Never ending quest to consolidate. What is yours?

[Green456]

So I found myself going back and forth between credit unions and banks. I have been always looking to consolidate. And so far the 4 credit unions I have been with the longest are Fort Knox, PenFed, Alliant and BECU. Things get more complicated as I need to maintain joint accounts with my partner. So at least one more checking and savings. And then throw in all the credit cards....

So I kept Alliant because of their pretty good savings rate and even better CD rates. I compared however the true difference on 3 year CDs between Alliant, PenFed and BECU and really the amount of money after taxes is not that substantial. So here goes Alliant out of the window. I will close that account.

Fort Knox got a pretty good 5% cash back card, but again with the amount of money I spent on gas, it just not worth keeping. PenFed has 4.25% cash back which I could potential open in the future.

So I am finally down from 4 CUs to 2 - PenFed and BECU. They nicely complement each other as PenFed got good savings account and BECU better CDs and better mobile app.
In the future I’m planning to consolidate my credit cards, open Chase Freedome that will complement my wife’s Chase UR points and open BECU 1.5% cash back. Then close BoA, Citi and US Bank.
And hopefully limit my exposure to 4 financial institutions.

As people know me in here , I am minimalist. Chase fits that bill quite well, despite my extensive bashing of that FI, my wife decided to go with them. And I have to admit, Chase UR system is pretty good to allow consolidation of credit cards. So for that two joint account we went with Chase and Ally. One for branch access and the other for great CDs and Savings.

In the end I’m eating my words about Chase and point rewards vs cash back. But you live and learn.

[iced]

Brokerages.

Equity is spread across Fidelity, E-Trade, Putnam, RBC, Barclays, and a few others. Would love to bring them all together into 2 brokerages so I don't have to spend 2 days collecting financial statements and assets every time I'm evaluating my portfolio or providing proof of assets to a mortgage lender.

My hope in the next 12 months is to rollover what I can toward Fidelity. Hopefully, I can close at least 2 of those brokerages in the process, with Barclays holding only cash accounts (no stocks). If I can be at a point where I'm doing all equity trades via a single website, that's good enough for me. Not sure I'll get there, but it sounds nice.

This doesn't count our separate checking/savings accounts, and I really don't want to poke that bear right now. It's not enough cash to bother with anyway.

[Green456]

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@iced wrote:

Brokerages.

Equity is spread across Fidelity, E-Trade, Putnam, RBC, Barclays, and a few others. Would love to bring them all together into 2 brokerages so I don't have to spend 2 days collecting financial statements and assets every time I'm evaluating my portfolio or providing proof of assets to a mortgage lender.

My hope in the next 12 months is to rollover what I can toward Fidelity. Hopefully, I can close at least 2 of those brokerages in the process, with Barclays holding only cash accounts (no stocks). If I can be at a point where I'm doing all equity trades via a single website, that's good enough for me. Not sure I'll get there, but it sounds nice.

This doesn't count our separate checking/savings accounts, and I really don't want to poke that bear right now. It's not enough cash to bother with anyway.

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I am split between Vangurd and Fidelity. Good for you for consolidating.

[wasCB14]

I did a big brokerage consolidation in 2017-2018.

Kept Fidelity and Schwab.

Closed:

etrade

Scottrade

TD Ameritrade

Vanguard (a bit before)

Tradeking

Most I had gotten for bonuses, but it was too messy at tax time.

I may possibly add Merrill Edge or YouInvest for commission-free trading on some thinly-traded stocks (where I might want to buy $10k of a stock but only get $100 filled some days).

[KLEXH25]

I’ve been having the same issue with bank accounts. Used to only have a Wells Fargo Checking and multiple ING/Cap1 savings. Then I got a Checking too. Then I opened DCU savings + checking. Then Discover savings. I’m overwhelmed!

I closed Wells Fargo last month and started closing extra Cap1 savings accounts that I don’t use, but I’m still not satisfied. And of course it doesn’t help that I’m tempted to open a Discover checking, but I really don’t think that’s necessary.

[Green456]

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@KLEXH25 wrote:
I’ve been having the same issue with bank accounts. Used to only have a Wells Fargo Checking and multiple ING/Cap1 savings. Then I got a Checking too. Then I opened DCU savings + checking. Then Discover savings. I’m overwhelmed!

I closed Wells Fargo last month and started closing extra Cap1 savings accounts that I don’t use, but I’m still not satisfied. And of course it doesn’t help that I’m tempted to open a Discover checking, but I really don’t think that’s necessary.

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Tell me about that. 
I have had the following in the past year:

Lake Michigan CU

State Department CU

1st Tech CU

Wells Fargo

Capital One

US Bank

Alliant

PenFed

BECU

Chase

Bank of America

That's why I decided to consolidate. My plan in the next few months to trim down to:

chase and ally for joint accounts 

BECU and PenFed for personal

[Anonymous]

Bank Accounts

I finally closed my Wells Fargo checking/savings that I had for 20 years. Closed a CapOne 360 account that was sitting unused forever.

My Savings is automatically routed to PenFed now (where I have two $0 bal credit cards) and bill/spending money to NFCU (where my CC with the bulk of my debt I'm working on sits.) 

Also have a Discover with a promo balance I'm working on and a paid off Target RedCard.

I'm strictly on my debit card until I pay off my car repairs/maintenance and moving expenses from the last year.

I quit opening new bank accounts for the bonuses for the time being. I had something stupid like 7 checking accounts at this time last year.

Lately just feeling like keeping things simple is going to save me money in the long run even if it means some lost rewards/bonuses/etc.

[RSX]

I am more looking to change.  Since you guys have tried a number of banks, I am asking your advice

i have Wells.  Checking/Saving/CC/LOC

my Loc is near useless.  21%

I have a Chase Joint Acct.  They don’t offer LOC

i had one in Canada that was 3.25% so I am spoiled by that experience. 

I wouldnt  use it much so even 12% would work for me

I am thinking USBank.  Then close Wells saving and checking after 6 months

i would start with a Checking/Saving.  Then app for LOC

recommendations?

[CreditInspired]

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@RSX wrote:

I am more looking to change.  Since you guys have tried a number of banks, I am asking your advice

i have Wells.  Checking/Saving/CC/LOC

my Loc is near useless.  21%

I have a Chase Joint Acct.  They don’t offer LOC

i had one in Canada that was 3.25% so I am spoiled by that experience. 

I wouldnt  use it much so even 12% would work for me

I am thinking USBank.  Then close Wells saving and checking after 6 months

i would start with a Checking/Saving.  Then app for LOC

recommendations?

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Since LOCs offer no grace period, why do you want one? I only use my NFCU CLOC for UT padding. It sounds as if you want to use your’s for purchases. So wouldn’t a CC with a 0% promo for purchases be more ideal?

[RSX]

I don’t have any promos right now.  I just like having it as a buffer.  When it is used, it is an Emerg.  I do pay off in 2-5 months generally. But I get killed on the %

• plus, I want to move away from Wells.  So I might as well move to one that offers an LOC