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Simple Bank Is Closing

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411–420 of 615 posts

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#411
post #271
post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple of days ago, I opened a YNAB account to test it out and had the same reasoning: why can't my bank do all of that envelope budgeting stuff?

there's no money for them in doing that, they want you to borrow money (via credit card or other) and pay them back hopefully with interest that's how they make money

The money in it is that it makes you more likely to deposit with that bank which gives them the reserves to legally lend out money, like in credit cards, which is how they make money.

A consumer bank is dependent on its deposit base.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one is offerring 2%-3% when the fed rate is at zero. You're about a year behind relity.

https://www.hmbradley.com/ currently does, with the caveat that you have to save at least 20% of your direct deposits.

That's pretty cool, although I generally just want enough in my account to cover my monthly expenses, plus buffer. I want the excess going into investments. I don't want my balance growing from quarter to quarter. It looks like you get 0% if you keep a stable balance.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#413
post #224

I'm a Simple customer and incredibly upset by this decision. For those not familiar with their value add, Simple is essentially "envelope budgeting" built into a banking application. Sure, it's a bank and does bank things. What sets Simple apart is that I can allocate $n/month for an expense and it takes it out of my paycheck and puts it into that expense "envelope". When a charge comes in for that expense, it pulls…

I was forced to ditch Simple after their ridiculous application policies wouldn't allow my spouse to create an account for us to have a joint account. Since doing so, I've signed up for YouNeedABudget (YNAB) [1], and couldn't be happier. Simple was a great service and I'm sad it is calling quits, but I've outgrown it.

[1] https://www.youneedabudget.com/

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#414
post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Market returns are not guaranteed, unlike a fixed mortgage rate.

Sure, but the return on paying off a 3.5% mortgage, after interest tax deduction is maybe 2.5% which adjusted for inflation is ~0 to 0.5%.

You can. Only deduct (married) if you pay more than 10-15k of interest a year? Or am I missing something (itemized deductions is now at 20k limit or so).

Edit: and since you need to pay taxes on dividends in bank accounts, you would need something like 3.5-4% interest to match the gains from prepaying the mortgage at 2.75%?

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#415
Used Simple for a signup bonus, was fine, was weird that I could only see certain details (the exact amount of ACH trial deposits) in the mobile app instead of the web app.

They declined to open an account for my wife (who was also angling for a signup bonus) with no explanation; response to a CFPB complaint was "we will not explain"; no response to a CEO email. Was very weird. Nothing apparently fraudulent or weird in her application, credit, chexsystems, etc., just a "we don't want your wife's business".

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#416
post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mint on the other hand is totally useless. That's hyperbole. Having a bird's eye view of every single account, transaction, investments, net worth, etc. is "totally useless"? No. I use Mint and it works quite well for keeping an eye on your financial life at a glance. I don't need some micro-managey software like YNAB (that I'd have to pay for monthly!) to continually increase my wealth and keep debt in check - her…

> That's hyperbole. Having a bird's eye view of every single account, transaction, investments, net worth, etc. is "totally useless"? No. If you can get it to actually connect to things (I have 2FA on most accounts, and since Mint scrapes the sites and stores passwords in plaintext, it doesn't know how to handle this) and tag everything properly (MCC's vary pretty widely). I think that the promise of Mint is great, b…

I just don't understand giving your banking credentials to a third party. Will your bank even cover fraudulent withdraws if you give your login info to Mint?

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#417
post #224

I'm a Simple customer and incredibly upset by this decision. For those not familiar with their value add, Simple is essentially "envelope budgeting" built into a banking application. Sure, it's a bank and does bank things. What sets Simple apart is that I can allocate $n/month for an expense and it takes it out of my paycheck and puts it into that expense "envelope". When a charge comes in for that expense, it pulls…

Was this maybe a BBVA feature? Azlo did this as well and referred to them as envelopes.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#418
post #275
post #224

I'm a Simple customer and incredibly upset by this decision. For those not familiar with their value add, Simple is essentially "envelope budgeting" built into a banking application. Sure, it's a bank and does bank things. What sets Simple apart is that I can allocate $n/month for an expense and it takes it out of my paycheck and puts it into that expense "envelope". When a charge comes in for that expense, it pulls…

Two things: - Monzo and Revolut are better products - they discriminate against permanent residents who are not citizens (you can’t use their service) So from my point of view: heh

Revolut is like dealing with a shady loan shark dude that hangs out in an amusement arcade. One day he tells you one story, you can't get hold of him for a while, he sends you texts promising fantastic things and big discounts, then you track him down and the story has changed.

Dear HN crowd, don't waste your time and money with the sharks at Revolut, and be doubly wary of working for them.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#419
post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YNAB is excellent - its design forces people to budget properly. It also lets you track all expenses and let’s you keep lifestyle inflation in check. I’ve found it well worth it (and I’m pretty responsible financially). Mint on the other hand is totally useless.

> Mint on the other hand is totally useless. That's hyperbole. Having a bird's eye view of every single account, transaction, investments, net worth, etc. is "totally useless"? No. I use Mint and it works quite well for keeping an eye on your financial life at a glance. I don't need some micro-managey software like YNAB (that I'd have to pay for monthly!) to continually increase my wealth and keep debt in check - her…

Do you have a family, or at least entagled budgeting with a significant other? Either one of those makes this workflow almost impossible.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#420
post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Robinhood's banking feature for this (I don't use them as a brokerage, though). It lets me do direct deposit and automatic withrdrawals from a single account, while earning savings account interest. The interest isn't significant at the moment, but it was nice for a few months, before COVID. I use Mint and Personal Capital for monitoring my budget, rather than earmarking funds.

You're getting 0.3% APY, which is pretty useless. I would instead try some of the banks that promise you higher APY rn. There are some offering 2-3%

I basically use it as an interest checking account for the purpose of paying monthly expenses. It's a very simple system that requires zero babysitting and produces better yield than a real checking account.

I could chase higher yield with my emergency fund than where I currently keep it, at Alliant Credit Union (0.55% APY), but it's not worth the effort. No one does significant better without also having gimmicks.

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