Ideal Personal Finance Management

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Nick Reese

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Dec 4, 2010, 1:16:47 PM12/4/10
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Hey all,

I've done a ton of research into managing my personal/business
finances while setting up for unlimited mobility starting Dec 17th (my
lease is up).

After all this research it seemed like a shame for me to be the only
person to benefit.

Here is my current gameplan:

Accounts:
Small Local Credit Union - Awesome interest rates, manage business
finances and auto loan
Charles Schwab - No ATM fees, No Forex Fees, No Minimum Balance.
Capital One World Card - No Forex fees, 1% Cashback is a better deal
than Airline points b/c of flexibility.


Explanation:
I will use the credit union for the majority of my finances, paying
bills, and managing business stuff.

Charles Schwab will be used for withdrawing money from ATMs abroad,
they have 0 atm fees and I am setup to easily transfer from my
checking account at the local credit union into my Schwab account.
This will give me complete flexibility to withdraw small amounts and
not have a boatload of cash on me. Also ideal for "Express
Kidnappings". At any time I will only have ~$500 in my schwab account
unless I need to pay for a large expense such as Rent.

Capital One - This card will be used as my primary means of payment
when I can use credit cards. They have no foreign exchange fees and I
will get 1% cash back. This card also gives you access to Visa
Signature Concierge. This is a mainly because you can get them to do
just about anything (see below).

Visa Signature Concierge:
http://gizmodo.com/5542437/how-to-make-your-credit-card-obey-your-every-desire

Overall I have found this to be the ideal setup on paper. Only time
will tell if it actually works.

I would love to hear what you do for your finances and if you can
think of anything I might have missed.

-Nick

Jesse

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Dec 4, 2010, 1:59:31 PM12/4/10
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Wow, I had never heard of Visa Concierge. How do/would you make use of that service?

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Cherie @Technomadia

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Dec 5, 2010, 6:28:34 AM12/5/10
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We love the Visa Signature Concierge service. It's really handy when
you need a service in a new town. For instance over the summer I got
an infected wisdom tooth, and we had limited connectivity to call
around looking for a dentist that could see me ASAP. So we called the
concierge service, told them the situation - and they called around
for us, found a selection of dentists in the area and held a couple
appointments for us. They got back in touch with in an hour with the
information. You do need to make sure you have a Visa SIGNATURE card
to have access to the service - and it's free.


As far as how we have our finances set-up - after 4 years of being on
the road (primarily domestic USA and the US Virgin Islands thus far),
we found it important to have:

- Easy way to electronically pay people
- Easy way to deposit checks. I've been astounded by the number of
checks we've had to deposit since hitting the road.
- Easy way to write checks


We went with a combination of INGDirect, who has the Person2Person
system for paying folks by EFT. This has come in handy when paying
rent to landlords, buying a temporary vehicle in a new location and
other such purchases. They get an immediate notification that we've
paid them, and the money shows up in their account in a couple days.
It's made making larger transactions without having to carry wads of
cash very easy, in cases where a credit card or check just won't do.
The biggest downside of INGDirect is that they are an online bank only
- you can only electronically move money in and out - no easy way to
deposit by check (other than mailing it to them) and checks can only
be issued in a bill pay method (they give you no physical checks to
write on your own). ING also tends to have some of the higher
interest rates without requiring a minimum balance (of course, right
now - no one really has great interest rates.)

For depositing checks - we use Chase. They have a 'deposit by mobile
phone' feature in their iPhone app. When a check comes into our
lives, we just snap a picture of it in their app from wherever we
are. It's so much fun to make a deposit from bed and not worrying
about when we'll next find a physical bank to make a deposit, or risk
mailing it. Chase also has check writing ability, so we use this
account also for writing checks (such as paying campground fees at
self check-in kiosks, or paying for propane gas delivery at our rental
mountain jungle cottage in the USVI). Chase also has a 'Quick Pay'
feature that is sorta like ING's Person2Person system - but we've had
less luck having folks we need to pay setup a free QuickPay account so
that we can use it (they tend to think it means having to set up a
Chase account, which it isn't). Chase is also reasonably nationwide,
so they are also handy for things like getting certified checks,
notary service, cashing savings bonds, etc. on those rare occasions we
might need a bricks-n-mortar bank.


We make the majority of our day-to-day purchases on a Chase Visa
Signature Rewards card (1-5% cash back, depending on the transaction),
and pay the balance off in full each month. Works out great to not
have to risk access to our primary accounts with debit cards, having
purchase protection, access to signature concierge and just ease of
handling our finances. We also carry a Cap1, for when we embark on
international travel. We know some finance 'experts' highly advise
against this plan - but it works out great for us, and neither of us
is prone to debt temptations.

- Cherie
http://www.technomadia.com

That Poet

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Dec 12, 2010, 3:30:29 PM12/12/10
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Technomads:

I need some advice on international finance management.

The house is in escrow, and my wife and I, after years of discussion, are moving in January from Los Angeles to a small apartment in Paris, which will be our home base for world meandering.

We have a Barclays account at a local branch in Paris, which links to a credit card, because the French have that "smart card" chip and there are some locals who will take no other kind of card.

But, since we still intend to work as writers and be paid from the US (we can't "work" in France, under the terms of our residency visa) we'd like to keep an account in a US bank, with a debit/credit card.

We'd like the following features, which our present bank, B of A, won't offer:

* No Forex charges
* No wire transfer fees, ever
* ATM use in other countries with NO FEES for cash withdrawal in the local currency.

Are we dreaming, or does anyone use a bank that has these features?

Taking the leap,

--Richard


On Dec 5, 2010, at 3:28 AM, Cherie @Technomadia wrote:

> We love the Visa Signature Concierge service... We also carry a Cap1, for when we embark on
> international travel.
> - Cherie
> http://www.technomadia.com
>

Nick Taylor

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Dec 12, 2010, 6:25:13 PM12/12/10
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Not sure what most of those features are :)

But for the last 3 years or so I've been working for British Clients
from NZ (and Australia, the EU etc) - and just get them to pay money
into my UK account (First Direct / HSBC) and if I need to transfer money
to the country I'm in, I just withdraw it from an ATM.

There are fees I guess... mine seem to be about 1-2%... ie: $5 for
withdrawing %500. I've always just written this off as a cost of doing
business.

Nick

Eric-Olivier Lamey

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Dec 13, 2010, 2:52:32 AM12/13/10
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On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 9:30 PM, That Poet <that...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Technomads:
>
> I need some advice on international finance management.
>
> The house is in escrow, and my wife and I, after years of discussion, are moving in January from Los Angeles to a small apartment in Paris, which will be our home base for world meandering.

Hi Richard,

January may not be the best month to enjoy Paris, I would recommend
that you book a flight to a warm country for the winter and come back
in spring :) Air Asia has just announced its arrival in Paris, so
you'll be able to fly to Malaysia or Indonesia for cheap.

> We have a Barclays account at a local branch in Paris, which links to a credit card, because the French have that "smart card" chip and there are some locals who will take no other kind of card.

Indeed, there are no debit card in France, but you can use you
credit card (which is not really "credit", per se) to buy a few €
worth of food in pretty much any supermarket. You will need cash to
buy your croissants, though :)

> But, since we still intend to work as writers and be paid from the US (we can't "work" in France, under the terms of our residency visa) we'd like to keep an account in a US bank, with a debit/credit card.
>
> We'd like the following features, which our present bank, B of A, won't offer:
>
> *  No Forex charges
> *  No wire transfer fees, ever
> *  ATM use in other countries with NO FEES for cash withdrawal in the local currency.

I don't know what US banks offer but if you want to have accounts in
France and the US, I would recommend looking for a bank with branches
in both countries. We opened an account with HSBC when we started
traveling two years ago and we highly recommend it. No fees in HSBC
(or partner banks) ATM anywhere in the world. Good service, on the
phone or by e-mail. And I guess if you'd have accounts in different
countries, you wouldn't pay wire transfer fees between them.

Anyway, welcome to your new life (and Paris :).

--
Eric-Olivier

Nick Taylor

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Dec 13, 2010, 3:14:43 AM12/13/10
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> I don't know what US banks offer but if you want to have accounts in
> France and the US, I would recommend looking for a bank with branches
> in both countries. We opened an account with HSBC when we started
> traveling two years ago and we highly recommend it. No fees in HSBC
> (or partner banks) ATM anywhere in the world. Good service, on the
> phone or by e-mail. And I guess if you'd have accounts in different
> countries, you wouldn't pay wire transfer fees between them.


Another thing about First-Direct (an HSBC web-only bank) is that they've
been particularly kind at bailing me out of the terrible cockups I tend
to get into, when drunk, abroad - eg: spotting that my card has been
skimmed, and ringing me up and checking before the charges have gone
through; extending overdraft facilities when everything gone haywire
etc. That sort of thing. They have nice people from Scotland on the phone.

On that note, I'd recommend having several cards from different banks...
ideally at least 3. Don't keep them all in the same place.

Nick

Chris Dame

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Dec 13, 2010, 5:04:21 AM12/13/10
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I just had a project that required me to research this very thing, and
I've been using the information to fine-tune my finances.

The best bank I've found for these things (and most international
travel) is Charles Schwab. They don't charge any foreign currency
conversion, and not only do they not charge ATM fees, they reimburse
you for any the other bank may charge, even internationally.

The only feature they don't have is wire transfer fees, though I've
never seen a place that doesn't charge those. Although, if you deposit
your checks directly into the account (in whatever currency) and
withdraw/transfer them without any currency conversion fees, you
shouldn't have any need for wiring.

Cheers,
Chris Dame
TravelTrue.net

Steve Williams

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Dec 14, 2010, 9:43:08 AM12/14/10
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At 02:04 AM 12/13/2010, Chris Dame wrote:
>The best bank I've found for these things (and most international
>travel) is Charles Schwab.

I agree: Charles Schwab does a great job. Highly recommended.

I rarely travel outside the U.S., so I can't speak to those services.

But for banking, I've been using Charles Schwab almost
exclusively. My only other "bank," a credit union, is quite good,
but Schwab makes mail deposits available more quickly, and Schwab's
customer service is flawless.

>The only feature they don't have is (no) wire transfer fees ...

Note that Schwab does not charge for transfers to or from your other
bank accounts. To transfer between Schwab and my credit union, I
just entered the credit union routing and account number into
Schwab's web site, and now I can transfer between them anytime.

Richard, you'll want to confirm you can do that with the non-U.S.
bank of your choice. If so, Schwab may be a good bank for you.

That Poet

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Dec 15, 2010, 12:36:16 PM12/15/10
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Thanks to all who've replied. I've tried to keep message traffic here to a minimum by replying privately to folks, but the rest of the listserv might like to know what a wonderful resource this is. I appreciate it.

--Richard

Sent from an iPad; make Steve Jobs richer.

That Poet

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Jan 17, 2011, 11:08:11 PM1/17/11
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Nick:

Thought I'd check in with the financial news, just to update the group mind. Your suggestions were helpful to me some weeks ago.

My wife and I sold the L.A. house; escrow closed Friday, and we are in a motel outside LAX waiting to relocate next Friday (with cat and less than a third of what we owned--a good start to paring it all away) to a flat in Paris a third the size of the former home. We have a one-year residency visa, and plan to travel a great deal throughout Europe.

Schwab sounded like a great alternative for us, and we had two conversations with a personal advisor who was quite enthusiastic about investing our house proceeds. Then, during conversation three, she suddenly said, "Oh, you're MOVING to France?"

I replied, honestly, "Yes."

She put us on hold, checked with three higher-ups, and came back on the line to tell us that we could not work with Schwab, they are forbidden to work with people who live in France, and gave us "the bum's rush," getting off the phone so fast it made my head swim.

So, part of the reason for staying an extra week is that we are meeting with Merrill Lynch tomorrow (Tuesday PST), which WILL work with us, and since we are Bank of America customers already, and the two are mutually owned, it should be an easy transition. We will fight tooth and nail to get the kind of perks from B of A (No ATM fees, No Forex Fees, No Minimum Balance) that Schwab was willing to give until they suddenly bailed. We hate B of A, but we are now running short of time in the States, and need to invest somewhere before we leave.

Thanks again to you and to the group mind of this forum.

--Richard

That Poet

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Jan 23, 2011, 5:03:12 PM1/23/11
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I'm not sure that this bit of advice has been mentioned: USE UP YOUR CELL PHONE CONTRACT BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE STATES.

I heard over a year ago that ATT would waive the leftover amount on one's yearly or two-year contract if one was leaving the country.

Not true. They rescinded that policy slightly less than a year ago.

Hence, when I called to cancel (I had not heard they rescinded the policy) my wife and I just paid $400 extortion to ATT to get out of a contract that had lousy coverage in the first place (four drops per call in L.A. was the average, I kid you not). I asked for the supervisor to make an appeal, and not only was she colder than Dick Cheney's breast milk, she said there was no one higher in the company who would talk to a customer on this issue. Judge, jury and executioner in one woman.

Which leaves me naught to do but warn others and urge them to stay away from ATT's lousy coverage in the first place.

--Richard, now loving Paris.


Jan Detlefsen

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Jan 23, 2011, 9:50:43 PM1/23/11
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Hello,
You might be able to negotiate a time out period in your contract. I
did that with a german carrier. They just freeze your contract and
when you come back it will resume. Their math is simple: They
subsidize your phone and maybe marketing costs to get you as customer
and then want to get that back from you in the monthly fees. If you
want to leave early they will ask you for the remaining monthly units
in one payment.
Depends how long you plan to stay away from home this might be an idea
especially if you want the same number back after you return, wanna
reactivate you account with one call, etc.
Regards
Jan

That Poet

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Jan 24, 2011, 1:14:37 AM1/24/11
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Thank you, yes, they dangled that, but we're not coming back, and there were no savings in that plan, since my wife still had a year to go on her contract, so even if they charged her only $9.99 a month for six months, it would have cost exactly the same at the end of a year, according to their math.

Richard

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