Wednesday, January 06, 2016
I opened my first checking account when I was a sophomore in high school. The bank was a local Maryland Bank and I kept the same checking account until I graduated from college and started working in Tysons Corner, VA for Boeing.
The reason I needed a new checking account after college? I lived in Maryland, worked in Virginia and wanted to deposit paychecks to a local account in Northern Va. At the time direct deposit was either not offered or not popular. Cannot now- remember which.
The bank I chose [after college], later became one of the largest banks in the United States, however in May 2012- because of a settlement process being considered, I made sure that all checking accounts I had ever opened, were closed with the exception of the business checking account I opened in 2004 at another large U.S. bank.
In 2004, I opened my first business checking account [referenced in the last paragraph]. In 2014 I also opened a business savings account with the same bank. Since I am able to use my social as a sole proprietor, my business account is almost like a personal checking account and I saw no need to have a personal account.
In 2015, I received notification from Boeing that they were offering a payout on one of my retirement accounts. Not much, but enough for me to consider asking them to go ahead and start the payments. The problem? I did not want the funds to go to either of my business accounts.
I am told, solutions are being sought for my situation, so that was another consideration. Why start early retirement payments?
That said, since I received gifts in the form of money for Christmas, I decided to go ahead and open another personal checking account. I did it online and I have to say, it was so easy.
All I had to do was run over to the bank and deposit funds. I could have transfered from the bank where I have my business accounts-- but I do not like money transfers for my financial dealings. My financial accounts are to accessible by too many in Washington so I will never set up money transfer access for any of my accounts.
Anyway, the new personal checking account is with the same bank I used right after college. Or what it became.
I found the whole process of opening the account online so easy I wanted to write about it. I did all of this a week ago-- but wanted to wait until I received all of the cards, pins and checks via the US Mail before posting about it.
What else have I been up to?
- Instagram integration that I discussed in the last post.
- Professional Tennis is back and the Australian Open is about 2 weeks away, so I have been watching who is doing what in some of the early down under tournaments.
- As I have discussed before, in November 2015 or so, I rooted my Android tablet to get my SmartReader to work. I need access to external drives and USB printers and needed USB support. The only way to do this was to root my Android. What I did not know? I no longer have Verizon FiOS cable support for television viewing on my Android. Research on the Verizon site confirms that a rooted Android causes the problem. I can get ESPN and most other services-- but not Verizon FiOS via their app. Looking at a work around. I also have the TennisChannel as a separate APP so this is not a real hardship--just surprising. The root process changes security settings that Verizon FiOS does not like. I considered spending the money for an Apple iPad that ships rooted, however still looking at my options... An iPad is on my wish list if this ever ends. Right now, I wish I could justify the expense just to watch Verizon FiOS on a tablet. I use all of my computers for a lot of things [mostly business], including my Android. An iPad can do the same things, plus. How much have I spent trying to obtain USB support on the Android? My tablet was close to $200 in Feb. 2015. An iPad Mini about $300 with the same 16GB as on my Android, however the iPad comes rooted with USB support... My Android is nice-- however I had to learn a lot given this was my first tablet and it cost.
- Paid off my credit card which was used for part of my holiday spending. This felt good.
- Researching how to set up an Apple iPad with a Mac Mini so that the iPad acts as an external display [both on my wish list]. I want a huge 27" Thunderbolt monitor for use with the Mac Mini-- simply researching whether or not an iPad can be used as a more mobile solution in a time of need.
- Updating my Amazon Stores.
Am I telling my banks anything they did not know? No.
