It is almost Labor Day and in the Hamptons the refrain at the end-of-summer cocktail parties is the same that we have heard all summer.
The refrain goes something like this:
“I’ve got $5 million in cash at Merrill Lynch. It is earning me zero. I don’t know what to do. We may just elect in the very near future a truly unprepared and unstable President and the stock market is at an all time high. I for one am not getting in now. And, interest rates are at an all time low, so I cannot buy bonds. My broker calls me and tries to sell me crap that neither he nor I understand. I have no way to earn anything.”
The answer to this refrain is pretty simple. At the moment, BestCashCow’s savings tables show that there are eight online savings accounts that currently pay at least 1% interest. Depending on where you live, you may also find as many as another four or five local banks and credit unions servicing your market that are paying over 1%. You’ll then find another eleven online banks - not including those banks you have already identified from the savings tables - that pay over 1% on 12-month certificates of deposit (CDs).
If you put $250,000 in each of 12 of so banks paying over 1% on savings accounts that are either online or in your market, you will put $3 million to work safely. By putting another $250,000 into eight other banks that will give you over 1% in a one-year CD, you will be safely stocking away another $2 million. Between now and next Labor Day, you will generate at least $50,000 that you would not otherwise make over the next year, albeit that money is fully taxable and the money in CDs cannot be accessed without paying an early withdrawal penalty.
There is a second Labor Day refrain in the Hamptons and it goes something like this:
“I cannot believe that I need to write another check for $45,000 to Horace Mann for my 12-year old’s tuition for next year.”
The answer to this refrain is also pretty simple. By opening these accounts, you will generate much of the money to cover those annual tuition payments, even after you pay your Federal and New York State and City taxes.
Even if the polls indicate that Hillary Clinton is the likely next President, there is a high risk right until the day of election that outside influences could cause the US to elect a President who is in the best case "unfit".
Donald Trump and his surrogates have spouted complete nonsense for months, and appeal strongly to a single segment of the US population. There is also a highly reactionary element of the US population that may already realize that he is unfit to leave his gilded perch above 5th Avenue (and is unfit to serve in any elected role), but who just might vote in his favor in the event of a terrorist attack in the weeks immediately preceding the election. It goes without saying that Donald Trump’s election and his economic policies would lead to immediate and unprecedented global economic crises.
Unfortunately, the scenario isn’t entirely unprecedented. As it entered 2004, Spain had the strongest economy in Europe. Under Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and the Partido Popular (PP), Spain’s economic policies were attracting investments of large multinationals from around the world. Aznar also lead Spain to be active in the US-led campaign in Afghanistan and was preparing to deploy troops to Iraq, which was highly controversial.
Aznar had been decisively leading in polls prior to the general elections scheduled for the Spring of 2004. However, when Al Qaeda operatives struck Madrid’s Atocha station on March 11, 2004, they not only killed 192 and injured over 2000, but also caused Aznar to be defeated days later by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party. In the years that followed, Zapatero and the Socialists pursued a xenophobic policy that removed Spain from involvement in military campaigns abroad. They also adopted economic policies that laid waste to the Spanish economy.
One way to partially protect oneself from a similar situation in the US is to move money now to online savings accounts and short term CDs.
Editor’s Note: Unlike the situation that the US faces, Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero was not a Donald Trump. While he destroyed the Spanish economy, he did not wage war against minorities or women in Spain. He did not unilaterally control access to nuclear weapons. While the US faces a risk of a similar scenario, it faces a still much greater risk to the country, and to putting world civilization in danger in the current election.
Until a couple of days ago, Chase had the best user interface of any bank. They instantly - and without notice - changed it to one of the worst.
Two days ago, Chase “upgraded” their user interface for Internet access. The mobile interface was not affected, fortunately.
Whereas Chase previously had an outstanding user interface which clearly showed the user the balances in all of their accounts right in the middle of the computer screen, followed by the balances in their Chase credit cards and other products, that information has now been moved to a left navigation which requires finding a hidden left scroll tab to navigate. The center of the screen is now dominated by all sorts of recent transaction information, completely overwhelming the user when they sign in.
It seems that Chase had to have made these changes without any sort of advanced customer notification or feedback. It is unlikely they even had a small focus group as even a gerbil would have been able to tell them that they have damaged their site. Rather, it seems that Chase was overanxious to add the ability for a user to print their latest statement directly from the login screen (I find no other functionality has been added, and most other functionality now requires working through Chase’s help menus).
We live in a banking world where Internet access is increasing valuable, and where people of all ages depend on receiving their information 24/7 in a clear and transparent manner. Chase, especially, has made a concerted effort to get user to perform transactions online instead of coming to their branches (including virtually eliminating tellers in New York). Their latest move makes it essential for those same users to look to leading online banks as more appropriate places to do their banking.
