How often should I check my bank account?

[audreyh1]

I usually have a reason to log in once or twice a week - to enter a bill pay, or download a statement, or whatever.

I also get a lot of emails from the bank notifying me of various account events.

[Cobra9777]

I use Fidelity's cash management account rather than a traditional bank. I login to pay bills as needed and usually end up checking around for anything that looks unusual, including credit card transactions. I also login to Personal Capital once or twice per month to validate all recent transactions, and assign or correct categories as needed. This is very convenient since all our account balances and transactions are in one place under one login, including a few accounts outside of Fidelity. I also like Personal Capital for quickly analyzing spending trends, checking overall portfolio performance, asset allocation, etc. It's my free Quicken replacement.

[ProspectiveBum]

I have Mint on my phone, which allows me to keep tabs on virtually everything. On average, I check it a couple of times per day.

[tmm99]

Me too. I use Mint (I don't use it on iPhone or iPad) and check transactions every few days, on average, unless I am traveling.

[Dash man]

I check my accounts daily. USAA allows me to add non-USAA accounts so I can see everything in one screen. It literally takes less than a minute to look at any activity, so I check at least once per day.
My DW hates it because she can never get anything past me.


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[mystang52]

I check every day. M'gosh, total time to do this is literally just a few minutes, so why not?

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KB I have had my credit card compromised or had fraudulent charges on it four times over ten or more years. Therefore I check my cc and bank acct daily unless I am traveling and don't have a secure network. I have found two cc frauds by checking daily but have not had any problem with my checking.

This is also my story. I, however, let Personal Capital check all my accounts and send me an e-mail summary on a daily basis.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB The Electronic Funds Transfer Act protects you for 60 days from the date of the account statement that reflects an unauthorized transaction from your account. To make sure that 60 period does not lapse I would suggest that all transactions be reviewed at least monthly.

That's it. Balancing your statements is all that really needs doing. Vanguard's site says "check your account frequently" but does not say what constitutes "frequently". I check mine a couple/few times a week so I guess that qualifies.

The checking/savings accounts I look at to confirm deposits and balance statements but that's about it.

[clifp]

I check my Schwab account daily. The other accounts vary from weekly to monthly. I do look at my credit card transaction, although sometimes it is a very cursory look. I have found that while I concessional throw away a bill, if I do look at paper bill, I study it more carefully than if just looking online.

I second having a verbal password on your large brokerage accounts.

[gauss]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG Someone else said this in another thread; but any fund company is not going to have a headline saying they "lost" your retirement. They know all too well what it would do to their business.

I saw that comment in the other thread, and I would hope that it would work out like that, but how about this as an alternate fictitious scenario:

• You find that almost all of your money is missing upon your daily balance check
• Turns out your account was hacked
• Investigation reveals that you were using a computer running Windows XP (an unsupported OS)
• Fund company says that it was your fault and points to provision in the Terms and Conditions substantiating this
• Company offers to give you half your money back but only if you sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
• You decide to accept the partial settlement on the advice of your attorney.

Result: you are harmed greatly yet nobody ever finds about it!

If there are laws preventing this scenario that apply to retirement accounts (employer 401k accounts and individual IRA mutual fund accounts) I would certainly like to know more about this.

I was lulled into a false sense of compliance due to the significant protections such as EFT Act (bank electronic fraud) and Fair Credit Billing Act (credit card liability for fraud) that apply to some types of consumer accounts.

I have recently grown increasingly uncomfortable realizing that my retirement accounts, where the vast majority of my NW resides, are likely out of scope of these protections.

-gauss

[MRG]

Gauss,

Great scenario. I personally wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it though. Actually their conditions are pretty much boilerplate best practices. IMHO.

Those companies would rather eat losses then have the negative publicity.

I know in your scenario the NDA would protect them. Google a bit, you will find cases where someone did get hit, but the fund company made it right.

Obviously you don't want to be the person that is the exception. Get rid of the XP desktop! Best wishes.


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[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG Gauss, Great scenario. I personally wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it though. Actually their conditions are pretty much boilerplate best practices. IMHO. Those companies would rather eat losses then have the negative publicity. I know in your scenario the NDA would protect them. Google a bit, you will find cases where someone did get hit, but the fund company made it right. Obviously you don't want to be the person that is the exception. Get rid of the XP desktop! Best wishes. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

+1. If you were at Fidelity or Vanguard your attorney would never recommend accepting half and signing an NDA in such circumstances nor would the institution demand it.

[2017ish]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Hitter when my ID was stolen I had etrade put me on a token card - you guys that have big $$$ in your IRAs should consider a verbal password and/or token ID banks will also do the same thing to protect from wire fraud ****

Seems like two-factor authentication via text would also work on this, as long as the fraudster didn't have access to your computer. A token card (or google authenticator) is even better, but not yet as commonly available.

Edit: (And to respond to the original topic; I'm one of those who checks daily, via quicken download of all accounts. Quick and easy, and I am able to determine readily whether the "kroger" charge by DW should be assigned to "auto fuel" or "groceries.")

[Big_Hitter]

no, the criminal must have had a copy of my entire credit report - SSN, account numbers etc.


he called the bank several times sniffing around, then executed the wire via fax

[Cobra9777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2017ish Seems like two-factor authentication via text would also work on this, as long as the fraudster didn't have access to your computer. A token card (or google authenticator) is even better, but not yet as commonly available.

It's not widely advertised, but Fidelity offers two-factor authentication using either a hardware token or the VIP Access smartphone app. I use the latter since my phone is always with me and it's password-protected. It's incredibly simple to set up. Install the free app on your phone, call Fidelity and give them the unique ID# from your app, and that's it. From that point on, after you login, you'll also need to provide the 6-digit access code from the app on your smartphone, which changes every 30 seconds. I also get instant email notifications for any transaction at Fidelity and I use very strong passwords and userids, which I change a couple times each year.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobra9777 It's not widely advertised, but Fidelity offers two-factor authentication using either a hardware token or the VIP Access smartphone app. I use the latter since my phone is always with me and it's password-protected. It's incredibly simple to set up. Install the free app on your phone, call Fidelity and give them the unique ID# from your app, and that's it. From that point on, after you login, you'll also need to provide the 6-digit access code from the app on your smartphone, which changes every 30 seconds. I also get instant email notifications for any transaction at Fidelity and I use very strong passwords and userids, which I change a couple times each year.

Vanguard recently added it. I enabled it ONLY when it encounters a new computer. (i.e. my cookie is not present)

[FreeAtLast]

I check every few days, when I enter my bills into their billpayer system when they arrive in the US mail.

[Al in Ohio]

Once or twice per week minimum imo.


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[Options]

Monthly. Not worried as I get electronic notifications from all my accounts (banking, investment, credit card, etc.) regarding any activity of any kind. Also obtain free credit reports from the 3 big bureaus every 3 months on a rotational basis.