Here I sit in decadent California, with a bank account about to burst.
When that wire transfer came in from the sale of my house, I was flabbergasted — I’d never had so much money before in my life. Now, of course, that money is earmarked for the purchase of another home; but it’s put me into a role I’ve only played as president of a homeowners association: figuring out the best place to keep it where it’s liquid but insured.
My credit union only insures accounts up to $100,000, which is far in excess of any deposits I’ve ever made. But now, I find myself with too much money to keep in one place, which leads me to the conclusion that I have to open a bank account.
Now, I detest banks. I think that they are huge scam factories. Way back in time, banks made their money by loaning out yours. The way they compensated you was by paying interest. But these days, banks charge you to keep your money, while they use it to generate more profits for themselves. Keeping money in a bank these days is a good way to fritter it away — the interest rates are paltry and the fees more than offset any interest earnings you might make.
Now, my credit union — Navy Federal — doesn’t pay the highest rates known to man. But it turns out that their rates are far higher than Bank of America, and NFCU doesn’t charge “maintenance fees” for accounts.
Nevertheless, I’m going to have to open a BA account in the next few days. I’ll probably open a big whopping certificate of deposit for something like $125,000 (I just hiccuped a bit when typing that, I feel like a millionaire but in fact, to many people that’s a small sum… I’m not one of those people). That certificate still pays less interest than a money market account at NFCU.
One thing says a lot about my experience with Navy Federal: I’ve had my account there for 38 years.
