Anyone use the cash mgmt. acct at fido? Am thinking of getting rid of the local bank and using fido for both investing and cash and checking needs. The reviews I've read appear to be very good.
It is our checking account.Anyone use the cash mgmt. acct at fido?
I have no complaints whatsoever. Bill Pay is great. EFT works fine (as long as you initiate from within Fidelity - push or pull).Am thinking of getting rid of the local bank and using fido for both investing and cash and checking needs. The reviews I've read appear to be very good.
I never deposit cash, but if I did, I would deposit it to my backup savings account at the local cooperative bank. That's also how I would get a cashier's check if I needed it: Push the money from wherever the money happens to be (probably in my high yield savings account at ING Direct) to the local cooperative bank, and then go in to the local branch of the cooperative bank to get the check.How would you deposit cash
I wouldn't call it a "back up" though: It's really a matter of recognizing that the idea of doing all your banking in one place means, implicitly, sub-optimizing your banking experience. A typical depositor needs a number of different, not necessarily related, things in this space:
- a place from with to conduct the financial business of the household (pay bills, etc.)
- a place to save money for unforeseen needs (the prototypical "emergency fund")
- a place to get a cashier's check (such as is needed when buying a home), and a place to deposit cash (both rather rare needs for many people)
The realization is that the places that can serve the rare needs outlined in the third item are often not the best choices for either of the needs outlined in the first two items. So the conclusion is that many of us are best served by having separate places for each of the three, and to be honest, that third item can be viewed as optional, as long as you don't get paid in cash or otherwise find yourself with vast sums of cash coming in all the time. There's really nothing stopping you from opening a local bank account when you realize you're going to have a need for a cashier's check soon (such as when you start looking for a new home), use that bank to get the cashier's check you need when you need it, and then close that account when you're done with it.
Good to know. I've never done so.I would not open an account to plan on closing it just to get a cashier's check... you can get one without an account...
True but that doesn't sound very frugal.Also, most places will take a wire transfer... that is easier than a check... yep, it might cost you some money, but how often do you do either
Good to know. I've never done so.
True but that doesn't sound very frugal.
You can't deposit cash. I tried using just a brokerage cash account (not Fidelity), but brokers are not allowed to accept cash. So I got a free/cheap local bank account.How would you deposit cash
But, I do not have any info...
Opening an account at our local cooperative bank, feeding it with money to satisfy a need for a cashier's check, and then closing the account afterwards, would have cost us absolutely nothing.The first is not a slam dunk with all banks, and it will cost you anyhow.
I think we're on the fourth mortgage for this house in fifteen years. We're actually in the process of refinancing again, 2.625% with 0 points and no closing costs. I think all-told we've needed somewhere around a dozen cashier's checks over the last twenty-five years. Not a lot, but not zero, either.The second is not frugal if you are doing it all the time.... I have had only one cashier check and now one wire in my life.... so I do not mind paying the fee for that one wire...
You must be using the term frugal in a manner different from the norm.the other option just seems to be less frugal to me...
Huh? The cooperative bank is literally down the street. When we opened the account there it was because we were walking by the place on an afternoon walk together. We were in and out in ten, maybe fifteen minutes.I did not have to drive to a bank, spend the hours needed to open an account....
Literally a three minute operation.move money to it long enough so they would do a cashier's check,
Which you'd have to do regardless of how you got the cashier's check.drive to pick up that cashiers check...
Opening an account at our local cooperative bank, feeding it with money to satisfy a need for a cashier's check, and then closing the account afterwards, would have cost us absolutely nothing.
I think we're on the fourth mortgage for this house in fifteen years. We're actually in the process of refinancing again, 2.625% with 0 points and no closing costs. I think all-told we've needed somewhere around a dozen cashier's checks over the last twenty-five years. Not a lot, but not zero, either.
You must be using the term frugal in a manner different from the norm.
Huh? The cooperative bank is literally down the street. When we opened the account there it was because we were walking by the place on an afternoon walk together. We were in and out in ten, maybe fifteen minutes.
Literally a three minute operation.
Which you'd have to do regardless of how you got the cashier's check.
There are a lot of compromises folks make when the decide to live in less urban areas. There are also a lot of advantages that make those extra costs worthwhile. But let's be clear, those costs are associated with the enjoyment of the advantages of living in less urban areas.Not all people just can walk by a bank... I have to drive...
That's definitely not an urban/rural thing. I cannot speculate about your experience - sound like a bank I wouldn't want to do business with anyway. :shrug:The last account we opened (for DW) took over an hour...
That's what I thought, which is why I originally suggested it was necessary to maintain the local bank, instead of trying to do it in the moment.I was talking about moving the money to a new account.... I was talking about wait time to get the money... you can't just deposit a check and ask for a cashiers check with that money....
That's fantastic. How do I get them to accept my personal check?I have bought two homes... refied the first 3 times and this one once... I have never had to have a cashier check.... they always took one of my checks.... (except this last one)....
We've generally been told to bring a personal check to fix the remainder of less than $100.It was funny, but when my sister did her refi with them.... they also wanted a certified check.... she said "I owe you $3".... they did allow her to write a check
That's fantastic. How do I get them to accept my personal check?
We've generally been told to bring a personal check to fix the remainder of less than $100.
Around here, it isn't unusual for the down payment to be $80,000. That's probably the difference.
The personal check is to make up the difference between the $80,000 cashier's check and the actual settlement amount - it's not either-or.
I use Schwab bank pretty much exclusively as my bank (I am pretty sure Fido offers the same services). I do have a local bank, but the free checking, actually wracks up ~$15 a year in inactivity service charges, cause I forget to use it.
In contrast I don't think I've spent $100 in fees in my nearly 30 years of using Schwab as bank. Rebates at all ATMs, no fees for using foreign ATM, (may have changed). Very large ATM limits ($5,000) helpful when you get a big cash discount, for a rug in Turkey. Free bill pay, free wire transfers, mobile deposit,free overdraft from your brokerage account. Plus they even pay interest although now days at .10% who cares, but in the past when it was a couple of percent it mattered.
The one time I needed a cashiers check, I went to my local walmart withdrew the cash. Paid Walmart the $.70 for a money order. I did the same thing when my poker winning were close to $10K, took a wad of bills to Walmart they gave me a money order, deposited the check in my Schwab account.
The only thing I have found I couldn't do is cash saving bonds, but since my 3.5% iBonds have another 18 years before maturity. I have time to find a new solution...