Some comments from last week

Leave yours...

If you are to scared to pick up the phone and call a bank perhaps you should just hide your money under the mattress? Call more than one bank and see what they same, some of what each bank will tell you will be the same, and use that advice as a starting point.

Just curious . . . how much is inflation in Canada? Wasn’t Canadian money really strong last year because of our energy needs here in the US?

Also, didn’t Canadian ETFs make like 16% last year? Hasn’t Mad Money Jim Craemer been turning especially red in the face over some robotic solar power stock up there?

The phone is probably one of the least stressful of interpersonal interaction because you don't actually have to see the person you're talking to. Plus it's a bank... they're faceless emotionless corporations, you're not asking them out on a date.

For many people, for a variety of reasons, placing or receiving a phone call is one of the most stressful activities they may encounter in a typical day.

I don’t think that justifies financial paralysis, but perhaps for this individual it may be useful to find a brokerage that offers local services, like Schwab.

I don't mind calling my broker on the phone but it saves me time to do all my communication with him by email. just email around and find a broker who will promptly reply.

people who do not want to do anything don’t deserve to make money.

even if you are irrationally afraid of making calls, there are so many other things you can do.

Unfortunately, this guy almost seems too bad to be true. But I’m sure we all know friends (yes, friends!) like this. So the real issue is, how do we get them to get out of this mindset? Whether it’s being afraid to “pick up the phone”, or put away money in ING b/c it’s not “instantly accessible and what if I need it and blah blah blah” — WAIT! isn’t the meaning of savings that you don’t necessarily need it on a minute-to-minute basis?

We need to come up with a way to appeal to these guys. Any ideas besides referring them to this awesome blog?

srh: thanks for understanding. my posts may not be well-worded… but at least I’m trying, right? actually, while one of my friends is only comfortable with banking in person, I don’t like that much either. I’m a lot more comfortable online (and at work I simply have no other choice, actually).

That’s why I was looking for websites for canadians - and like I said in one of my other posts, I eventually found them.

as for getting more people to put money in ING… I really don’t know ;P I keep reminding my friends that they shouldn’t be paying bank fees, but they just never do anything laziness is a powerful force, and it’ll always be around.

Perhaps we could tie them up and force them to give us their account numbers and passwords so we can set up a savings account with an automatic savings plan that they can't touch? That way they can't touch the money or stop it.... Well back to reality, if you find a chart that shows the value of compound interest (http://www.finishrich.com has some) that might peak their interest.

Ok, Ramit... I am waiting for you to KICK MY FINANCIAL ASS!! **chomping at the bit over here to get started**

Personally, I'm more comfortable doing business in person than over the phone, but still, I have no problems using a phone when I need to.

That telephone illness is really sad. I suffer it myself, and I find it difficult to order a pizza.