Methastra (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} methastra) wrote,@ 2009-04-28 17:22:00 |
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F'in Bank of America
South Park - Margaritaville - Watch the first 2 minutes (at least) for a great example of our current banking system.
Today I called Bank of America to inquire about an IRA I had put $100 in twenty years ago (I was poor and in college). Thanks to the miracles of compound interest, I figured it would have at least doubled by now.
Imagine my delight to find out the balance, after 20 years of compounded interest, my $100 was now worth....
wait for it....
$86.19.
Total.
After 20 years invested with the bank, in a zero risk IRA, automatically reinvested, I had a loss of 13.81% with Bank of America.
How, possibly, could this happen?
Well, for some reason, Bank of America decided that between 2005 and 2007 they would start charging a $30 per year "Custodial Fee" on the account to defray the costs of sending out statements. Quarterly. Which I never even received since the address they had on file was 15 years old. In 2008 they decided to stop charging this fee, for again unknown reasons.
So despite never agreeing to the charges, they decided that printing out a sheet of computer paper and paying bulk rate postage came to $7.50 per letter.
And fees on the account total 90% of the original deposited balance.
I thought that South Park bit was pretty funny.
Yesterday.
- Brian
PS: I sent them an actual hand-written letter on lined paper and everything requesting that they reimburse these fees and reammortize my account. We'll see if they have any customer service sense at all. I'm sure they will do right. :-)
--
Brian Gallagher - Diamondsea.com / VirtCert.com - 800-604-1476
brian@diamondsea.com - 888-411-8144 Fax - www.DiamondSea.com
South Park - Margaritaville - Watch the first 2 minutes (at least) for a great example of our current banking system.
Today I called Bank of America to inquire about an IRA I had put $100 in twenty years ago (I was poor and in college). Thanks to the miracles of compound interest, I figured it would have at least doubled by now.
Imagine my delight to find out the balance, after 20 years of compounded interest, my $100 was now worth....
wait for it....
$86.19.
Total.
After 20 years invested with the bank, in a zero risk IRA, automatically reinvested, I had a loss of 13.81% with Bank of America.
How, possibly, could this happen?
Well, for some reason, Bank of America decided that between 2005 and 2007 they would start charging a $30 per year "Custodial Fee" on the account to defray the costs of sending out statements. Quarterly. Which I never even received since the address they had on file was 15 years old. In 2008 they decided to stop charging this fee, for again unknown reasons.
So despite never agreeing to the charges, they decided that printing out a sheet of computer paper and paying bulk rate postage came to $7.50 per letter.
And fees on the account total 90% of the original deposited balance.
I thought that South Park bit was pretty funny.
Yesterday.
- Brian
PS: I sent them an actual hand-written letter on lined paper and everything requesting that they reimburse these fees and reammortize my account. We'll see if they have any customer service sense at all. I'm sure they will do right. :-)
--
Brian Gallagher - Diamondsea.com / VirtCert.com - 800-604-1476
brian@diamondsea.com - 888-411-8144 Fax - www.DiamondSea.com
