I draw very little and not the same amount. The majority of my dividends (stocks) and interest (bonds) are reinvested. Nowhere near ready for consistent monthly withdrawals.

The point of my post is about locking something without sufficient support to get it unlocked in a timely manner. That’s a JOKE.

Locked out of my house and locksmith says call me on Monday. So I wait in my driveway for two days. That locksmith would be a JOKE. Same as Fidelity in this case.

Generally speaking, I agree, but my post was not general in nature. It was quite specific.

Not supporting their cautious approach is the issue. Not the caution.

Did any of you even read my post? Do you think this is acceptable?

I bet you’d feel differently if it happened to you.

{yawn}

I did not say passwords were not a big deal. Nice work putting words into my mouth.

My recurring theme this morning: Read My Post.

Fidelity has Great Customer Service
 

Sorry you were inconvenienced, but that’s better than being hacked. We have used Fidelity for over 20 years and have had exceptional customer service and most importantly great investment returns. Wouldn’t trash them or change investments over one bad experience.

Again if you read my post, I did not say that I would’ve rather been hacked. Everyone loves to put words into my mouth on this thread. My premise is simple. Put all the security protocols in place that you like but offer support 24 x 7 so that I can regain access and not wait for the “back office” to get back to me next week.

And again, I do not think any of you would find this acceptable if it happened to you.

Let's recap:
1. Someone tried to log into your account and it was not you.
2. The account became locked to protect you.
3. To prevent said person from pretending to be you and resetting your password, Fidelity required you to call them.
4. You consider your inability to remember a new password to be Fidelity's fault and that everyone writes it down.
5. Same thing happened to your wife, and due to there being multiple security alerts from the same address, Fidelity is doing more diligence to keep her money safe.
6. You claim to have worked in tech for decades and still complain about there being a high level of security on access to your retirement savings
7. You incorrectly think money transfers happen on non-business days and therefore demand the ability to do a transfer in a non-business day.
8. You incorrectly think Fidelity security workers are evil and are ignoring your wife on purpose and need to "find it in their hearts" to contact her.
9. You summarize it all by saving that "cutting you off from your money" due to legitimate security alerts "is never the answer to security".
10. You contacted them and they are doing research into the security issues and will contact you with the results next week when they get them, but you want the results instantly so that it taking time is bad
11. Their security is a joke because they stopped both of you from getting robbed

Which part is not correct?

I have been with Fidelity for over 40 years and have never had a problem with them. Better safe than sorry.

1. Someone tried to log into your account and it was not you.

Incorrect. My account was blocked first and I called. In my case they could only tell me that I needed to reset my password. No other information was known or given. My access was immediately restored for a partially-acceptable outcome. Updating passwords makes accounts less secure. In my wife's case, she called and they told her the "back office" would reach out to her next week. Unacceptable outcome.

2. The account became locked to protect you.

Unknown. As mentioned, no reason for the block was given for either occurrence. To me, if you don't know the reason, why the locked account? Unacceptable.

3. To prevent said person from pretending to be you and resetting your password, Fidelity required you to call them.

Unknown. See response to #2, above.

4. You consider your inability to remember a new password to be Fidelity's fault and that everyone writes it down.

Incorrect. You're putting words into my mouth. I am speaking generally - not about myself. If you note my comment about password keepers, I don't need to remember. But as a practice, requiring password updates is frowned upon: NCSC.

5. Same thing happened to your wife, and due to there being multiple security alerts from the same address, Fidelity is doing more diligence to keep her money safe.

Unknown. I know of no security alerts because Fidelity is not being transparent about why they blocked (not locked) the accounts.

6. You claim to have worked in tech for decades and still complain about there being a high level of security on access to your retirement savings

Incorrect. More words into my mouth. {sigh} Working in tech is where I learned that required password updates on a scheduled basis is less secure. Cisco, Linkedin, Yahoo, TiVo, and Siemens have all banned the practice and use higher level methods now. And I am not complaining about high levels of security, as I've said multiple times on this thread. I am complaining about not having 24x7 support to resolve the issue and regain access to the blocked account.

7. You incorrectly think money transfers happen on non-business days and therefore demand the ability to do a transfer in a non-business day.

Incorrect: Wow. MORE words into my mouth. Nowhere in my post did I state that I expected my transfers to happen immediately. However, I have a daily window (as a self-directed investor) where I do my finance work. The initiated transfer would (obviously, but you think I am stupid and make what I consider embarrassing assumption) be executed on Monday. Additionally, nowhere did I state an expectation to execute a transfer on a non-business day. I wanted to schedule the transfer, which, yes, I do expect to be able to do on a non-business day. That I am giving you this much energy is probably my biggest issue at this point.

8. You incorrectly think Fidelity security workers are evil and are ignoring your wife on purpose and need to "find it in their hearts" to contact her.

Incorrect: Now you're just getting ridiculous while you fool yourself into believing you're being clever. You incorrectly think I think a lot of things you've attributed to my thinking. I think there should be 24x7 support to deal with blocked accounts. That's it. The rest is in your head.

9. You summarize it all by saving that "cutting you off from your money" due to legitimate security alerts "is never the answer to security".

Incorrect: I did not "save" anything. I did "say" something. You won't hear it no matter how many times I repeat it.

10. You contacted them and they are doing research into the security issues and will contact you with the results next week when they get them, but you want the results instantly so that it taking time is bad

Incorrect: Not having 24x7 support to unblock my account is the issue. Research away, but restoring secure access is always the first order of business.

11. Their security is a joke because they stopped both of you from getting robbed

Incorrect. Their security is a joke because I cannot access my wife's account because they do not have 24x7 support on blocked accounts. You think thieves take the weekend off? They are a five-nines organization. There are no weekends or holidays for five-nine organizations. That's the joke.

I had T Rowe Price since 1988 and built up enough to retire comfortably. Done quite well with Stocks. Never had trouble with logging in, they ask enough personal questions to allow you access to your accounts.

THANK YOU!

That's all I am asking for. It's not rocket science, right?

I've been with Fidelity for over 40 years, and I've always had excellent service and support. 2FA is a must, and I do not trust voice ID systems, especially with newer AI. IMO a big hole in security is the cell phone, which unlocks far too easily and gives someone ready access to reset your PW since it is often to 2FA device and most autologin to your email which gives a thief another path to all your accounts. Let's not forget MS pushing for a "quick" numerical login on desktops and laptops, which seems to make a brute force attack mush easier, especially if you only use the default 4-5 numbers.

I worked for Fidelity for over 7 years. I can say that security is their #1 priority. If a fund manager and a security person are in a room with conflicting concerns, the security issue will take priority, hands down. If you haven't done so, take a look at your security profile and just how configurable it is to meet your desires. I do understand your frustration of not having access to your account, but something tells me there's potentially another issue going on here and perhaps Fidelity is concerned that if they share that with you, they may just be giving your account access and info to a perpetrator rather than the legitimate account owner. Fidelity does have 24x7 support. In rare instances, they will restrict access while confirming with undeniable certainty that your account is not at risk. Sorry this happened to you. I've been a Fidelity customer since the 1970's. In the rare event that an issue comes up, you'll find that they are very willing to compensate you for anything deemed to be their fault. Often times, Fidelity will just throw a $100 goodwill gift your way if they feel that they have inappropriately inconvenienced a customer. I do hope that you will tell us the final resolution of your issue. When they restore your wife's account access you should demand to know the reason for the delay.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply - and for not putting words into my mouth. I do, however, still find it unsettling (and inconceivably frustrating) to not have access to a LOT of money for days while I wait. I will, indeed, disclose the final outcome, along with my mother's maiden name, the first girl I "scored" with (they really should have that one on there - LOL!), the last four of my social security number, and the city where I held my first job just as soon as I know what's up. Yeah. Because, according to some on this thread, I am THAT stupid. :)

So now the way I understand it, your one and only complaint is that Fidelity doesn't have 24/7/365 coverage in the back office?

So I guess my question to you is what financial institution does have this? Or any institution? Even a hospital ER will be open 24/7/365 but may not have various departments with around the clock coverage.

Fidelity answers the phone 24/7/365 which is more than you can say for many other firms. They can usually answer basic questions in the middle of the night, but maybe not resolve complicated issues. Doesn't seem unreasonable. I understand your frustration and sympathize with your dilemma, but I think you should probably cut them just a bit more slack. JMHO