Then, suddenly, everything crashes. We're finally hitting reality. It's simple: you only get as much rhythm as you've got cash to pay for it. That’s exactly why we ended up with this mess—an unstable economic growth fueled entirely by banks running deep in the red. It’s all built on nothing.
Employers were doing it subconsciously, honestly. I remember it so clearly—they’d tell Glenn how Americans somehow manage to live such great lives on tiny salaries. Like, how do they actually do it? They're basically living off their paychecks or just straight-up running a deficit every single month! It’s the exact same story right now. The government is handing out less, employers are tightening their belts, and prices? They just keep climbing. How are you supposed to cover your basic costs like that? It’s a joke. Then you turn on the TV and see those flashy ads from Chase, acting like everyone is swimming in cash. "Who cares about money?" they imply. Please. You aren't going to earn nearly as much as I could hand you if things actually worked. If only they’d be honest and say, "Watch out for these interest rates!!" So, how does the government even let a bank stay illiquid? It just doesn't make sense. Honestly. They just swallowed everyone's money whole. Gone. Just sucked it all up. Everything is just circling back to the payment !!
Maybe there's some truth to that, but if you look at how much consumer savings have grown since the crisis started, it's not like people are totally broke or buying everything on credit. I wouldn't call the growth entirely fake either; there's genuine demand. Just look at the average age of cars on the road versus how many are sold annually. Even if we were selling 100,000 cars a year—which we haven't even come close to—the fleet would still be aging.
Michael Howard24 said:Haha, honestly, you can even use JPMorgan Chase without any fees, but I suppose people still love to debate which bank is more convenient, faster, or safer, don't they?
Do you use JPMorgan Chase or their mobile app? Honestly, the app is just way more practical since you don't have to mess around with some physical security token; you just log in with a PIN you set yourself. The interface feels pretty much identical to the online version, too. As for Bank of America, I haven't the slightest clue if they offer anything comparable, mostly because I made my exit from them ages ago. 😁
Do you really think being in a premium bundle helps? Not when those packages cost an absolute fortune.
As far as usability goes, JP Morgan Chase has their mobile app (I don't use it personally, so I can't speak to the specifics), and I don't see any issues with speed. Regarding security, their online banking platform uses two-factor authentication—requiring both a PIN and a card reader—making it one of the most secure electronic banking methods out there. It's why Wells Fargo earned their ISO 27001 security certification.
You’ve got that thread about tourism in the Midwest (or whatever that topic 🤷 was called), and I think you'll find all the answers there.
If I lived nearby—say, within a 90-minute drive—I might pop in for some weekend agritourism. Any further than that and I'm out. Honestly, if the prices were right, I'd show up just for the wine and the food.
I’m a bit stumped by something here, if you don't mind me asking:
Why does having a huge network of ATMs actually matter to you guys? I get the logic when you're traveling—it's about peace of mind and having a backup plan—but right here in our own city? 🤔
The real question is, what are you even planning to do with that much cash anyway?
George White7 said:Can you use a temporary one for a bit, or is the checking account totally off-limits?🤔
It won't work at an ATM or for anything online—it’s basically just a piece of cardboard with an account number on it. You can still use it for direct deposits or wire transfers, though.
I can't say for sure how long it takes, but you'll get a temporary one right away, and then your permanent Visa card should show up in the mail shortly after.
I might be wrong here, but this really comes down to how bookkeeping works, and honestly, the bank is technically in the right. If you don't specify what that "unlucky" payment is actually for—like a specific month or year—they can just categorize it however they want on their end, and from an accounting standpoint, it’s perfectly legitimate.
I sure can. I actually know a founder—this guy even picked up some "Entrepreneur of the Year" awards 😁—from one cooperative (not naming names) who basically bled everyone dry by exploiting these unlimited interest rates. I don't know what kind of numbers we're looking at here, but you can pull 6.25% on Euros at a bank in Chicago. Personally, I’d rather sleep easy with an interest rate that's 2.75% lower.
Henry James3 said:Not really following the bold part? I mean, I know they aren't insured—they've been operating here for 19 years, though... Anyone here actually dealt with them before?
My bad, I was skimming too fast and missed who we were talking about. 🙈 I haven't used them myself, but personally, I wouldn't put money anywhere that isn't FDIC insured...☕ If there's a currency clause involved, is the interest rate still the same?
James Rogers53 said:Bank of America—specifically the Societe Generale group in the USA—wasn't operating at a loss.
Also, I don't get people who live off overdrafts. If you have a salary of, say, $1333 and it isn't enough, sure, you might manage to pull another $167 for the next eight months, but after that, you'll HAVE to live off $1267 because you're busy paying interest. Then you'll suddenly find yourself able to live on that amount, even though you couldn't eight months ago.
So, who's actually being irrational here? Then you complain about getting ripped off. An overdraft is meant for an emergency when things get tight, not as a way to artificially inflate your monthly income...
Personally, I wouldn't lend a dime to anyone in that crowd using overdrafts to carry 12-13% annual interest. That's just too low a rate for the kind of risk they're taking.
Exactly! 👍
I feel like I've been saying this across a bunch of different threads, but most people still haven't quite grasped it.
Honestly, I don't think you need to call the cops right out of the gate. If I actually bought something and it didn't show up, I'd just hit up the retailer first to see where they sent it.