Buying a home: What to expect and how to prepare

When thinking of the home buying process, many may envision something as simple as finding a home, placing an offer, and attending a closing. But, buying a home is a complex process that involves many steps, many of which take place before you even find a home. Below, is an overview of the buying process, including the steps that you should take to prepare for your home purchase. Determine your budget Calculate your monthly income and expenses to determine how much you can afford to spend on a mortgage payment while still being able to save for …

Increasing your credit limit on your credit card: hard or soft credit check?

The credit limit that you receive when you’re approved for a credit card is not necessarily the limit that you’ll have for the life of the account. Your credit limit can be increased through a process called a credit limit increase (CLI). Though some credit card companies don’t offer credit limit increases, most do. Companies offering credit limit increases generally have their own policies regarding credit checks. If your credit card company provides an automatic credit limit increase, there should not be a hard credit check since you didn’t personally request the increase or authorize any …

Plynk, Fidelity’s investment app for beginners

Plynk is a mobile investment app owned by Fidelity. Don’t expect any frills with Plynk. It’s a basic app that lets users buy whole or fractional shares, mutual funds, and crypto. The simplicity of the app may be intentional as Plynk’s About page says that the mission of the app’s creators was “to build an app that’s easy to use, understand and enjoy.” The brains behind the app call it “a new investing app for beginners that uncomplicates the complicated to deliver a more intuitive investing experience.” At first glance, Plynk offers what appears to be …

An overview of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was a bank that provided banking services to many technology companies. It recently experienced a bank run, which is when a large number of customers withdraw their deposits simultaneously. The SVB bank run was likely due to Silicon Valley Bank customers’ fears of a collapse. These fears resulted in a liquidity crisis as the bank didn’t have enough cash reserves to honor customer requests to withdraw their funds. As a result, California regulators intervened and closed down the bank, placing it under the control of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The …

No, your funds at a fintech are not 100% safe just because the fintech partners with an FDIC-insured bank

Fintech, neobank, challenger bank, financial technology company. These are all terms that you may have heard or read in reference to a company that offers banking services, but is not legally classified as a bank. More importantly, these fintechs (which we’ll refer to the collective as) are usually not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC’s deposit insurance program safeguards up to $250,000 of your funds in the event that your bank fails. Not surprisingly, some consumers are nervous and apprehensive about keeping funds on deposit with companies that aren’t insured by the …

Why you should consider switching financial institutions at least once a year

This article has been in draft form for some time. With the Wells Fargo missing direct deposits fiasco, it seems like the perfect time to finally complete it and publish it. This will be a brief overview detailing the reasons that you should re-evaluate your banking relationship/s at least once a year. Accompanied are tips on selecting the financial institution that’s right for you. Credit unions versus banks Let’s first make the distinction between banks and credit unions. Both credit unions and banks offer the same core banking services, like checking and savings accounts, Certificate of Deposits …

Wells Fargo missing direct deposit issue resolved

Wells Fargo has restored customers’ access to their direct deposits that went missing. The issue for some customers started on Friday morning when their direct deposits disappeared. In my case, a direct deposit that was pending on Thursday had disappeared on Friday. The direct deposit was listed in my transaction ledger again on Friday. But, that was only momentarily. The direct deposit reappeared again that day and was still in my account on Saturday afternoon. But, by then, Wells Fargo was displaying a new message in the customer portal, which led me to believe that some …

Enzo announces the termination of its cashback program

Enzo announced on March 10, 2023 that it has ended its cashback program as of March 10, 2023. Users are instructed to visit help.joinenzo.com for more information. One day after the announcement, Enzo has still not documented the details of the end of its cashback program on the page that it directed users to. The cashback program is still advertised throughout Enzo’s site. However, an email sent to customers confirms the end of the Enzo cashback program. “We have some sad news to share. Unfortunately, we’re terminating our cashback rewards. Cashback …

Why Wells Fargo might promptly close your new account

So, Wells Fargo will open accounts for you without your permission or knowledge, but they’ll close accounts that you voluntarily open. Obligatory Wells Fargo scandal joke out of the way. When applying for an account with Wells Fargo, you’ll want to ensure that your address that the credit bureaus and other reporting agencies have listed for you matches the address that you provide on your Wells Fargo application. Experian is usually the credit bureau that Wells Fargo pulls, but they have been known to use data from other bureaus and sources. So, you’ll want to ensure that …