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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 9/30/22 9:01 AM, glen wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:d78a5103-04e3-da0b-c1f6-098341658283@gmail.com">But the
real question is: Why are you using BofA? I mean, loads of passive
investing rent-seekers will *thank* you for allowing them to suck
money from you into their accounts (2.87% dividends for BAC!). Why
not use something more local?
<br>
</blockquote>
<p>Any thoughts/insight/advice on going even further than a "local
bank"? I dove in with Los Alamos National Bank when I moved
there because it seemed to be the epitome of "local". I had two
mortgages there which never got sold off to a national (even
though they were FHA and had that clause). When I cashed out of
LANL I put some of my ill-gotten gains into shares in the bank.
Even Bank Officers seemed to think that was a bad investment. I
did it anyway... It didn't earn (not rent-seekey enough?) but it
was no worse than leaving it sitting in one of their savings
accounts, but maybe worse than a T-bill?<br>
</p>
<p> During my last mortgage, they had a big outside investor buy in
and mortgages started getting sold off, then the whole thing got
sold to a national (Enterprise). For the most part, things
haven't changed that much, *but* I know that some guy dressed and
looking exactly like the Monopoly Bankster is rubbing his hands
and cackling over my tiny fraction of a drop in his fat-pockets
bucket. Because he knows that "profit by a thousand pennies"
works, even though I rarely follow the inverse with Franklin's
saved/earned aphorism.</p>
<p><virtue signal></p>
<blockquote>
<p>When I finally payed off my final mortgage last year, I got the
idea that given the low mortgage rates I could re-up with
another 30 and pay it down monthly (even on an accelerated
schedule) from a fund I set up for the purpose, gather tax
advantages (haven't had those in a while with a low mortgage and
a raised standard deduction) and make a profit off of uncle sam
or papi FED or everyone else on the planet I wasn't already
gouging. "Rent Seeking" by another name, "taking advantage" by
an old fashioned one, "doing what everyone else does and the
system expects of you" by standard parlance, and "smart
business" to quote DT.</p>
<p>So I went to my Credit Union where I hadn't held more than a
token amount for decades (mainly cuz they didn't offer mortgages
and their customer service was mildly clunky)... they were
happy to give me a fully competitive ReFi, just fill out the
paperwork! Somewhere in that process I twigged to just how
usurious the whole gamesmanship was/would-be. I mean I knew it
all along, I just followed the "everyone does it" clause above
to help ignore it. Of course my spectrum of friends includes
people who live virtually hand-to-mouth (month to month) and I
know *they* don't do it, cuz they aint' got nothin' to do it
*with*! Long story short, I declined to refinance and (ab)use
the homeowner-incentives of the 'Gov (that I sometimes love to
hate on) to arbitrage my blood money.<br>
</p>
<p>On the backlash to that I then went looking around for local
investment opportunities and found a few local
institutions/funds that give loans to small, entrepreneurial
activities, small-farmers in particular. I'm still looking
askance at them as a possible way to lower my guilt over the
blood money I normally call retirement savings that is out there
doing my "rent seeking" for me. I could maybe dodecatuple down
on the pre-paid CSA with a small organic farm I try to support
(and depend on for healthy food) and buy them a new greenhouse
or another 500sq ft of PV to run the fans and well pump when the
acequia isn't running, and take it back in bumper crop (last
year they dumped their end-of-season excess my way on several
crops and I shared and canned and dried and froze) year after
year.</p>
</blockquote>
<p></virtue signal></p>
<p>So, as I pump my tiny fist at the TV (in encouragement) every
time Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders or Katie Porter takes some
Bankster or Oilster or Amazonster or SpaceMogulster to task, I
wonder at why I haven't moved my ill-gotten gains to the Credit
Union? And why aren't credit unions (more) competitive with big
fat banks? I mean in *my mind*? Or am I just too damned lazy to
do the research or do the transfers and get used to a new
"schtick"? <br>
</p>
<p>Thanks to Gil and Glen for the reminder that *I* have (yet
another) tangled bit of karma to tease at here. Geeze, I think
I'll just order another widget from Amazon, try to avert my
attention.<br>
</p>
<p>Carry On, <br>
</p>
<p>- SaviorComplexster<br>
</p>
<blockquote>
<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:d78a5103-04e3-da0b-c1f6-098341658283@gmail.com">On
9/30/22 07:34, Gillian Densmore wrote:
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">Mmm BofA for good or ill isdropping brick
and mortar banks entirely. You can't even do much without finger
print id. On me and my rides sides of things going to any bank,
even BofA isn't naturally within our paths (insert humours pun
about traveling salesman and having to sale around...ok so that
was a stretch)
<br>
I would hope that banks encrypt traffic. but then again...they
were prone oddly specific, deep things like intercepting
traffic by there...computer monitors. As far as I know that's
been patched into the age of the dodo's
<br>
I thought because banks use p2p and blockchains for connections
that (in theory) provided they have a oops fat finger that'd be
slightly less risk than when a human is in the loop (security
wise). Human can remember user passwords, but if a computer is
asked to store those in a encrypted DB, not a chance short of a
massive attack that's problem
<br>
But you say the week area is on your cellophane? I have no idea
how that works, but it's not surprising.
<br>
I think fam (ie Mum) is more concerned about basic user
experience. rather than deep AF schenigans. LoL I love my mom,
but I made the mistake of pointing out that as long as groups
like anonymous, poodlesec etc around...don't put something on
the internet where you'd be super screwed...but theire's....
<br>
She heard: two parts: Don't put. and screwed. LoL, man I just
meant that their'd be a spectrum. Me, you(Glen) fam, and i'd
guess short of folks on the list in redicously deep
goverment orgs or coded NDA, super dooper
euphamism speach tricks. Just not that important. ie unless your
pretty public target? not a chance. But then I also got curius,
how exactly do these banking apps do deposits by check. What
common things go wrong? is security between me and the banks
good 'nuf?
<br>
<br>
On Fri, Sep 30, 2022 at 8:15 AM glen <<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:gepropella@gmail.com">gepropella@gmail.com</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:gepropella@gmail.com"><mailto:gepropella@gmail.com></a>> wrote:
<br>
<br>
Well, I'd recommend against doing any banking on your phone,
or doing anything important with it. But if you must, do it on
an exclusive device that doesn't automatically send everything
to Google or Apple, doesn't automatically connect to every
coffee shop wifi, etc. Make sure the whole phone is encrypted.
Don't carry it everywhere *or* have 2 that are cloned so when a
skateboarder whips by and grabs it out of your hand, you can run
home and lock everything down with the clone. Use another phone
for arbitrary plebe things like selfies and Telegram. Use
aliases. If they don't know your real name, they can't steal
your ID.
<br>
<br>
Or, just don't do anything important on your phone. If it's
important, there are other, better, ways to do it.
<br>
<br>
On 9/29/22 17:07, Gillian Densmore wrote:
<br>
> I just recently got more of a proper bank account with
BofA after a 'misshap' with a cashcard. Keeping it relevant to
Friam I think family has some umm mmm concerns about data
security, and...ok so what they really would like to know for
using the apps to make deposits by check. is How likely is it
for things to go sideways and suddenly deets from the check,
everyone that might cares knows. I suggested to them: we aren't
/that / important. someone like Poodlesec, or lolPHPsec isn't
going to find me interesting enough to bother. If or when they
turn a places electric security into the consistency of
/dev/null or worse. We're so screwed by then anyway.
<br>
> Short of that: what's been folks experience? are
they reasonable secure? Personally I'd think i'd be more likely
to run into problems from fat fingering something. Than a check
going poof, but that'd still suck.
<br>
<br>
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