banking

“Go to a Grocery Store”

That’s what she said to me. 🙄

When she asked, I told the Key Bank account manager who called about two reasons why I was considering switching to West Coast Bank.

One is the fees I have to pay when I use my debit card for cash withdrawals at non-Key banks. I have to pay the ATM bank a fee. I have to pay Key a fee.

The first solution she offered is stated in this post’s title. Yup, that’s right. If there’s no Key Bank in the town where I wish to get cash, go to a grocery store, buy something, pay with my debit card, and get cash back.

Presto! Problem solved. 😯

I was amazed. All I said in reply was that I already do that.

But, seriously, is that a Key-endorsed solution?

Oh well. 😆

At least she’s going to check to see if there’s a free, fee-free checking account option.

But to say to go to a grocery store….

Maybe that will entice me to stay with Key Bank instead of going to West Coast Bank. Ya think? 😉

Ooma & Clark Howard

Lifetime home phone service for $200?

Want free home phone service for life? Clark has a $200 device to tell you about that promises just that — with no monthly fees ever!

[…]

The Ooma device looks like a house intercom. You plug a cable for your Internet into it; you plug your traditional landline phone into it; and suddenly you have phone service! Ooma also has a built-in processor that supposedly makes the sound quality comparable to monopoly phone service.

Other Clark Howard gleanings:

(Thankfully, KeyCorp is among those Top Thirteen banks said to be healthy at this time.)

A Pre-Election Expectation

It’s late…too late to be doing this. This is my last computer activity of the day.

In a final effort to seal the coffin of McCain’s electoral chances, the economic picture will be allowed (or further forced) to darken in the next several days.

The wild ride is not yet over.

Rest in Jesus, and you will have peace.

Good night.

Welcome to Today

Some morning headlines, that’s what’s here.

OK, your turn: When you want to read good news, which site(s) do you go to?

I Don’t Want To Alarm You

I’m no banking expert. Or anything remotely related to one. Period.

I don’t know what to make of the current crisis in the finance system.

I don’t even know if I’m using the right lingo.

But here’s something I just read:

Dominoes: Large Euro, US Banks On The Brink

We are witnessing a failure in government. Our Congress cannot work together to provide an immediate fix to a problem it created in the first place: forcing the American financial sector to extend mortgages to those who were high risk borrowers in order to champion to the American people that more minorities own homes than ever. That worked well under a booming economy. But when the natural cycle of economics turned downward, fear dismissed became reality unavoidable. The house of cards came tumbling down.

And even still, amid all the haggling and fighting going on in Congress over how to shore up the financial cash crisis, not a word is mentioned about changing the counter-intuitive practices forced upon mortgage lenders in the first place. In this respect, it’s not unlike how Congress and the White House chose to address illegal immigration: by trying to deal with those already here first rather than initially addressing the cause: the influx of illegals that continues to flow unabated.

Make no mistake, if we wake to Black Monday this week, the responsibility lies squarely upon Congress and the electorate which has put them there, not our banks. Our banks’ hands were forced by mandates from Washington, not their boardrooms.

And here we are. With a Congress so polarized that they are incapable of working together.

[…]

America does not seem nearly as polarized as its elected representation. But perhaps in less than one full week, it really won’t matter but for hindsight and lessons going forward. Hard, painful, demanding lessons.

I don’t have time to say more, though there’s plenty I could say.

For now, I remind you about Roger Hertzler’s article I posted here.

Two Exciting Investment Opportunities

I’m sure that by now most of you have heard of the financial meltdown being faced by the United States economy. It all started with the banking system starting to tremble. No, wait, it all started with people not being able to pay back all the money they had borrowed from the banks. Actually, I think it all started with real estate prices going down. Well, come to think of it, it really started before that, back when real estate prices went up. Or I guess it started before that, back when the banks decided to loan money to anybody who was willing to borrow money, which is what helped make the land prices go up.

Anyway, it started somewhere, sometime. And by all appearances, getting it started was a lot simpler than getting it stopped is going to be. You see, just this evening President Bush got on the radio, TV, and just about everything else he could get on and told Americans in general that there is going to be a widespread financial disaster. In other words, the average person would lose his house, his job, his retirement, his savings, his insurance, his sanity, and perhaps an arm and a leg. Unless, of course, we allow the government to step in and bail us out. Bail us out, mind you, to the tune of seven hundred billion dollars. For those of you who don’t know how much money that is, it is a 7 with a whole wagon load of zeros.

Anyway, in the midst of a world full of financial turmoil and uncertainty, I thought you would all be excited about a couple of wonderful investment opportunities I recently learned about. These are both guaranteed not to lose any of their value, and will not be affected by moth, rust, thieves, or financial market melt-downs. You have no need to fear when you invest in these securities, because they are backed by a pool of wealth far in excess of a measly 700 billion greenbacks. Read it all

Above all, love God!