a funny thing happened on the way to the credit union

[charliebrown]

I logged into my credit union web site today and noticed that eft (electronic fund transfers) are now limited to 10K per day and 10K per month.
There is a new tracking box that shows the amount transfered over the last 30 days.
This notice was not there before. I don't know if these rules were always there and not posted, or are new dodd-frank,
patriot act etc. I guess you can no longer quickly move money from a bank account to somewhere else via eft.
A little creepy ...

[Adeptus]

Re: a funny thing happened on the way to the credit union

I logged into my credit union web site today and noticed that eft (electronic fund transfers) are now limited to 10K per day and 10K per month.
There is a new tracking box that shows the amount transfered over the last 30 days.
This notice was not there before. I don't know if these rules were always there and not posted, or are new dodd-frank,
patriot act etc. I guess you can no longer quickly move money from a bank account to somewhere else via eft.
A little creepy ...

Note: Bitcoin users not affected

[santafe2]

Re: a funny thing happened on the way to the credit union

I logged into my credit union web site today and noticed that eft (electronic fund transfers) are now limited to 10K per day and 10K per month.
There is a new tracking box that shows the amount transfered over the last 30 days.
This notice was not there before. I don't know if these rules were always there and not posted, or are new dodd-frank,
patriot act etc. I guess you can no longer quickly move money from a bank account to somewhere else via eft.
A little creepy ...

The US dollar is a very crappy investment. You will get paid next to nothing to hold it. Little by little it will become more difficult to diversify. As I've suggested before, get some of your savings out of the US. Hegemony exists for a generation or so. This isn't a US centric issue, control is always abused, first externally and then internally. The US is not Cyprus but that day will come for savers that trust our institutions.

[wayiwalk]

Re: a funny thing happened on the way to the credit union

Yesterday I learned that my credit union changed (maybe improved) the way that "member credit union" transactions take place.

Some (many?) credit unions allow other credit union's members perform transactions at no fee at their location even if they aren't a member of their particular credit union. I think it is a matter of the individual credit unions joining a particular network of credit unions where they agree to provide this service. Really a handy service since most credit unions are local or at most regional.

The new process involves using an ATM in the facility to perform the transaction, rather than a teller. My credit union was not actively connected when I tried the ATM to do this, so I ended up using the teller anyway.

While on the subject of credit unions, the thing that really caught my attention was a note in a newsletter I read recently from one of the credit union presidents (not sure which one, I belong to three) that requested members to contact their legislators to ask them to oppose a law/rule that was being proposed which would remove the non-profit status from credit unions.

Gee, I wonder whose lobbyists are pushing for that?

Sickening, really. The credit unions I belong to are generally "no-frills", ie, not particularly fancy lobbies, etc. The big banks not happy with honest competition?

[don]

Re: a funny thing happened on the way to the credit union

a law/rule that was being proposed which would remove the non-profit status from credit unions.

This has been pushed for some time, in one form or another. All part of "leveling the field of play" while blocking socialist tendency in credit unions. Collective savers? Sounds suspicious.

When they're gone or co-opted by FIRE, we'll all be in better hands . . .

Happy New Year!
(and party like there's no tomorrow)
from Jamie

[wayiwalk]

Re: a funny thing happened on the way to the credit union

Don -

I must have watched "The Holy Grail" a half dozen times in my life, but it always still puts a smile on my face. The title of the video is "Monty Python - He must be a King" but it is the line that follows that one that is killer.

Regarding Dimon and others like that, at least I can say that I've always been able to spot THEM since I was a kid. They only THINK they don't have s*!t all over them, but it is clear for the rest of us to see. Nice photo.

Back in the late eighties when yuppy was still a new term, I recall my wife making an observation of couples you'd see on the road driving around in their jaguars ( or fill in you favorite overpriced prestige-mobile here)....she said that the couples always seemed to have a look on their faces like they just finished a fight with each other. Stone cold looking forward, no interaction....and that she never wanted to be one of those couples. Along those lines, she also noted that with women approaching their middle age, you could tell alot about them by looking at the wrinkles on their face - how much time they spent forming "real happy smiles" or "phony smiles".....the crows feet/wrinkles would always tell.

Hmmm. Maybe I didn't get enough sleep last night, too grouchy. I'd better stay away from FIRE discussions.

[jpatter666]

Re: a funny thing happened on the way to the credit union

Sheesh, looks like a scene from the opening of The Godfather IV.

[charliebrown]

Re: a funny thing happened on the way to the credit union

I'm generally in agreement with you, but I may need a lot of money in a little while. I have 5 years until my kid goes to college. I have an aging mother-in-law, my job is tenuous. I have some assets over seas, but some has to stay here for bills due in a short time payable in u.s. dollars. Move the money overseas and I have currency fluctuation and other issues that over the short term may be worse for me than heavy dollar portfolio. Its hard to know what to do if you are one step ahead on the wealth ladder than joe-six-pack

[lektrode]

Re: a funny thing happened on the way to the credit union

i'm considering moving most of my cash into a CU this year - the one eye'm looking at has paid a 'bonus dividend' every year for the past 10 - 2013's was 4%+ on top the 'regular' div rate of 0.1% - the guy i spoke with said the rates were higher back before ZIRP - asked him if he could show me the 10year history of their dividends.

does anybody have any data about these 'bonus dividends' from their own CU's ?
what 'regular' dividend rates are you getting?

have kept most of my cash at ally the past several years - after they got bailed out - esp since they've had about the highest rate available on a passbook acct (now at 0.85) - had been getting at/over 5% at a local bank - before the helicopters started flying anyway - and before they converted from a depositor-owned to a stockholder owned bank - which happened right in the middle of the meltdown - the pre-IPO price (for existing depositors) was 10bux/share - hesitated/fergot it was coming (that and was in hock to homedepot for about 20k at that moment fixing up my dump and altho had the cash to pay it off, had pulled in my horns by then, as my billables sank) and of course it popped up over 40% in the immed following days = now at 230% of pre-IPO (talk about missing-out on easy/free money) -

while their depositor rate is now at .25/annl

so would be very interested in hearing about the rates and dividends y'all are seeing from your CU's

[charliebrown]

Re: a funny thing happened on the way to the credit union

I'm at two CUs. if you have a boat load of cash, I can get .5% (100K), and that is not a teared rate. If you have 100K you get .5% on the whole balance.
You get .35% on 50K. and less than that gets .25%. I know you can get more at ally or capital one. Last time i looked it was .75%. However, I think my CU is safer and friendlier. I'm not sure what crazy derivatives or other whacky stuff the capital one or ally are into. My deposits at the CU help other members.

I do have some worry even about the CUs what do they do with there excess cash? I don't think they can keep it at the fed. Someone here said they
may deposit it with the one of the big banks. So if a big bank goes under, your little bank may go along for the ride.

Now that short interest rates are creeping up you can put some cash into short T's or Muni's. get a reasonable rate of return and maybe .... have
less counter party risk. I am purchasing I bonds through treasury direct. They pay over 1% with no principle risk. You do have to put the money in
for 1 year. If you roll the money in slowly you can have some money always maturing and withdrawl ready. You can only save 10k per SSN in
I bonds. Some brokerages like fidelity and vanguard will let you purchase T's with no commission.

If you buy vanguard vwstx fund it has only had about .20c price variation over the last 4 years on a 15.80 NAV and pays about .8% interest
which is tax free. fmlcx a fidelity fund has similar characteristics.

[lektrode]

Re: a funny thing happened on the way to the credit union

thanks CB - was always under the impression that CU's lend-out their 'excess' cash ?
else how could they pay dividends?
(aside from how bernie did it... ;)

[wayiwalk]

Re: a funny thing happened on the way to the credit union

This may be of some use in terms of comparing CUs....

http://banktracker.investigativerepo...credit-unions/

If you have your own business (in my case, an S corp) - at least with the CUs near me in NJ, it is very easy to open an account - you basically take the steps to make it available to all employees.

For my business, I started a relationship with 2 credit unions. One that had pretty good coverage (locations) throughout north/central NJ but also happened to have its headquarters in the town next to where I live, and a second that had good coverage near where most of our employees live. There were no limitations as far as number of CUs that our business could associate with.

I have completed most of my banking through a credit union since I was a kid as my dad worked somewhere that had a credit union, as was a member since I was in my late teens. Always seemed like a pretty good deal to me - slightly better than average interest rates, lower fees, and in general, tellers/staff that didn't treat you like a number.