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I have had banks stealing my funds for years -- be it financial providers eating up my first 401k contributions in excessive fees, be it the banks that charged
by rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago
I have had banks stealing my funds for years -- be it financial providers eating up my first 401k contributions in excessive fees, be it the banks that charged me $2 every time I used an ATM, be it the random charges unauthorized charges that the bank pulled from my account...
Then there is the watching all my adult life as assets grow more expensive and further out of reach, a debt treadmill emerges to ensure the continued struggle of the middle class lest they try to escape their position.
This is in the west. I can't imagine the shenanigans banks play on folks in less regulated jurisdictions. Maciej, I'm sorry that you refuse to get it. We need hard money to prevent the value loss of the time-store fruits of our labor. We need an explicit spend model to prevent unauthorized charges. We need a way to prevent the custodian of funds from helping themselves to your pocket. Better yet, we need a digital store of value that does not require a trusted third party. And we need to make sure special interests can't dictate who is able to spend their money.
For this, it is the most valuable thing on the planet.
- skybrian 5y agoHow are $2 ATM fees "stealing?" They provide a service, which you can pay for or easily avoid by planning ahead a bit. (And cryptocurrency charges even more.)
- onlyrealcuzzo 5y agoLOL - and Vanguard is apparently stealing all our money, providing zero value, and charging 0.1% on their index funds. Better go transfer my life savings into Bitcoin, I suppose.
- mandelken 5y agoDepends on your background and experience, I guess. In many European countries ATMs are free, even outside your own country. It is considered an elementary part of the banking service that you don't have to pay to withdraw your own money.
- nadahalli 5y agoMany European countries also charge negative interest rates. In Switzerland, where I live, bank balances above CHF 100K gets a flat -0.75% interest rate. Just saying.
- Invictus0 5y agoSince 1993, the Swiss inflation rate has been well below 2% in every year except 2008, so you'd still come out ahead compared to the US--assuming you weren't spending all your money on ATM fees.
- bduerst 5y agoSupply and demand. Money supply is up and demand to put it in safe places (like Swiss bank accounts) is very high. German bonds went negative for this reason as well.
- rohitb91 5y agoSomeone somewhere is paying for the fees. I imagine it’s the collective of all people paying for it rather than the people actually using the machines. A bit unfair.
- timdaub 5y agoThis is not true. Most quickly accessible ATMs in e.g. Berlin charge a fee. I spent €€€ on ATM withdrawals yearly.
- mandelken 5y agoFrom my experience this is true for bank clients in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Austria and Spain (but the latter only at your own bank). When I withdraw money with my Belgian debit card in the Eurozone at any ATM (including Berlin), I do not pay any fee. And this is true for all major Belgian banks. Of course, if your account is not in the Eurozone (US?) or denominated in EUR, or through a basic credit card (visa) then usually a fee would apply.
- captn3m0 5y agoIn India, RBI mandates 5 free ATM withdrawals on a issuing bank ATM.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- jsmeaton 5y agoThis argument, that the existing financial markers and institutions are broken for the average person, is somewhat addressed in the linked twitter thread. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the present alternatives (bitcoin, altcoin of your choice) are THE answer either. It's not a binary thing. Something may emerge that is valuable and useful and decentralised but I haven't seen anything that fits the bill yet. For the vast majority of people Bitcoin is an investment because the price is going up. The price is going up because lots of people think it's a good investment. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy until it's not. Then it's every person for themselves and someone will be left holding the bag. Yes, some people can use Bitcoin to buy goods and services. But if all the speculators were to decide they wanted to exit the market at approximately the same time do you really think the price is going to hold anywhere near where it presently sits? And are those people using Bitcoin for purchases going to hold, or are they going to exit their positions too? Phrased more simplistically - can we all agree that the vast majority of xCoin holdings are speculative?
- yadaeno 5y agoOh no my hard drive failed/ my computer was hacked/ my house burned down. Now my entire life savings is physically inaccessible. These things happen every day. I will happily pay a sub .1% fee for a centeralized bank account that's protected by regulations and federally insured.
- misiti3780 5y agoregarding 401K, use vanguard funds. fees are tiny.