Banking

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Who do you guys use?

I've been using Chase forever (mostly because I worked at JP Morgan for a while). I use them for Checking/Savings/Credit Card on both personal and business. I really like having access to all accounts (personal and business) in one view. Looking around it, they are flat out horrible for APY, so weighing moving my business else where.

LendingClub is looking good for a HYSA and they do personal/business but no credit cards. SOFI looks good for personal but doesn't look they do business accounts. American Express seems to be a pretty good all-in-one option right now, with a significant boost to APY across all accounts over my current.

Looking forward to your guys opinions.

 

[satovod]

Bank of Valletta, Malta, BBVA Spain, Wise (Belgium)


Accounts, cards, transfers - everything is better than any US bank.

 

[AZMark]

I use Chase for checking so I have access to ATMs and branches everywhere. I use a separate online bank just for savings.

I’m actively looking at buying short treasuries through my online brokerage instead of using the online savings account. You can get a better yield there if you don’t need to touch the money very often.

I think the service and products for all the large banks are about equally bad. There are banks that won’t let you combine personal and business so make sure you verify that before you go through the headache of moving anything.

 

[Seno]

TD is my choice for business & personal accounts. I stopped using chase when I was being charged by a merchant I had no affiliation with and every month it was an issue having to dispute it each and every time..... American express IMHO has everything going for it. Also have a Wells Fargo account since they "WERE" right around the block but now they are gone from that location, so I will move my "local" banking to Truist (sun trust up until recently. I have the black card for my business purchases and use blue for my personal stuff. They really have amazing customer service and its nice being ale to use my points on Amazon for all the "free stuff every month" that my business has paid for. I feel secure using the card, I am not saying it has never been skimmed (it has) but when there is an issue I can get a card next day without stress which is important to me since I travel to about 40 gun shows a year as a vendor.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Navy Federal Credit Union and Lake Michigan Credit Union, fantastic and never have an issue. I got away from the big banks 10 years ago and never looked back.

 

[TimW451]

1 credit union and 1 online only bank. The former has local branches and the latter has better rates.

 

[2kwik4u]

Navy Federal Credit Union and Lake Michigan Credit Union, fantastic and never have an issue. I got away from the big banks 10 years ago and never looked back.

Same here.

Wife works for Republic Bank (in marketing), so we get some perks there like decent rate on savings (5% I think), and free ATM access anywhere and stuff like that. Our day-to-day banking is there.

Loans are all through a tiny little credit union here in Indiana. IMCU. Branch Manager lives across the street and our kids play soccer together. Signed the loan papers on our camper on the kitchen table and did the rest of the details over the phone. Even before this credit union, I look for someone at a soccer game, or track meet, or local event that does credit union banking. I've gotten all kinds of "make my life easier" perks when dealing with smaller local places. Like when I bought my SS out of Canada. Credit Union cut me a check and I flew up, inspected the SUV, handed the dude a check, and drove home. Didn't have to deal with lien paperwork, or import paperwork or any of that crap until I got home. Then I was just an honest person and made sure the title work showed them as a lien holder.

Long story short, the customer service on loans at a credit union is where it's at.

 

[Bluewater272]

Schwab for all primary banking (fantastic, free, easy to link an investment account), and have a local credit union for when we need a car loan or for the rare occasion I have a check I can't mobile deposit.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

We use Navy Federal Credit Union for all of our banking. I have had the account for 45+ years.

I have an AmEx card that we use for almost all of our purchases. Super high interest rate but we pay it off every month. Connected with Hilton and due to personal purchase amount I have diamond status at Hilton and we earned about 10 free hotel nights last year. Planning on using our next bunch of points for 5 nights when we go to Venice.

Jim

 

[Crob83]

Same here.

Wife works for Republic Bank (in marketing), so we get some perks there like decent rate on savings (5% I think), and free ATM access anywhere and stuff like that. Our day-to-day banking is there.

Loans are all through a tiny little credit union here in Indiana. IMCU. Branch Manager lives across the street and our kids play soccer together. Signed the loan papers on our camper on the kitchen table and did the rest of the details over the phone. Even before this credit union, I look for someone at a soccer game, or track meet, or local event that does credit union banking. I've gotten all kinds of "make my life easier" perks when dealing with smaller local places. Like when I bought my SS out of Canada. Credit Union cut me a check and I flew up, inspected the SUV, handed the dude a check, and drove home. Didn't have to deal with lien paperwork, or import paperwork or any of that crap until I got home. Then I was just an honest person and made sure the title work showed them as a lien holder.

Long story short, the customer service on loans at a credit union is where it's at.

I use IMCU as well, have for years. Never had an issue and very friendly

 

[mark_m]

I’d stay with Chase. Leave only what you need to tap in cash/ savings to cover emergency. Invest to get a better return.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I’d stay with Chase. Leave only what you need to tap in cash/ savings to cover emergency. Invest to get a better return.

To close out this thread - this is basically where I ended up. I tripled down with Chase. I ended up deciding to move my extra money into high yield dividend stocks (including current investments with Fidelity). A bit more risky than a HYSA but higher upside and better returns. I opened an investment account with Chase to accomplish this. I also moved my Acorns weekly investment to a robo-advisor account with Chase (this is my highly aggressive account), as well as rolled over my Roth IRA into a new Chase account. I now have almost everything in one app and can move money around very easily. Still outstanding is my 401k, HSA, and Crypto - which Chase doesn't currently support. We will see how it plays out but happy so far. As a bonus of the financial clean-up, I finally consolidated all my 401ks into my current employee plan. What a pain in the ass that is.

To others looking: American Express is very attractive on the surface. The downsides were you can't have a business checking account and a personal checking account. It's one or the other. Depositing cash would be a pain. Their rates are great though and the research showed their app/online banking was very good as well.

 

[AZMark]

To close out this thread - this is basically where I ended up. I tripled down with Chase. I ended up deciding to move my extra money into high yield dividend stocks (including current investments with Fidelity). A bit more risky than a HYSA but higher upside and better returns. I opened an investment account with Chase to accomplish this. I also moved my Acorns weekly investment to a robo-advisor account with Chase (this is my highly aggressive account), as well as rolled over my Roth IRA into a new Chase account. I now have almost everything in one app and can move money around very easily. Still outstanding is my 401k, HSA, and Crypto - which Chase doesn't currently support. We will see how it plays out but happy so far. As a bonus of the financial clean-up, I finally consolidated all my 401ks into my current employee plan. What a pain in the ass that is.

To others looking: American Express is very attractive on the surface. The downsides were you can't have a business checking account and a personal checking account. It's one or the other. Depositing cash would be a pain. Their rates are great though and the research showed their app/online banking was very good as well.

Sounds like good moves.

I personally move my 401ks into an IRA outside of work when I move jobs because that generally gives you some better investment options. 401ks at many employers keep getting worse and worse options.

That said, just getting it all consolidated and manageable so that you can stay on top of it is definitely the most important move.

I mentioned treasuries before and you can buy 3-6 month ones yielding over 4-4.5% now. That’s pretty good for guaranteed money without the volatility of a dividend stock.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Navy Federal Credit Union and Lake Michigan Credit Union, fantastic and never have an issue. I got away from the big banks 10 years ago and never looked back.

Ha! We have a bunch of those LMCU here in Naples. I swear Naples has the most banks per capita than most towns.

 

[Coult45]

Sounds like good moves.

I personally move my 401ks into an IRA outside of work when I move jobs because that generally gives you some better investment options. 401ks at many employers keep getting worse and worse options.

That said, just getting it all consolidated and manageable so that you can stay on top of it is definitely the most important move.

I mentioned treasuries before and you can buy 3-6 month ones yielding over 4-4.5% now. That’s pretty good for guaranteed money without the volatility of a dividend stock.

One reason to keep a 401k active and well stocked with your current employer...



Every company has different rules around how they let you withdraw the funds (frequency, process, etc). But if you're hoping to retire a little early and you want access to your 401k earlier than 59 1/2...the rule of 55 is there for you if you plan properly and have a little luck.

 

[steveinmd]

Good timing for this thread. Thinking I'm going to park some funds in a decent CD for a year-ish. I have funds in more high risk categories, just looking to balance out with some decent interest in a time of volatility.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Good timing for this thread. Thinking I'm going to park some funds in a decent CD for a year-ish. I have funds in more high risk categories, just looking to balance out with some decent interest in a time of volatility.

For 1 year an I-Bond should outperform a CD. Missed the 10/31 deadline for highest rate, still decent key high though.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Ha! We have a bunch of those LMCU here in Naples. I swear Naples has the most banks per capita than most towns.

LMCU very solid. Can't say enough good things about them and the way they treat people.

 

[Julian]

If your savings account isnt getting 3%+ (Nov 2022) then I'd switch banks for savings....just leaving money on the table. We use synchrony and citi savings. Just did Citi to earn the free 25k miles for 90 days, then closed it and moved it back to Synchony (always had a high rate there)

 

[steveinmd]

For 1 year an I-Bond should outperform a CD. Missed the 10/31 deadline for highest rate, still decent key high though.

I-bond limited to 10k (online), so that is a negative.

My local credit union has a 4% apy special for 15 months. Plus, I don't think they penalize for early withdrawal. Not as good as I-bonds but local and high deposit limit.

Decisions...