Did you appeal the penality with the IRS? This kind of thing doesn't normally happen, or shouldn't. You should have a local bank account for the times you nee

Did you appeal the penality with the IRS? This kind of thing doesn't normally happen, or shouldn't. You should have a local bank account for the times you need local branch if you do most of your banking online. If you're going to spend quite a bit of money soon, like within a month or so, you should move that money into a local branch beforehand, like I did when I was buying my house and I knew I'd need the funds on closing date. Even if you fail to do that ahead of time you can wire the money for, maybe, $20 to the local bank, wire transfers are instant, and get the cashier's check there. That's like saying "you shouldn't use brokerage accounts cause if you need the money you'd have to wait for the sale to settle before you can access your funds."