“Can you use any ATM with Schwab or Fidelity account? I don’t see any Schwab or Fidelity ATMs where I live. Usually foreign ATM fees are two parts; half for the bank that owns the ATM and and your bank. If Schwab waives their fees, that’s only half of the fees. Do they pay you back the fees charged by the other bank?”
Yes, you can use any bank’s ATM with zero fees. Any fees charged by the bank owning the ATM machine will be credited to your account by Fidelity. During travels to one country, ATM fees were equal to $7-8/transaction and all of that was reimbursed.
Fidelity did start charging fees for 529 accounts when the balance went below a certain level. We had 529 accounts for our 3 girls with Fidelity and also with American Funds. D1 and D2 graduated college but had some money left in each fund and were thinking about saving it for grad school in the future. They could even save it for eventual spouses and/or children. Then we found out about Fidelity charging those accounts.
We switched all their Fidelity money to D3 (making her balance too high to be charged a fee) and switched money back to D1 and D2 from D3’s American Funds account. They don’t charge any fees.
Credit unions do require you to have a savings account, with $25, in order to open any other accounts at the bank, even a credit card or car loan. My kids have their old savings accounts and when they were teens opened debit/checking accounts. I’ve used several CU, and they all have the same requirement.
Another restriction is that you can only do 6 transfer a month from the savings account, so it’s best to plan accordingly. The accounts have all have the same account number but with a different suffix, S01, S08, L37, L1.
@Iglooo
I cant remember if this was important to YOU or if it was someone else in this thread…
I just signed on to Wells fargo and went to see why I hadn’t received a paper statement for a specific account and got this message, so if it was you that wanted a statement mailed be sure to make sure they will do it (and yes, this message is sort of cryptic, lol-it kind of illustrates my frustration with this bank!):
The Online & U.S. Mail delivery preference option is being discontinued for your checking and savings account(s).
If you change your delivery preference for statements or notices to either Online or U.S. Mail, you will not be able to select the Online & U.S. Mail option in the future. Learn More
It was me who wanted paper statements. Does that mean you will not get papaer statements at all? I hate Wells Fargo website. Everything is vague and it keeps you going in circle. Very hard to get straight answers. Bank of America was far more straightforward. For some reason, I am apprehensive about opening a bank account witha brokerage firm but Schwab looks good so far.
We have been pleased with Schwab’s good reimbursements of ATMs when you use one–reimbursed for ATMs and no foreign transaction fees. We have used it in other countries and had NO problems.
@kac425, re post #63, you might be able to get that fixed. I have been with predecessors of Wells Fargo for decades (First Union, Wachovia, their predecessors, etc.) Insisted I should lose no privileges when Wells Fargo took over, or we would move our banking.
At one point during some administrative process somehow we lost the “both Online and U.S. mail” delivery preference for our statements, etc. I demanded it be fixed back and it was, pronto.
I like the convenience of online access, but get so much e-mail that I prefer paper bills and statements so nothing is missed.
Perhaps getting both is dependent on maintaining a certain balance, but IMO any customer should be able to protest a loss of a service.
My issue: Our local bank branch tries to be ingratiatingly friendly.
Honestly, I hate that phony friendliness. One New Year’s Eve a teller asked me what plans I had for the evening. Give me a break – did she really care, or are they training the staff to get personal? Initiating discussions about the weather, etc. ARGH – Please leave me alone and let me do my business and get out!
Guess I am a true curmudgeon but that is my main complaint with my bank these days.
I’ve never seen that message before today-I might not have even noticed if it weren’t for this thread. I actually am not even 100% sure what exactly it means-I get paper statements for some accounts, but these stupid little ones i chose online only. unfortunately for me, i now NEED an official copy of a kids account–i’m guessing when i changed it to mail that message was triggered. (i still haven’t received that statement-hence the reason i was poking around to see wtf happened)
my entire debacle with Wells Fargo was at the insistence I didn’t lose any services after they bought out wachovia–and yes, the balance is more than there. I actually don’t mind the online portal, but i’d rather stick forks in my eyes before I sit down with yet another rep to fix things. I may try calling, but i’m guessing it will make my blood boil too so I probably wont do it anytime soon.
honestly, i just need to make the time to sit down and figure out how i can switch all these accounts to Chase…
I remembered some reasons why it might be smart to have a personal relationship with a brick-and-mortar bank. My mom passed away last year and there were a lot of papers that need a Medallion Signature Guarantee to get accounts retitled and distributed. This is way more than a notarization. The Guarantee means that the financial institution will be on the hook if something falls through with the transaction. So they won’t do it without a relationship of at least six months and probably a substantial account. We had moved cross-country so didn’t have a local bank; had to go back home to do it (we kept our old home town bank). There is a local Fidelity office, but they wouldn’t do it unless I was transferring the accounts into Fidelity.
We also needed the signature of an “authorized certifying officer” to get savings bonds retitled; same problem with no local bank. And if you want to cash old paper savings bonds over, I think, $500, you need a relationship with a bank.
Finally, it’s much easier to get a safe deposit box if you have a local account.
