6 ms·

I don't know how many Simple employees are in this thread. I'm very sad to hear this news, and I'm sure you were too. Just want you to know that you all made a

I don't know how many Simple employees are in this thread. I'm very sad to hear this news, and I'm sure you were too. Just want you to know that you all made a really meaningful difference in the lives of at least my wife and I. Before I switched to Simple, I had a really hard time budgeting for things/planning for expenses, and was frequently toeing the line of overdrawing my account. I was essentially financially illiterate. Simple made it incredibly easy for me to get my shit together and start being proactive with my money, so there was really no excuse to not do so. Now, my wife and I are well on our way to an early payoff on our mortgage (~18 years early), paying off our vehicle loans early (~2 years early), having a pretty good safety net in the bank, and being otherwise debt free. So if you haven't heard it above the sadness of losing Simple: thank you. Seriously, thank you. You really did something great and you should all be proud of what you've accomplished.

enobrev 6y ago
I'd like to add to this. I used simple for a couple years back when it was first released, and it helped immensely in getting out of debt and on the right track. I've since moved on to other banks (at the time there were no joint accounts or savings, and I needed both), but I had friends reach out to me today in a panic because I'd recommend they use it over the years. It was an excellent tool that absolutely improved my life and the lives of others I know personally. Well done.
- rossmohax 6y ago
  I never used or heard of Simple. What do they do to make people manage their finances wiser?
  - dougmany 6y ago
    They had a way to set money aside for goals. The money would be in your account but it would not show up in the available balance. So you could say, I want to buy this expensive thing, put in the amount you want to save towards it per month and the available balance would hide the money for you until you spent it.
    - bombcar 6y ago
      That’s f’ing brilliant. Everyone is pretty good at stopping when out of money but if you can see it right there in a savings account the temptation to transfer can be strong.
      - raspberrychucks 6y ago
        This. 100%. The best I could do before switching to Simple was putting about half my paycheck in a savings account in another bank that I had no other accounts with and using that to pay my rent and maybe a few other bills. I was still always overdrawing my checking account at my main bank. I would occasionally have to go to the other bank, withdraw cash and drive over to the main bank to deposit it. Luckily, that bank didn't have any branches near where I worked, so I either had to wait 3 days for an online transfer or do my "shame banking" as my SO called it on my work from home day or Saturday morning. Simple's "Safe-to-Spend" is really a game changer for people like me.
pradn 6y ago
It's refreshing to hear someone write well about some technology that has improved their lives. :)
- ende 6y ago
  Yeah. It just made me think how nice “software memorial services” could be for people to express gratitude for these endeavors.
kipple 6y ago
Depending on your mortgage interest rate, have you considered continuing the 18 years and investing your extra cash in index funds? Market returns ~10% over 20 years, so if your mortgage is 6% or less it's in your best 'interest' to continue.
- renewiltord 6y ago
  Yeah, even though that 10% is net tax 8.5% (vs. the full 6%) it seems like one could refinance it down in future. Still, I don't think most payment terms are flexible enough to make them an indefinite loan (go interest-only).
  - jsight 6y ago
    Depending upon their tax situation, the loan rate may be effectively a little lower due to the tax deduction too, though. And, tbh, 6% is a really high mortgage now. Rates below 3% are common.
    - renewiltord 6y ago
      Yeah, when I last checked for a mortgage (4 mos ago), I was offered 2.8%
      - 0xEFF 6y ago
        You can get 2.5% today with good credit. Rates just dropped again yesterday to a new all time low.
        renewiltord 6y ago
        Mind-bending man. At this point, I should just intentionally pay PMI and sock the rest in the stock market.
- massysett 6y ago
  Market returns are not guaranteed, unlike a fixed mortgage rate.
cjohnkim 6y ago
<3
- tadfisher 6y ago
  <3
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
Slippery_John 6y ago
I've used Simple since they became available on Android. At the time I had an account with Wells Fargo, but it was just a nightmare. I was working minimum wage, more or less paycheck to paycheck. I had been burned several times by those predatory overdraft fees, and they had started to introduce minimum balance fees. Switching to Simple was a breath of fresh air. I didn't have to worry about any of those fees anymore. I could look at their tiny list of possible fees and know what to expect rather than having to deal with the nightmare of poor information that I had before. They saved me so much money, and helped me get out of the paycheck-to-paycheck spiral. Like you the budgeting feature have been incredibly powerful for me too. Being able to hide away money without risking an overdraft or declined payment was a game changer. Now I find myself in a very unfortunate position where I'm not even in the states so I'm not sure how I'm going to manage a switch to somebody else.
replwoacause 6y ago
Chiming in as a happy Simple user too. Always thought their customer service was top notch.

enobrev 6y ago

I'd like to add to this. I used simple for a couple years back when it was first released, and it helped immensely in getting out of debt and on the right track. I've since moved on to other banks (at the time there were no joint accounts or savings, and I needed both), but I had friends reach out to me today in a panic because I'd recommend they use it over the years. It was an excellent tool that absolutely improved my life and the lives of others I know personally. Well done.

rossmohax 6y ago
I never used or heard of Simple. What do they do to make people manage their finances wiser?
- dougmany 6y ago
  They had a way to set money aside for goals. The money would be in your account but it would not show up in the available balance. So you could say, I want to buy this expensive thing, put in the amount you want to save towards it per month and the available balance would hide the money for you until you spent it.
  - bombcar 6y ago
    That’s f’ing brilliant. Everyone is pretty good at stopping when out of money but if you can see it right there in a savings account the temptation to transfer can be strong.
    - raspberrychucks 6y ago
      This. 100%. The best I could do before switching to Simple was putting about half my paycheck in a savings account in another bank that I had no other accounts with and using that to pay my rent and maybe a few other bills. I was still always overdrawing my checking account at my main bank. I would occasionally have to go to the other bank, withdraw cash and drive over to the main bank to deposit it. Luckily, that bank didn't have any branches near where I worked, so I either had to wait 3 days for an online transfer or do my "shame banking" as my SO called it on my work from home day or Saturday morning. Simple's "Safe-to-Spend" is really a game changer for people like me.

pradn 6y ago

It's refreshing to hear someone write well about some technology that has improved their lives. :)

ende 6y ago
Yeah. It just made me think how nice “software memorial services” could be for people to express gratitude for these endeavors.

kipple 6y ago

Depending on your mortgage interest rate, have you considered continuing the 18 years and investing your extra cash in index funds? Market returns ~10% over 20 years, so if your mortgage is 6% or less it's in your best 'interest' to continue.

renewiltord 6y ago
Yeah, even though that 10% is net tax 8.5% (vs. the full 6%) it seems like one could refinance it down in future. Still, I don't think most payment terms are flexible enough to make them an indefinite loan (go interest-only).
- jsight 6y ago
  Depending upon their tax situation, the loan rate may be effectively a little lower due to the tax deduction too, though. And, tbh, 6% is a really high mortgage now. Rates below 3% are common.
  - renewiltord 6y ago
    Yeah, when I last checked for a mortgage (4 mos ago), I was offered 2.8%
    - 0xEFF 6y ago
      You can get 2.5% today with good credit. Rates just dropped again yesterday to a new all time low.
      - renewiltord 6y ago
        Mind-bending man. At this point, I should just intentionally pay PMI and sock the rest in the stock market.
massysett 6y ago
Market returns are not guaranteed, unlike a fixed mortgage rate.

cjohnkim 6y ago

tadfisher 6y ago
<3
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

Slippery_John 6y ago

I've used Simple since they became available on Android. At the time I had an account with Wells Fargo, but it was just a nightmare. I was working minimum wage, more or less paycheck to paycheck. I had been burned several times by those predatory overdraft fees, and they had started to introduce minimum balance fees. Switching to Simple was a breath of fresh air. I didn't have to worry about any of those fees anymore. I could look at their tiny list of possible fees and know what to expect rather than having to deal with the nightmare of poor information that I had before. They saved me so much money, and helped me get out of the paycheck-to-paycheck spiral. Like you the budgeting feature have been incredibly powerful for me too. Being able to hide away money without risking an overdraft or declined payment was a game changer. Now I find myself in a very unfortunate position where I'm not even in the states so I'm not sure how I'm going to manage a switch to somebody else.

replwoacause 6y ago

Chiming in as a happy Simple user too. Always thought their customer service was top notch.