6 ms·

Jesus. The whole point of a bank is security. Otherwise we'd all keep it under the mattress. This boggles the mind.

mod 8y ago
As someone who does both, the bank, to me, is mainly a convenience. It makes it easy to pay people. I don't really trust them to keep my money safe (nor do I trust myself, exactly, but I'm in a remote location and an unlikely target).
- astura 8y ago
  What about fire or other disaster? Also, don't you care about interest or capital gains?
  - reaperducer 8y ago
    What about fire or other disaster? Easy. Don't keep it all in one place. Also, don't you care about interest or capital gains? The interest rate on savings is under 3%. It's like paying that amount on an insurance policy to guarantee that your money isn't stolen by the bank or through the bank's negligence. And considering how banks behave these days, that's not a crazy investment.
    - mrb 8y ago
      «Don't keep it all in one place» It's shocking how many people make this error. Walter White buries millions of dollars in only one spot in Breaking Bad. People make only one copy of their cryptocurrency wallet seed. People have only 1 bank account. Etc.
      - lovich 8y ago
        A lot of that is dependent. Do you keep multiple copies of passwords around, which increases the chance that someone can get access to your account. Do you open multiple bank accounts and spend extra money when you have less than 400 dollars in it at any one time?
        martimarkov 8y ago
        In the U.K. we are getting challenger banks which are free. It’s super easy to open a new FREE account and spread your money around. You also get 2-3 diffeycards so even if you lose one or two you still have access to you money. Plus you can always transfer between accounts for free using their mobile apps. It’s a pretty sweet deal so I’m wondering if there isn’t anything like that in the US. With SV I’d be very surprised if the U.K. is pioneering this
        lovich 8y ago
        If the accounts are free and from different entities then it would make sense for most people to split things up, for sure. Retail banking is pretty heavily regulated in the US so maybe that's the issue? I've seen a lot of startups in other banking areas, like Mint or Square, but none for checking/savings accounts.
        narak 8y ago
        There are plenty of free checking accounts in the US (with no minimum balances): Simple, Ally Bank, CapitalOne 360, Charles Schwab Bank, USAA, etc. More here: https://www.moneycrashers.com/best-free-checking-accounts/ https://www.moneycrashers.com/best-free-checking-accounts/
walshemj 8y ago
even more so for shares as is much harder to use physical share certificates
prawn 8y ago
I recently paid to have a car transported across Australia. The warranty excluded force majeure events, as you'd expect, but on the list along with flooding, riots and the like, was the ambiguous "accident". Surely "accidents" were exactly what I'd want covered with a car transporter?!
- Mtinie 8y ago
  A bit over a year ago I had a car my father and I had spent 13 months restoring shipped from CA to VA by a high-end enclosed auto transporter. Four hours into the drive an axle bearing seized up and the trailer caught fire. Total loss of all six cars, with over $1.25M in total damages (excluding the trailer). The logical maneuvering the insurance companies employed to avoid paying their shares would have been awe inspiring to behold if I was not personally involved and therefore caught in the middle of a devastating situation. If I learned anything, it’s that marketing B.S. and testimonials mean absolutely nothing when a transportation company is at fault after an accident. Also, always insure your classic automobiles with “agreed upon value” policies. This way you are covered to some reasonable fraction of your restoration outlay...otherwise you end up cry-laughing when the low-ball, hand-selected comparative values show up for significantly under the value of your receipts.
  - sokoloff 8y ago
    Agreed on the agreed-value policies. We unfortunately had a claim with a car covered by Hagerty and they couldn't have been more professional, courteous, or speedy in resolving the claim. (We were 0% at fault in the accident, but even if we had been, I suspect the treatment would have been the same.) Hagerty agent even followed up afterwards to see how we were doing and to express sympathy for the loss of our car.
krageon 8y ago
Keeping your money in/under your mattress is arguably a good way to protect it against computer-based theft.

mod 8y ago

As someone who does both, the bank, to me, is mainly a convenience. It makes it easy to pay people. I don't really trust them to keep my money safe (nor do I trust myself, exactly, but I'm in a remote location and an unlikely target).

astura 8y ago
What about fire or other disaster? Also, don't you care about interest or capital gains?
- reaperducer 8y ago
  What about fire or other disaster? Easy. Don't keep it all in one place. Also, don't you care about interest or capital gains? The interest rate on savings is under 3%. It's like paying that amount on an insurance policy to guarantee that your money isn't stolen by the bank or through the bank's negligence. And considering how banks behave these days, that's not a crazy investment.
  - mrb 8y ago
    «Don't keep it all in one place» It's shocking how many people make this error. Walter White buries millions of dollars in only one spot in Breaking Bad. People make only one copy of their cryptocurrency wallet seed. People have only 1 bank account. Etc.
    - lovich 8y ago
      A lot of that is dependent. Do you keep multiple copies of passwords around, which increases the chance that someone can get access to your account. Do you open multiple bank accounts and spend extra money when you have less than 400 dollars in it at any one time?
      - martimarkov 8y ago
        In the U.K. we are getting challenger banks which are free. It’s super easy to open a new FREE account and spread your money around. You also get 2-3 diffeycards so even if you lose one or two you still have access to you money. Plus you can always transfer between accounts for free using their mobile apps. It’s a pretty sweet deal so I’m wondering if there isn’t anything like that in the US. With SV I’d be very surprised if the U.K. is pioneering this
        lovich 8y ago
        If the accounts are free and from different entities then it would make sense for most people to split things up, for sure. Retail banking is pretty heavily regulated in the US so maybe that's the issue? I've seen a lot of startups in other banking areas, like Mint or Square, but none for checking/savings accounts.
      - narak 8y ago
        There are plenty of free checking accounts in the US (with no minimum balances): Simple, Ally Bank, CapitalOne 360, Charles Schwab Bank, USAA, etc. More here: https://www.moneycrashers.com/best-free-checking-accounts/ https://www.moneycrashers.com/best-free-checking-accounts/

walshemj 8y ago

even more so for shares as is much harder to use physical share certificates

prawn 8y ago

I recently paid to have a car transported across Australia. The warranty excluded force majeure events, as you'd expect, but on the list along with flooding, riots and the like, was the ambiguous "accident". Surely "accidents" were exactly what I'd want covered with a car transporter?!

Mtinie 8y ago
A bit over a year ago I had a car my father and I had spent 13 months restoring shipped from CA to VA by a high-end enclosed auto transporter. Four hours into the drive an axle bearing seized up and the trailer caught fire. Total loss of all six cars, with over $1.25M in total damages (excluding the trailer). The logical maneuvering the insurance companies employed to avoid paying their shares would have been awe inspiring to behold if I was not personally involved and therefore caught in the middle of a devastating situation. If I learned anything, it’s that marketing B.S. and testimonials mean absolutely nothing when a transportation company is at fault after an accident. Also, always insure your classic automobiles with “agreed upon value” policies. This way you are covered to some reasonable fraction of your restoration outlay...otherwise you end up cry-laughing when the low-ball, hand-selected comparative values show up for significantly under the value of your receipts.
- sokoloff 8y ago
  Agreed on the agreed-value policies. We unfortunately had a claim with a car covered by Hagerty and they couldn't have been more professional, courteous, or speedy in resolving the claim. (We were 0% at fault in the accident, but even if we had been, I suspect the treatment would have been the same.) Hagerty agent even followed up afterwards to see how we were doing and to express sympathy for the loss of our car.

krageon 8y ago

Keeping your money in/under your mattress is arguably a good way to protect it against computer-based theft.