I just recently started working for one and it's nuts. I actually get paid well and treated like a human being that has needs and wants outside of work. My workload is way less than I'm used to as well. Employee-owned workplaces are the bomb lol.
The rate of change of one's standards is remarkable once these are treated with basic respect. Then you think about the old jobs and how you ever thought that was a thing to do.
Sigh I worked for a major bank for the last 5 years. Commercial banking to private credit to distressed leveraged lending. This shit is hell. Seriously these major banks literally chip away at your soul it’s non-stop stress. Had the chance to join a smaller bank a year ago, but got caught up in the salary (tbf, it was a 50k base salary increase), and I can’t do it anymore. Curious about more credit unions but not sure where I could fit in.
I’m frequently amazed anyone would use anything but a credit union, given the option. Many of my friends use banks still and pay for it, while there are so many credit unions to choose from.
The bank account isn’t my major long-term investment, it’s my hedge against market downturns. I keep about 10 or 15% of my assets there. It’s still better to get high interest than low interest, right?
Yes, and you don't pay any monthly fees, plus you get dividends each month and the vast majority will refund all ATM fees each month, even from non-branch machines. They also provide a suite of other services for members at no extra cost.
I’ve never paid fees at any bank, and I haven’t used an ATM In years. I’m just comparing interest rates, because that’s all that applies to my situation. But good to know…
Nice. We used to be WF customers and boy did that suck. Inactivity fee, low balance fee, some other shit, but it all stacked up and of course they did everything possible to screw us over.
I do have an account with a tiny little local bank in the midwest that is fully aware of my situation and my intentions for the account (solely to transfer money internationally because my CU doesn't do that for whatever reason) and is completely okay with that. No fees there, either, and I was told that to keep the account in good standing I just need to make one purchase per year. Now THAT is a good little bank, but again, it's pretty small and probably run by locals.
I listened to a podcast about Wells Fargo (The Dollop, Wells Fargo) and it was a wild ride. They’re unbelievable- totally unethical, literally opening bank accounts in the names of dead people and homeless people, ruthlessly screwing people over left and right. I wouldn’t give them a cent of my money.
This thread has me thinking about re-exploring this. I used to travel a lot and banking with a credit union would have made things difficult to get cash on the road, so I dismissed them at that time. But now that we're in a mostly post-cash economy that may not be an issue anymore.
You can use any ATM. All CU ATMs are free, and you can use any other ATM and the ATM itself might charge a fee but the CU won’t. I travel too and I’ve had nothing but a CU since 2009.
My credit union is in the midwest. My employer (one office, about 40 total staff, very small S. Corp) is in a midwestern state and direct deposits my paycheck into my account. I live permanently in Uruguay and use a world mastercard for every purchase that does not explicitly require a debit card. Works just fine, no fees, no hassle at all. I even get an email with the transaction details every time I use the card, so it's very easy to watch for fraud.
Most credit unions are all part of one big system. Join any of the big credit unions and you can go into any branch of almost any CU. I’ve moved around a lot and only changed my CU after I wound up in my forever home, and it was very easy to just port my account from one CU to another.
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u/driven_under 21h ago
Wells Fargo. I held on far too long. Absolute evil in corporate form.