So I’ve gotten to the point in my current finances where I’m under my bank’s minimum standards for waiving the monthly fee. I’m looking for steady work (anyone want to hire a writer who has experience in the game industry?), and I have enough to survive in the meantime, but I was wanting to solicit opinions on what the best option was for juggling my current funds.
If I just want to avoid the bank fees altogether, I could put all my money into a credit union where I have another account. This would require some work, though, as I have direct bill payment for a few things. If, however, I want to also address paying future bills at the same time, I have a couple of options.
I have some old bank/credit union accounts back home I could close to consolidate my money a bit. The amounts there aren’t a huge amount, but substantial enough. I also have an index fund I invested in when I was working. It’s made about $3-4K over the initial investment in the past few years. I could take out that profit, or the $10K initial investment, and leave the rest in to grow, or if I get more desperate later.
I’m no kind of financial whiz, but I am a big fan of credit unions. We’ve had our account since 1983 and except for one time when I screwed up, we’ve never had to pay any kind of fee or penalty. We’re also members in another, geographically closer credit union where we get free financial planning assistance, which has been great.
Our one experience with a bank was fraught with irritation and stupid requirements aimed at hitting us up for extra fees - we closed that account in very short order.
So my opinion - dump the bank and stick with the CU. Beyond that, my opinions could be dangerous.
Find a senior citizen (parent or something) to jointer with you on your checking account. No fees, ever, for any routine transactions, balances, maintenance, deposits, checks, etc. This will probably require opening a new account, with the senior jointer named primary.
Keep that couple of hundred a year for yourself, and let the bank shareholders get their sailboat payments from somebody else.
Does your bank have an investment banking department? If so, you might be able to move the index fund intact to the bank and meet the minimum balance requirements with it.
And while I know what index funds are and how they’re done, I can’t help the instinct that doing so through a bank would be risky, somehow, like less profitable for me. Hm.
It is best to consolidate all cash and investments under one place, because depending on how much the entire portfolio value is worth, you can get things discounted for you that way. If you don’t have enough assets for that to matter, then go to a place like bankrate.com and look for free checking accounts. The days are over worrying about having a bank account in the same town you live in. Savings accounts, checking accounts and money market accounts these days pay almost nothing in interest, so don’t even be concerned about that, just shop for zero fees or the lowest fees.
I wish you luck with your financial situations and securing employment quickly.
Bumping to ask whether it makes a difference, return wise, where I get my index fund through. I realize that fees Chase charges for the index fund (versus Vanguard) may “make up” for the checking account fees.
So does it just make sense to swallow the work it’ll take and transfer everything to the credit union?
Probably best to consolidate all of your bank accounts into a single account at the Credit Union. As for the index fund, a discount brokerage like Vanguard is good. Much better than a bank, or an investment firm associated with the bank.
You say you currently have an index fund. Where is that at? Is it a retirement account, or just a regular taxable account?
Vanguard. It’s a regular account; I have a separate retirement account which I’m obviously not touching, not being that desperate.
I opened the credit union account specifically for PayPal use, so I might just open another set. Like I said, it mostly depends on whether it’s worth the hassle of the automatic payment thing.
It’s a regular account; I have a separate retirement account which I’m obviously not touching, not being that desperate.