Banking & Investments - One Stop Shop

[FIREarly]

I like to keep a few things separated.

All investments at VG
All banking at USAA (transaction processing)
CCs not connected to our bank.

Thank you, or your family member, for your service!

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

 

[zippy2020]

Wells Fargo for two separate trust checking accts, plus one savings acct.

Capital One (formerly ING) for an on-line savings acct, seldom goes above $5K as it's only for property tax payments.

Independent CFP firm handles our investments which are held at Schwab.

 

[Doribe]

We consolidated shortly after retirement. There are still a few stragglers. I like a little separation in case of a problem with one of the accounts

Bank: checking, safe deposit box, savings account used for personal tax and insurance escrow.

Investment: Fidelity: brokerage, tIRAs, and Roth IRAs

Credit Union: Back up checking currently used for ATM cash withdrawals with a monthly deposit. This keeps my household checking ledger clean with minimal entries. This can also be used for a quick emergency loan if something major and unexpected happens. This is also a backup source of emergency cash when traveling.

Treasury Direct accounts

Straggles: several CDs that will get moved to the Fidelity brokerage when they come due.

 

[Mansderm]

Ally virtual banking for checking and CD
Vanguard investments
Fidelity for HSA investment acct
Local credit union for "relationship" small savings acct.
TDBank small savings for notary, signature guarantee, foreign exchange currency

 

[SJhawkins]

Used one large bank for everything for many years, all self directed.

This year started moving most all investments to VG.

Plan is to keep the banking at the large bank with a portion of the taxable account ($250k minimum) to maintain the best they offer. As noted the rest will be at VG.

If we stay as VG is yet to be determined, all investments are in VG mutual funds, wanted the option to convert to ETFs if we wanted to move again. Really prefer MFs over ETFs but dealing with MFs outside of house has been becoming more of a PIA over the years, suspect it's just going to become more fun in the future.

It does give me a little piece of mind having 2 institutions, even though it's really a false security. Only personal experience is an institutions web page being down or portion of it, that does make one feel a little quezy with everything in one basket.

 

[COcheesehead]

Some things to consider. Concentration makes it easier at tax time, easier to see the total picture, easier for moving money around, but one possibly overlooked benefit is you also become more valuable to the firm holding your assets leading to likely more high tier, individualized services and benefits. At least that has been our experience.
Putting all your eggs in one basket makes for a better basket.

 

[mathjak107]

Used one large bank for everything for many years, all self directed.

This year started moving most all investments to VG.

Plan is to keep the banking at the large bank with a portion of the taxable account ($250k minimum) to maintain the best they offer. As noted the rest will be at VG.

If we stay as VG is yet to be determined, all investments are in VG mutual funds, wanted the option to convert to ETFs if we wanted to move again. Really prefer MFs over ETFs but dealing with MFs outside of house has been becoming more of a PIA over the years, suspect it's just going to become more fun in the future.

It does give me a little piece of mind having 2 institutions, even though it's really a false security. Only personal experience is an institutions web page being down or portion of it, that does make one feel a little quezy with everything in one basket.

Fidelity has their own team of in house hackers that search the dark web for anything fidelity .

They found my wife’s info up there …she never even logs in to her account .

So they froze our accounts and notified us .

It took quite a few days to get new accounts set up , the links and atm cards so we were glad we could do everything at chase we could at fidelity for the most part .

We also lost internet twice here .once in 9-11 and again in sandy so it was good having a local place to get money

 

[COcheesehead]

Used one large bank for everything for many years, all self directed.

This year started moving most all investments to VG.

Plan is to keep the banking at the large bank with a portion of the taxable account ($250k minimum) to maintain the best they offer. As noted the rest will be at VG.

If we stay as VG is yet to be determined, all investments are in VG mutual funds, wanted the option to convert to ETFs if we wanted to move again. Really prefer MFs over ETFs but dealing with MFs outside of house has been becoming more of a PIA over the years, suspect it's just going to become more fun in the future.

It does give me a little piece of mind having 2 institutions, even though it's really a false security. Only personal experience is an institutions web page being down or portion of it, that does make one feel a little quezy with everything in one basket.

I have found that if the website is down, try the mobile site. I have never had an issue having access to at least one. As for local cash, that’s what ATMs are for.

 

[COcheesehead]

Quick story. We used to keep a relationship with a local bank for giggles I guess. We needed a Medallion signature guarantee at one point. Found out banks only have certain levels of guarantees that they offer. We ended up having to drive 2.5 hours to another “local” branch in Aspen that had the level we needed. So just because you have a local bank doesn’t mean they can always offer what you may need.

 

[mathjak107]

Big banks like chase are no problem ….

Smaller banks can be an issue.

We had medallion guarantees done on our corner

 

[COcheesehead]

Medallions are purchased like insurance policies and cover a specific branch I was told. Each branch can carry different limits. So the size of the bank may not matter. It comes down to the branch level.

 

[scrabbler1]

Fidelity has their own team of in house hackers that search the dark web for anything fidelity .

They found my wife’s info up there …she never even logs in to her account .

So they froze our accounts and notified us .

It took quite a few days to get new accounts set up , the links and atm cards so we were glad we could do everything at chase we could at fidelity for the most part .

We also lost internet twice here .once in 9-11 and again in sandy so it was good having a local place to get money

This happened to me about 6 years ago. Fido washed my account and gave me a new one. I didn't have an ATM with them, but I had checkwriting privileges with one bond fund. Fido refused to give that back to me because it was available only to accounts in place prior to a certain date (2005 or 2006, perhaps) which already had it. Because the re-established account was considered a "new" account, they wouldn't do it. And they would not grandfather my checkwriting privileges because the new account simply replaced the old one. I was a little annoyed, adding it to my growing list of Fido complaints. Thankfully, I had checkwriting privileges with a bond fund from another financial institution so I didn't totally lose that useful, if rarely used feature.

 

[Dash man]

We use USAA for banking and insurance.
At Schwab we have a taxable brokerage, IRA, and each have a Roth. There is a checking account we really don’t use.
DW has her 401k at Fidelity and a second Roth for doing conversions from her 401k. We keep minimal accounts with PFCU and NFCU. We also have savings accounts with Ally and Synchrony banks.
Lastly, we have Treasury Direct accounts.
We will likely eliminate the credit unions and Synchrony before long.

 

[stephenson]

When I quit work, we had several equity mutual funds, including Fidelity and Vanguard.

We had banking through two commercial banks and one CU.

Fidelity had just won the contract from our mega company to manage retirement benefits.

We've simplified - Fidelity paid us to transfer all the mutual funds to them for administration (we still self manage), we recently set up a CM account and dumped out out of date commercial bank, but maintain NFCU as a go to place for various signature proofs.

Fidelity, imo, is better at all of this than any other large institution. I get quick phone action from very smart professionals. I get phone/online meetings with great advisors (but I still self direct), and I get troubleshooting for things like near real time boat and car sales if the other party is a Fidelity account holder.

Easy app base deposits of checks, great notification comms, etc.

 

[Rosedala]

We consolidated everything at Schwab and all equity into one fund. Very liberating.

Pardon my ignorance on the matter, but though single, I too have my assets spread out because I caught some good interests at the time on CDs, Savings, MMs etc. plus an IRA (at over 4%!) and 4 simple annuities. But how can one consolidate something like this? Will appreciate a lot explaning so I can consider to also become liberated from these ties lol! Thanks so much in advance to you and/or anyone else who cares to enlighten me.

 

[OldShooter]

Pardon my ignorance on the matter, but though single, I too have my assets spread out because I caught some good interests at the time on CDs, Savings, MMs etc. plus an IRA (at over 4%!) and 4 simple annuities. But how can one consolidate something like this? Will appreciate a lot explaning so I can consider to also become liberated from these ties lol! Thanks so much in advance to you and/or anyone else who cares to enlighten me. )

Well, years ago I burned up all our taxable accounts paying taxes on Roth conversions, so we have only Roths and tIRAs. Hence no tax consequences of moving money around as we like. Also no tax consequences to dumping all the cats and dogs semi-identical mutual funds and buying VTWAX, which is now our chosen equity fund.

On the fixed income side, we already had everything at Schwab in TIPS, so no issues there. Your CDs might have to be moved after they mature; MMs and savings should be no problem to move. Annuities are their own unique cans of worms, so would have to be looked at individually. Your broker should be able to opine on the CDs and the annuities. Move them in kind if and when you can.

Re "good interest rates" I am too lazy to move money around chasing bps, so we are sometimes sub-optimal but always slothful.

So ... your situation is more complex than ours but a consolidation strategy does not have to have a deadline. I'd suggest just patiently chipping away at it.

 

[Happyras]

Cash incentives should be considered if you are seeking a one-stop-shop? We are currently split by 3 banks, 1 cu, TD, and 2 brokers. Fido is our current choice for most banking cash flow due to set ups, but we have a lot of IRA at Schwab and Fido. Fido offered us $3500 to move the Schwab over to Fido, which I accepted and started the account transfers. My Schwab guy got very worried seeing these in process and called me to offer to match the $3500 if we stopped to moves. His two arguments in addition to the cash, were 1) "does Fido give you a reps cell phone to call anytime like he does?" and 2) if you do not like the StreetSmart Edge trading at Schwab, the TD Ameritrade platform will soon be adopted thinkorswim, and it will be better than Fido's Active Trader.

Man, he got me thinking.....Fido dropped my Private Client person and now has a "team" to support. Schwab has a single point of contact at the local office, who does provide some fun events during the year. I am stewing about this over the weekend and though I will likely maintain my cash management at Fido, I might reconsider consolidating major accounts at Schwab. Both companies are getting more into setting up sales calls with their "top advisors" which is a little annoying.....

 

[teej1985]

Cash incentives should be considered if you are seeking a one-stop-shop? We are currently split by 3 banks, 1 cu, TD, and 2 brokers. Fido is our current choice for most banking cash flow due to set ups, but we have a lot of IRA at Schwab and Fido. Fido offered us $3500 to move the Schwab over to Fido, which I accepted and started the account transfers. My Schwab guy got very worried seeing these in process and called me to offer to match the $3500 if we stopped to moves. His two arguments in addition to the cash, were 1) "does Fido give you a reps cell phone to call anytime like he does?" and 2) if you do not like the StreetSmart Edge trading at Schwab, the TD Ameritrade platform will soon be adopted thinkorswim, and it will be better than Fido's Active Trader.

Man, he got me thinking.....Fido dropped my Private Client person and now has a "team" to support. Schwab has a single point of contact at the local office, who does provide some fun events during the year. I am stewing about this over the weekend and though I will likely maintain my cash management at Fido, I might reconsider consolidating major accounts at Schwab. Both companies are getting more into setting up sales calls with their "top advisors" which is a little annoying.....

If Schwab has fun events and will give you the same $$$, I'd keep it at Schwab, but i'd reiterate that I don't want the sales calls.

 

[OldShooter]

If Schwab has fun events and will give you the same $$$, I'd keep it at Schwab, but i'd reiterate that I don't want the sales calls.

Jeez. If my Schwab guy has events I have never heard of them. Small loss, probably. He does clearly understand my investment strategy and I have never once gotten a sales call from anyone there. His role for us is dealing with administrivia and answering the occasional question. We understand each other well.

 

[Happyras]

Wellllllllll.........as for fun events, the most recent was a shredding event. They brought in a shredder service and provided some corn hole, and drinks as they shredded what you brought in. I had 20 years of records and old checks etc.

They did a virtual Wolf Gang Puck class, they sent us boxes of ingredients, and wine to pair with the food. We had 4 couples over to our house for the class and shared the foods. They sent boxes to everyone, we just decided to make a party of it.

At least the Redmond office here in WA is trying to make an impression.....

 

[mountainsoft]

Local US Bank - Checking Accounts (personal and business) and safe deposit box.

Discover - Savings accounts

Vanguard - All investments

Citi - 2% cash back credit card

Our local bank is the worst for fees and whatnot, but we keep them for the safe deposit box and access to cash when we need it. With a little planning it's easy to avoid the fees, such as keeping minimum balances, and performing transfers from Discover instead of our local bank.

 

[Rosedala]

Thank you Old Shooter.

 

[Koolau]

Hi All,

Been a lurker here for years. Real quick question: What does everyone use for managing all of your money?

DW and I feel like we have money spread out all over the place, separate 401ks (Can't do much about that), but 2 separate banks, multiple trading platforms (TDA/Fidelity), multiple ESPP companies, Treasury Direct, etc

What do you all use to try to consolidate some of these accounts going into retirement? Its becoming unbearable to manage for us.

Thanks!

I use Vanguard for Roths. My 401(k) is still with Megacrop (it's flexible and easy to use.) I have 1 bank and two credit unions. I have NO issues with multiple banks. I tend to use each bank or CU for a specific kind of expense. I also auto pay into specific accounts (SS into bank and pension into my Megacorp's CU). Once you get into a grove, it seems to work well.

Consolidation is good but it's not the be-all-end-all goal for most of us. YMMV

 

[Sunset]

How do you like Chase banking?

We currently are all in at Fidelity, but we do have Chase credit cards which we'll have for a few more years. Just trying to figure out if I want to go back to a B&M local bank for any local banking needs that Fidelity can't deliver.

I like Chase as I like the online bill pay part of the website, nice and easy.

I also like the auto pay setting for their CC's so I don't have to remember to pay those.

Also have used their Notary service many times.
They have a branch close to us so it's been convenient.

I keep a checking accnt there only, as their savings rate is lousy, do occasionally take advantage of some bonus offer to open a savings account, but close it 6 months later.

Avoid their brokerage, MF reps like the plague.

Have been there over 2 decades.

 

[PatrickA5]

I like Chase as I like the online bill pay part of the website, nice and easy.

I also like the auto pay setting for their CC's so I don't have to remember to pay those.

Also have used their Notary service many times.
They have a branch close to us so it's been convenient.

I keep a checking accnt there only, as their savings rate is lousy, do occasionally take advantage of some bonus offer to open a savings account, but close it 6 months later.

Avoid their brokerage, MF reps like the plague.

Have been there over 2 decades.

Thanks for the reply.

I wish Chase had a flat (Free) 2% cash back card like Fidelity (Elan). If they did, I'd consider moving my "banking" needs over and use Fidelity strictly as a retirement center.