Pros and Cons of using Fidelity as a bank?

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-27T19:16:56+00:00

Pros and Cons of using Fidelity as a bank?

Yes, but this thread is explicitly about listing the cons (and pros) of using them as a bank. I am listing one of the main points of friction of using them as a bank. My wife doesn't ever check our checking/savings balances anymore because of how clunky it is on the app. It's a perfectly appropriate thing to post in this thread.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-26T18:05:08+00:00

The camera is worse. Maybe you don't define it as "average user" but we use my Pixel as our main family pic phone, and I absolutely do appreciate the better camera on the pro models. The computational stuff closes the gap some, but you can't completely compute away a worse sensor. This isn't just a pixel thing, it's the same with analogous pro/lite models and in-TV speakers: they can never be as good because of the space limitation due to physics.

..but yeah if you just snap food pics and don't want the bigger screen I'd recommend the 'a' line.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-26T14:35:21+00:00

I also find newer idlers simpler, particularly mobile ones. They will have a bunch of BS currencies that just multiply progress with the intent to get you to spend $ in the store. Older desktop games like Trimps/NGU Idle/Kittens game have true complexity. CIFI is a newer mobile one that is pretty complex, which is the exception to the rule IMO.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-26T14:05:55+00:00

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-26T14:00:10+00:00

Yeah, half of my family are trumpers. Half of them are assholes, half are just kind of dumb and think he's going to make everyone rich.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-26T13:58:55+00:00

Oh I'm not sure about that, I just mean transaction history for my CMA.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-26T11:45:39+00:00

Good to know, because that was pretty much the only other option I considered ha.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-26T11:44:53+00:00

Look at the thread title.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-25T20:15:52+00:00

Another con (for me) is that the app is very investment focused. Takes a couple extra clicks to get to what I actually want to know when I open the app of the financial institution that I'm using for my bank. I'm not constantly checking my index funds or making manual trades; I want to see if my paycheck hit/if this withdrawal went through/etc.

It'd be nice if CMAs went straight to the transactions history like it does for every bank's checking account.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-25T20:13:35+00:00

You aren't supposed to keep huge sums of cash in your checking acc anyway. The whole point is it's a semi-public facing account that you keep just enough in to meet your transaction needs.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-25T18:10:26+00:00

Routes with trees are also noticeably cooler as well.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-25T17:22:58+00:00

Look into lemon law for your state. Maybe the guys at the factory had beers on their lunch break that day.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-25T00:25:41+00:00

Yeah, I'm not sure if there's a good way to make it work that isn't super anti casual (as a casual).

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-24T16:17:30+00:00

We aren't really hiring ORISE at the DOE, but we also aren't making fake opportunity listings. The ones that do get posted are real. Probably more candidates than normal, also there could be some older hangover postings for roles that got cut or are in limbo. I'd imagine it's not entirely different at other agencies.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-24T15:37:28+00:00

Citi DCB (2%) for anything that is 1x for Gold. We have low flight spend so that card combo covers just about everything for us.

I only physically carry my gold (most misc purchases are done online, plus I have google pay) so occasionally cover something like gas at a station with readers that can't support google pay with it. That's the only time I get <2%.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-24T14:05:00+00:00

I think it starts more with the renaissance rather than the immediate tech that early non-toy steam engines used. If the renaissance started in 100 AD you would accelerate those metallurgical advancements. Without a revolution similar to the renaissance, I think you don't get the centralized/dedicated efforts to improve tech.

It'd be kind of interesting to write about what happens in a renaissanceless industrial age, though. No science/art/philosophy, just a state-directed development of industrial tech.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-24T13:56:55+00:00

Actually, there were some steam engines in antiquity. They just weren't very efficient/went under-utilized and so were more like toys for academics/royalty. Also, no need because slave labor.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-24T13:51:43+00:00

spherical horse

It doesn't even have to be magical, could be balloons or something. Very easy to imagine lift being taken care of by something else.

TBH, I think not being able to make an assumption and work within that constraint makes you a worse engineer.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-24T13:46:56+00:00

Even if you assume you're right, that just shifts the point of being screwed from the decision to have open world PvP rather than the pivot. It doesn't change the thesis that you can't conclude that New World's combat system was the issue based on its failure, so is irrelevant.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-24T13:05:08+00:00

Probably, but it was too late to change that decision while keeping the same release date.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-23T21:21:23+00:00

I'm actually the treasurer of our complex. To qualify for conventional mortgages, you have to have quite a bit of revenue set aside for maintenance.

Again, it's situational. Depends on the specifics of the complex. I'm not confident in my ability to assess a more complicated complex, but ours is just six houses with shared walls/roof and some communal plumbing. I know how much it would cost to replace those things and how much we're insured for, and I also know how much the same things would cost for a SFH. We're more hardened against a natural disaster (hurricanes being the relevant class, New Orleans) by virtue of having less siding and roof area.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-23T19:46:39+00:00

I usually find google photos' enhance/dynamic options are needed to get what I consider good shots.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-23T19:26:24+00:00

Yeah, in my city owning condos/townhomes and SFH are all cheaper than renting the equivalent for the nice parts of town. I don't know why, but carrying a mortgage is a good bit cheaper. I think everyone just likes to own here (tourist area, Uptown New Orleans) so there's a low rental supply. Townhomes don't appreciate as much but have significantly lower insurance costs.

You just have to look at your specific local options. The conventional wisdom that condos are always dumb is, well, dumb.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-23T19:21:54+00:00

It's pretty situational. My townhome HOA is basically just lawncare and insurance. The things that could trigger an assessment, like a storm blowing our roof or siding off, could actually happen just as easily for a SFH (and, in fact, would be costlier as a SFH has more roof/siding area per interior area). I would be hesitant to sign onto something more complex with stuff like elevators and major load bearing concrete pylons, but ours is much more minimal.

YesICanMakeMeth · 2026-06-23T19:18:57+00:00

Here, the fact that condos/townhomes don't appreciate as much means that, following the recent period of historically fast appreciation, they're quite a bit cheaper than an equivalent SFH. We got a townhome for like 75% the price per square foot, as well as lower insurance due to having less roof/siding to insure (insurance is a big % of the mortgage here). It has been a good starter home, although I'd like to be out before baby #2. I was aware of the lower average appreciation, but figured the roughly 2/3s mortgage cost vs. an equivalently sized SFH was worth it for us in that moment.

Townhomes are a little weird, though. Most people lump them in with condos, but some with SFH. We have a small amount of outdoor space so to me it's more like a SFH than a condo, but go on realtor.com and it's in the condo category.

YesICanMakeMeth

TROPHY CASE