[Sandy and Ed]

Originally Posted by rsmurano

I’ve been accessing my bank online for over 23 years to pay my bills and move money around. I’ve also been controlling my investments online for 20+ years. In the old days, I used Quicken but for over a decade the banks have made advances in their bill pay app. I use a brick and mortar bank because if I have to deposit cash or take out a large amount of cash, I can just go into a local branch.

Anytime you do anything online in regards to banking/finance/brokerages, protect yourself. I use LifeLock and VPN. Anytime I make a payment or get a charge against any of my credit cards, or do any kind of trade or get dividends, I’m alerted by LifeLock. Plus my bank alerts me if a strange charge comes in. VPN provides security because your IP presents itself as it’s in another state, or wherever.

Also, a lot of the investment brokerages are also banks. These institutions can provide home loans and secured loans against your assets. I’ve built 3 custom homes using my brokers secured loan feature so I was the bank and didn’t have to pay all the fees to take out a loan. I get up to 10 years of interest only payback to payoff the loan. I save 2-3% of the home purchase price using this feature over getting a conventional home loan and construction loan. Then I pay this off when my existing house sells.

Yup! We always “loan” ourselves the money we need.