Saving for my future!

[linux007969]

So I finally am doing it! I just recieved my tax refund direct deposited in my bank and I opened an Online High Yield Savings Account with Discover so I can earn 0.85% APY and get 24/7 awesome customer service whenever i need it while saving for my future. I am also planning on putting my cash rewards into it once i reach $200, which right now i have over $130 so i'm close but a lil far away but its still a reachable goal.

I also opened a Roth IRA with Merrill Edge (Merrill Lynch) to start saving for my retirement. I also am looking to dump my cash rewards from both of my credit cards with Bank of America into my account in which i will also get some sort of bonus for doing so from what i can gather. By redeeming my cash rewards into my Roth IRA I will be using todays spending to save for my future which is a pretty awesome plan!

Opening those accounts were a bit of a task so far.....

With Discover, I ended up having to do it over the phone with a very nice rep cuz it glitched up with my checking account information. Upon signing up with a rep i expressed some major feedback that they should have had all my information to begin with since I had a Discover Card and used my Discover Card creds to attempt to signup. The rep said how they are seperate and that they are working on intergrating the two. (I though that was quite odd to begin with as Discover Card is issued by Discover Bank so they are one in the same) Once I signed up with a rep then i was informed that it would be 48 hours till i can register online and that I need to sign a signature card that will come with the welcome information in the mail or i can sign it online when i register which i will do that as i don't feel i have the send it to them.

With Merrill, I signed up online and everything went through and said they need to review and i will here back in 1 to 2 business days. Early this morning I recieved a call from their New York office to confirm that I opened the Roth IRA as I had a fraud alert on my account, after I answered all the verfication questions then the rep said i am approved and will recieve an email confirmation shortly. After I recieved the confirm email I went to login to the account and i went to see about transfering funds and it had forms to download and fill out and fax or mail it in..... I was thinking what kind of old school hoops do they want me to jump through? I called and talked to someone in Client Services or whatever and they said I can actually do it from my banks end and push it to my Roth IRA. I didn't think to ask how as i figured it would just be easier on PNC's end.

I logged into PNC and poked around and it had the option of transfering funds to an external account so i chose that, and i found "Merrill Lynch Brokeage" since that was the closest match and the only match to Merrill at all I chose that. It then wanted the Brokeage account number which i would put my Roth IRA account number in and then it also wanted a checking number which i didn't have and so I called Merrill again and was on hold for over 20 minutes and then i didn't want to wait any longer so i called another number and waited only a lil while and got someone who was able to give me a AB routing number and said i have to call back in 24 hours to get the checking number as my account isn't fully set up (which was strange as I was able to log into it and set some things up and poke around).

Once I get through some of these hoops i am jumping through I really hope it will be smooth sailing from here on out!

I just wanted to share this with everyone I know this whole myfico website is all about credit but the things I am talking about are products from Credit Card Companies and tie into my credit in a few ways so i thought it was relevant for sharing!

[Pupeitmeister]

@linux

This is one of the most inspirational posts i have read in a long time. You are definetly working on a fine plan for your future!

I am proud of you for doing this and posting your plan!

[barbaralee]

That is awesome! Congrats!! But I do have a question... For your PNC transfer were you able to do it without any fees? I was at the branch last week and they told me with my type of account to transfer from PNC to external (Charles Schwab) it would be $25. I have the Virtual Wallet Performance account. I haven't poked around on my online banking to see how accurate that is and in the meantime I have to make the transfer from Schwab. 

[linux007969]

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@barbaralee wrote:

That is awesome! Congrats!! But I do have a question... For your PNC transfer were you able to do it without any fees? I was at the branch last week and they told me with my type of account to transfer from PNC to external (Charles Schwab) it would be $25. I have the Virtual Wallet Performance account. I haven't poked around on my online banking to see how accurate that is and in the meantime I have to make the transfer from Schwab. 

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From what i can see when i looked at the list of fees, the $25 you are refering to is for a Domestic Outgoing Wire. Doesn't not mention anything for linking external accounts.

From what i have been able to research and call pnc, and call merrill, and bofa.... I am not able to transfer money directly from my pnc account to my roth unless i would sign and send the form in by mail or fax.

What i did no was open a Cash Management Account which gives me a checking account that i can link to and transfer money into it from pnc and then later into the roth itself. We'll see once everything gets set up.

[barbaralee]

I am not 100% sure what is the difference between a wire transfer and a transfer to an external account. Like if I transfer to an external account does it have to be through wire? Anyway, I went onto my online banking with PNC and chose the EXTERNAL TRANSFERS option and put in my Charles Schwab information. They have to do the test deposits, and then I will be able to attempt to do some transfers. I don't think there should be, a lot of banks are doing away with fees associated with transfering deposits to external accounts. But in a way, it wouldn't surprise me, PNC can be very bad when it comes to fees. 

Are you not able to do this transfer because it is to a Roth account or because it is external? 

[linux007969]

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@barbaralee wrote:

I am not 100% sure what is the difference between a wire transfer and a transfer to an external account. Like if I transfer to an external account does it have to be through wire? Anyway, I went onto my online banking with PNC and chose the EXTERNAL TRANSFERS option and put in my Charles Schwab information. They have to do the test deposits, and then I will be able to attempt to do some transfers. I don't think there should be, a lot of banks are doing away with fees associated with transfering deposits to external accounts. But in a way, it wouldn't surprise me, PNC can be very bad when it comes to fees. 

Are you not able to do this transfer because it is to a Roth account or because it is external? 

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linking an external account is using ACH just like when you link your bank account to your credit card accounts.

Wires you have to call into the pnc call center from like 8am to 4pm, i found that out last night when i was looking for options.

i am not able to transfer directly into the roth cuz its the way Merril has things set up. But if i can get it transfered into cash management, then i should be able to transfer it transfer it from there.

[thom02099]

BIG KUDOS and CONGRATS on planning for your future ! ! !

Don't know how old you are, but this is a great beginning and you won't be sorry that you've got this sort of resolve to save. 

Continued SUCCESS to you ! ! !

ONWARD AND UPWARD ! ! !

[linux007969]

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@thom02099 wrote:

BIG KUDOS and CONGRATS on planning for your future ! ! !

Don't know how old you are, but this is a great beginning and you won't be sorry that you've got this sort of resolve to save. 

Continued SUCCESS to you ! ! !

ONWARD AND UPWARD ! ! !

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Thanks! I'm 24 years old!

[linux007969]

***Update***

So I did open a Cash Management account with Merrill Edge, once it was fully opened I called and got my Checking account number and i put it in the Transfer Funds section on my PNC checking account to link it as an external account, and PNC verified it with some test deposits and it worked!

So I transfered $627 into the Cash Management account and once that becomes available then I will transfer $527 into the Roth, leaving $100 in the Cash Management account to keep it open. 

I also was able to link the Cash Management account to my BofA Credit cards so the rewards get deposited into it and earn me bonus money and help me save up faster for my future! 

So looks like things are good! 

[lg8302ch]

Wonderful plan....Happy savings