Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

Capital One 360 Review

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For many years, I was a user of ING Direct and their online banking products.  When word went out a while back that the US branch of their online bank was being sold I began to worry that a good thing was about to be ruined.  When we learned that the company that was buying them was Capital One, it didn’t exactly help me not worry.  I’ve had a credit card from Capital One for longer than I’ve had an account at ING Direct, and while I’ve never had a terrible experience with them, I’ve never really felt that I was anything more than just another cardholder; easily replaced and nothing worth going out of their way for.  If that level of service came to the online bank side after the purchase of ING Direct, I might have had to find something else.

The prospect of having to move my accounts at what was ING Direct to somewhere else upset me a bit.  I’ve tried several of the online bank options, and so far, haven’t found one that was as easy to use as the accounts were with ING Direct.  Now that ING Direct US is no more, and it’s been sold to Capital One, and re-branded to Capital One 360, what has my experience been?

Click here to start saving with Capital One 360Surprisingly, I have no complaints.  I truly expected that they’d start squeezing in some new fees, or making it harder to get things done, but the experience so far has been very similar to what it was with ING Direct.  There’s the obvious rebranding that came with a change of logo and color scheme, but for all intents and purposes, they’ve done a very good job of keeping the function and service levels where they were when it was ING Direct.

I suppose there may be some things behind the scenes that I don’t see that are different.  And they may just be biding their time before they start implementing some new fees and roadblocks, but if so, they are taking their sweet time doing it.  In the mean time, many of the features that I really loved about ING Direct are still resident in the Capital One 360 system.  It’s still super easy to create a new account, making it simple to have an account for each purpose and being able to segment your money by purpose.  Every other place I’ve tried this at, make it much more difficult to create a new account and that process becomes a roadblock to use.

The interface of Capital One 360 is very easy to use, with all of the major functions and features that most bank customers use right at your fingertips (or mouse pointer I suppose).  The rates that they pay on their savings and CD accounts still aren’t the best around, but they remain competitive with most other online banks, and they are double and triple what my local banks and even Credit Unions are paying.

The connection between Capital One 360 and Capital One Sharebuilder remains, making it easy to transfer money to investment accounts and IRAs at Capital One Sharebuilder.  Does that make a huge difference?  Not really, but it is convenient.

Overall, I think Capital One has done a really good job of bringing the Capital One 360 accounts into the fold and not rocking the boat.  I hope that they remain dedicated to keeping the excellent service and system in place.  Even with a new name, Capital One 360 is still my favorite online bank.

How Big Is Your Circle Of Support?

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You’ve likely heard the phrases, “No man is an island, entire of itself” and “It takes a village to raise a child.”  What these phrases get at is the importance of having a circle, a group you can depend on.  Although we like to think we can do it all alone, life is generally much easier if we get through it with support from others.

Years ago, before people moved frequently, their circle consisted of family members, neighbors, and friends.  Their circles were large and included not only their own family and friends, but their parents’ friends.

Now, people move frequently, and we are connected more through social media rather than in person.  It’s increasingly easier to be isolated (and many people are), yet we still ultimately need a circle of those close to us.  The larger your circle, the more advantages you have and the healthier you’ll be.

Why We Let Friendships Lapse

In our busy world, friendships and connections often fall by the wayside because they require time.  You need to spend time nurturing your friendships, connecting, and helping others.  Some days you may be so busy that you feel that you don’t have time for yourself, let alone others, but ultimately, nurturing your circle will reward you in multiple ways.

The Benefits of Having a Large Circle of Support

How big is your circle of supportThere are multiple benefits to having a circle of support.

1.  A healthier life.  Time recently reported that those who have strong social ties are more likely to live longer than those who don’t.  In fact, researchers at Brigham Young University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that “a healthy social life may be as good for your long-term health as avoiding cigarettes” (Time).

2.  More likely to get a job.  The larger your circle is, the more people who can help you find a job.  Mashable argues, “People get jobs through other people, not computers.  By having a personal connection to the company you’re applying for, your chances of getting a job multiply.”

I saw this first hand in the 1980s when my dad was unemployed for nearly two years.  My mom babysat at home, and one of the moms of the children she babysat for, Carla, was able to get my dad a job interview at the company where she worked.  When the man interviewing my dad started to smoke during the interview, my dad did, too, which was enough for the boss to decide not to hire him.  Carla was able to smooth things over, and my dad was ultimately hired.  Without Carla in our circle, who knows how much longer my dad would have been unemployed.

3.  More likely to feel secure.  If you have a difficult decision to make, you can bounce ideas off your friends and those in your circle.  If you run into hard times, you know your circle of connections can help support you.  Having a safety net, so to speak, in the form of friends and family, can make you feel more safe and satisfied with your life.

4.  Feel better about yourself.  Giving to others can make us feel better about ourselves and our own life.  If you’re part of a circle, you’re expected to give back.  They help you; you help them.  As you help friends and family, you also feel better about yourself.

In our society, it’s increasingly easy to let personal relationships fall by the wayside.  Resist the urge and take the time to nurture your friendships and family connections.  You’ll benefit financially, medically and personally.

 

 

 

Are We Doing Personal Finance Wrong?

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As you can probably imagine, as a personal finance writer, I think about personal finance quite a bit.  Often enough that I write several articles a week on the subject.  I don’t consider myself an expert, but I do think that I know a great deal about it.  And I’m beginning to wonder if we aren’t going about it in the wrong way.

The problem with Personal Finance

We rail on the Joneses constantly.  That, by itself, isn’t really a problem.  The Joneses just aren’t very smart with their money.  But, for all that we rail on them, we spend an inordinate amount of time trying to find ways that we can go about having things that are similar to what they have for less money.  And that is the problem. The Joneses have the fancy cable television package?  Try Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime!  The Joneses have a fancy new car?  Try a newer off-lease car!  The payments are half what they pay, and the car is almost as nice!  The Joneses have a fancy house?  Try making it affordable by DIY, gardening, and renting out a few of the rooms!

We aren’t the Joneses.  We know that.  We know that we really don’t want to be the Joneses.  But, some part of our natural tendencies somehow pulls us back to them, time and again.  We strain hard to become less like them, and find ourselves back where they are.  That is the problem with personal finance.

Are we doing personal finance wrong?

Doing Personal Finance WrongMaybe the issue isn’t the Joneses.  Maybe, just maybe, it’s us.  I alluded a little to this recently (The Joneses and Jealousy), when I suggested that our tribal human history pulls us towards the leaders of our “tribe”, and that we should be looking for a new “tribe” that espouses the same values that we do.  I think that we all end up returning to our Joneses because we haven’t fully made that switch yet.  Because we’re afraid of what the rest of our tribe might think.  What our families might think.  Heck, what our spouses might think.  And, maybe all this frugality and saving aren’t really what we’re looking for.  After all, where does that lead us?  A cheaper version of the Joneses lifestyle?  Isn’t that what we’re pushing away from?

Changing personal finance

I think what we are really looking for, and what we are really jealous of the Joneses for is financial freedom.  It may only be perceived in the case of the Joneses, but it’s still there.  Freedom, financially, to be able to do the things we want to do, go the places we want to go, and have the things we want to have.  We emulate those who have those things without giving much thought to how they got there.  Maybe the Joneses did it through a boat load of debt.  We rail against debt.  Which only gets us so far.  So many of us struggle with even that part of it.  I know I have, and sometimes still do.  But, I can tell you with certainty, that had my perception of debt not changed drastically from where it was when I began this journey, I would be in a far worse place than I am now.  But, even that is only one small change in the way I think about personal finance.  Our entire perception has to change.

What’s the personal finance endgame?

What is it that we are really looking for.  We decide we want to change how we handle our finances, abandon the way of the Joneses, and make our way to a better life.  But, what is that better life?  If you’re thinking that a secure retirement is it, I think you’re wrong.  I think there’s a better way.  There has to be.  HAS TO BE.  There has to be a better way that doesn’t involve working for 40+ years, pinching every penny, saving every dime, only to end up at 65 or 70 with enough money to make sure you can pay for the medical bills your advanced age brings with it without having to live on welfare.  That can’t be all there is to personal finance, is it?  My word.  What if you retire at 65, and die at 66? I submit to you, that what we are really looking for is personal finance independence.  We don’t want to have to count on a job. We don’t want to count on a paycheck to (hopefully) cover the bills this month.

What is personal finance independence?

Here’s the tricky part.  I think it’s going to vary based on the individual.  What personal finance independence means to you is likely going to be a bit different from what it means to me.  Take, for example, Jacob.  Maybe you’ve heard of him, maybe you haven’t.  He writes a blog about early retirement.  He wrote a book all about it.  It’s got more scientific content than some of the science books I remember from school.  They guy is crazy smart about the subject.  But, when he says it’s early retirement extreme, he’s dead right.  If going to the measures that he went to in order to retire early is what is required, count me out.  In fact, it seemed for a long time that it was either extreme or not.  Nobody had really talked much about the in-between area.  Enter Mr. Money Mustache.  He, too, retired early.  And, while he has his extremities, it’s not quite the same thing.  It’s different for each and every person.  What one person thinks of as retirement isn’t what someone else will think of.  Heck, most of us have been so pre-conditioned to think that retirement should consist of afternoons golfing followed by bingo down at the VFW that it’s no surprise that we scoff at people like Jacob and MMM.

How do we get there?

Oh.  Well, the truth is, I just don’t know.  I think that, with a little help from the Jacobs and MMMs of the world, and a little trial and error, we can find our own personal finance independence.  I think that we can take what we learn, adapt it to our lives, and make something brilliantly wonderful out of it.  I know we can.  We just have to try.  We just have to change personal finance as we know it, and embrace something better.