Cell phone now needed for Social Security AND Bank login

[Gentleman.Jack.Darby]

24 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

 I was looking at phones on Amazon and there are a lot of GSM phones for as low as $15.

I would be recommend caution when looking at the bottom of the price range if for no other reason than the phone needs to be reliable - if relying on the kindness of others to keep the phone plugged in to AC and connected to their wi-fi, it might be stretching it a bit to ask them to frequently acquire a replacement phone and swap the SIM card.

More importantly from my perspective, although Android is relatively forgiving, I would suggest that the less tinkering the phone manufacturer does with Android and the more recent the version, the better.

I have also read of some people who bought low-end Chinese phones and when they needed to tinker with the settings, they were presented with menus in Chinese - not a problem if one reads Chinese, quite a big one if one does not.

Huawei is a good manufacturer that makes some models near the lower end of the price range - although they are relatively unknown in the U.S., I've read estimates that they are either the third ranked or fourth ranked in terms of volume worldwide because they sell a lot in the Chinese market. On the model that I have, the build quality was surprisingly good for a USD 300 phone - it wasn't flagship phone quality, but reasonably close.

I also thought the build quality of the Blu phones that I looked at was acceptable, but it did seem to be the quality that one would expect for phones in the USD 100 - USD 200 range. Probably not an issue for a phone that is, realistically, just going to sit on a shelf.

[OnMyWay]

3 minutes ago, Gentleman.Jack.Darby said:

I would be recommend caution when looking at the bottom of the price range if for no other reason than the phone needs to be reliable - if relying on the kindness of others to keep the phone plugged in to AC and connected to their wi-fi, it might be stretching it a bit to ask them to frequently acquire a replacement phone and swap the SIM card.

More importantly from my perspective, although Android is relatively forgiving, I would suggest that the less tinkering the phone manufacturer does with Android and the more recent the version, the better.

I have also read of some people who bought low-end Chinese phones and when they needed to tinker with the settings, they were presented with menus in Chinese - not a problem if one reads Chinese, quite a big one if one does not.

Huawei is a good manufacturer that makes some models near the lower end of the price range - although they are relatively unknown in the U.S., I've read estimates that they are either the third ranked or fourth ranked in terms of volume worldwide because they sell a lot in the Chinese market. On the model that I have, the build quality was surprisingly good for a USD 300 phone - it wasn't flagship phone quality, but reasonably close.

I also thought the build quality of the Blu phones that I looked at was acceptable, but it did seem to be the quality that one would expect for phones in the USD 100 - USD 200 range. Probably not an issue for a phone that is, realistically, just going to sit on a shelf.

谢谢！

[Gentleman.Jack.Darby]

5 hours ago, AlwaysRt said:

So, if any old contact called my Verizon number it would forward to GV and email me voicemails and texts.

Let me make sure I understand what you were (are) doing:

When someone that had only your Verizon number called or texted that number, was it the Verizon network that was forwarding the call or text or was it the phone or an app on the phone that was forwarding to Google Voice?

What you described gave me an idea, but I need to make sure I understand how it works for you.

Thanks

 

[Gentleman.Jack.Darby]

11 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

谢谢！

别客气

[Mr. Bobo]

10 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

What you may not be aware of because you have not moved yet, is that Fidelity no longer wants customers who do not live in the U.S.  If they detect that you are living outside the U.S., they may lock your account from buying and only allow sales.  Other brokers I checked (only 1 or 2) were going the same route.  They don't want us.  Why, would be another discussion.

I have an IRA and had a joint WROS account (for ATM fee reimbursement). My Fidelity horror story happened when I moved to the Philippines. I informed Fidelity of my new Philippine address via a Fidelity change of address form. My social security check was being direct deposited into the Fidelity WROS account. Apparently having a Philippine address disqualified me from direct depositing my monthly SS check into the Fidelity WROS account. Fidelity says that they had sent me a letter informing me of this but unfortunately for me they sent the letter to the old US address in Las Vegas where I was living before moving to the Philippines and not to the Philippine address that was on the change of address form. The US postal service does not forward mail internationally so I never received the Fidelity letter informing me that I had better take some action vis-a-vis my SS check being deposited into the Fidelity WROS account. To my shock one month, my SS check didn't get direct deposited into the Fidelity WROS account. When I called Fidelity to find out the status of my SS direct deposit I was informed that my acount was flagged and the direct deposit had been rejected by their automated system and my SS funds were returned to the US Treasury! This was a nightmarish scenario and I immediately knew that recouping my SS money was going to be problematic. It took a long time to get it straightened out. I would call the SS hotline and be put on hold for 45 minutes to an hour waiting for an agent. My advice to anyone that has any type of account with Fidelity is to call their support number and find out the ramifications of moving out of the US.  

[AlwaysRt]

10 hours ago, Gentleman.Jack.Darby said:

Let me make sure I understand what you were (are) doing:

When someone that had only your Verizon number called or texted that number, was it the Verizon network that was forwarding the call or text or was it the phone or an app on the phone that was forwarding to Google Voice?

What you described gave me an idea, but I need to make sure I understand how it works for you.

Thanks

 

The cobwebs I am fighting remembering all this are from 2009 (GV was invitation only back then) when I set it up. I just signed into my Verizon account and call forwarding was Not set up there so I must have done it on my phone (which wouldn't do any good now since I do not have the Verizon sim installed my phone won't know someone called) or just relied on the GV setup page.

...Thinking about it some more, I changed phones a few times since then so it must all be done through the GV options we discussed earlier.

Also, GV and Verizon have both done several "upgrades" since I set up my account. Who knows how my original settings were effected as they moved things automatically.

[AlwaysRt]

3 hours ago, Mr. Bobo said:

My advice to anyone that has any type of account with Fidelity is to call their support number and find out the ramifications of moving out of the US.  

My advice is don't tell them to start with.

This is why I went with TravelingMailbox. For all US accounts my address is in Texas. With Google Voice I have a US phone number. GV forwards voicemail and texts, mail sent to my "permanent" address is scanned and emailed to me. The banks etc have US contact info and I get all correspondence in near real time. I also never have to change or update my contact information no matter how much I physically move. Kind of playing the if it aint broke dont fix it game, every change to an account is an opportunity for something to go wrong.

[Mr. Bobo]

36 minutes ago, AlwaysRt said:

My advice is don't tell them to start with.

This is why I went with TravelingMailbox. For all US accounts my address is in Texas. With Google Voice I have a US phone number. GV forwards voicemail and texts, mail sent to my "permanent" address is scanned and emailed to me. The banks etc have US contact info and I get all correspondence in near real time. I also never have to change or update my contact information no matter how much I physically move. Kind of playing the if it aint broke dont fix it game, every change to an account is an opportunity for something to go wrong.

I too maintain a US mailing address via a mail forwarder for many of the same reasons as you. I am not a lawyer but I believe that there is a difference between maintaining a US mailing address through a mail forwarding company and being physically domiciled in the US. IMO, with bank accounts, brokerage accounts, life insurance policies, etc. it is better to be up front with them about where you physically residing. 

[Jollygoodfellow]

** WOW** this is a **Complicated thread**  

[Jack Peterson]

11 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

** WOW** this is a **Complicated thread**  

It would have been easier and most likely quicker to change Banks methinks