Here I am again

[marine6357]

Hello everyone I hope everyone is doing good. It has been a long time since I have been on here due to work and living life. So as with everything plans have changed for me. Originally my plan was to already be living in the Philippines by now, but with covid-19 it has forced me to delay those until next year. I have a few questions that some of you good members can help me with. I will try and post each in the appropriate sections. 

For my first one I hope this is the right section for it, if not maybe the moderator can direct it to the right one.

I am currently collecting from 2 sources of income both being deposited into 1 Bank account which is USAA. I have SSDI and also VA disability compensation.

My question is should I change this to being deposited into 2 separate banks? I have read about sometimes being locked out of an account for different reasons and causing some to not being able to access their account. So with 2 separate accounts I should be able to be able to at least access to 1 of them always. 

Also any recommendations on banks to use here in the US? I am eligible for Navy Federal CU? Any one using them and I satisfied with their service?

Thanks again in advance and I will post my other questions in the right forums for those.

Have a great day and God bless

Mark 

[BrettGC]

Hi Mate and welcome back. 

I'm in a similar situation to you in that I was just about set to move to PI then, well, you know COVID... 

I'm an Australian military pension recipient (navy) as I served over 20 years, as well as a much smaller DVA disability "allowance" related to my service in AFG.

Personally my plan to have both paid into one Australian bank account that has an international presence, Citibank is my choice, but there's many others.  From there, with my PHP account with them (I've already set that up), I'll be able to transfer money both ways with less fees than WU, World Remit etc.  With a PHP account with Citi, I can withdraw etc without the international transfer fees due to moving money from my Citi AUD account to my PHP account with minimal fees, there's a number of international banks that offer this service eg ING etc.  I'll still cop the ATM fee for those withdrawals, which I can't work out how to avoid without having an account with a PI bank,  but not the monthly international transaction fee that a domestic bank charges.  

Anyway mate, that's my plan and my accountant tells me it will work but as you know, the best plans don't survive first contact, or they do.  

Regards, 

WOCTS Brett, retired.  

[marine6357]

Thanks Brett for your info I didn't even consider that worth looking into.

[Joey G]

I use Navy Federal exclusively... never had an issue.  I've never been locked out of an account.  I would investigate getting good US credit card(s), one's that do not charge international fees (most Chase and NFCU cards don't).  For my money... I would never put it in a Philippine bank... prefer to manage from the US. There are several ways to get money from US banks to the Philippines easily.

Semper Fi

 

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, marine6357 said:

My question is should I change this to being deposited into 2 separate banks?

Doubtful that you would ever be locked out of your account for very long.

However, it is a good idea to at have least 2 accounts in the U.S., for flexibility.  USAA is a good one that several members here use but when I applied and told them I was living here, they said, sorry, no thanks.  Make sure you maintain a U.S address for your banking.

If you want a second account that doesn't care where you live, look at State Department Federal Credit Union.  I opened an account with them using my Philippines address, no problem.  I just keep a bit of money there as a backup.  If you do that, make sure you do a transaction once in a while.  If you go a year without activity, they will ding you with a $10 inactivity fee.

I have banked with Chase bank since 2003 and they have been excellent for me.  Before Chase, I mainly used credit unions but when I moved to Florida they were right near my house.  No service charges on my savings account (which I don't use) or my checking account.  I deposit checks from Chase to my Philippines dollar account to make transfers.  Their online services are very good too.

My Fidelity Investments accounts have full banking options but with investment banks, do not let them know you lives overseas.  They can and will shut you down.  So I am extra careful with them.

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

3 hours ago, marine6357 said:

My question is should I change this to being deposited into 2 separate banks?

I used to have all my money and deposits going into one bank.  That was until my exwife made up some story and reported me to Income Tax.  They locked the account and I was royally fecked.  It was a bullchit charge but I had to pay whatever they asked and do it quickly to get at my bank account.  If you are half way around the world and suddenly have zero money then you better have good friends.

PS I have always had 2 bank accounts since then and only let Income Tax know of one of them.

Edited July 24, 2020 by Dave Hounddriver

[Joey G]

2 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

 

My Fidelity Investments accounts have full banking options but with investment banks, do not let them know you lives overseas.  They can and will shut you down.  So I am extra careful with them.

 

Charles Schwab Investments (USA) actually has no problem with anyone living overseas. In fact they have a whole section on their website on how they will help you invest while living overseas.  

[earthdome]

Always a good idea to have a backup plan. Multiple bank accounts is a great idea. I had one in the Philippines where I maintained enough cash for a few months living expenses plus several back in the states. Also maintain credit cards with multiple financial institutions in case one gets locked down. I use Capital One for most of my credit card uses. They are great for international use, no extra fees for international use and a fair foreign exchange rate.

[OnMyWay]

4 hours ago, Joey G said:

Charles Schwab Investments (USA) actually has no problem with anyone living overseas. In fact they have a whole section on their website on how they will help you invest while living overseas.  

That is good news.  I will take a look.  When Fidelity tried to shut me down, Schwab would not open an account for me when I told them I was living here.  I think that was around 2015.

[TimL]

I have 4 bank accounts in the US. My main one is the one that my monthly income stream comes into, then I transfer what I need into a second one which is used for my monthly stuff. The other 2 have money in them but I don’t use. I do this not because I’m afraid of losing access to the accounts themselves but, for fear of something happening to my card for the accounts. I’ve already had to shut one card down due to a fraudulent charge so, I have 3 more to go.  I read the horror stories about trying to get bank cards delivered here so I figured better to be safe, than sorry.
Call me paranoid and maybe so but, I wanted to remove any chance of being outside of the Country without a card to access cash. Also, I keep just enough money in the other accounts so that I’m not charged for them each month so for me, it works out good. My current issue is that a couple of these cards will expire in 2021 so I guess a run back to the US will be in order before they all expire.