Two companies worse that Robinhood...Pay day loan companies and credit card companies. We know about the annual interest charged on pay day loans. For the past 40 years colleges (for pay), will allow credit card companies onto campus during the first few weeks of school. Have cool/slick (give me a current term) people who get these kids signed up for their first or second credit card. Parents, colleges, high schools never warned these teenagers about the slavery of the cards. I usually don't yell or get mad at the TV...On the internet more. But, when the Freedom Credit Card ads come on, I GET PISSED!! It is not freedom you are getting, you uneducated people...It is slavery. And they use black men as spokesmen...I couldn't live with myself doing those ads...
I deposited over $1MM with IBKR two weeks ago. I've had a SSN with them since 1998. They stopped using the suitability test and I gave them a week to permission vol-trading on the new account. Further, you have to wait for pending permissions before asking for more (futures). I wired out on day seven. On day ten they approved me for vol... Nine days after applying. It's supposed to take 24-48 hours. I've been trading vol for 30Y. Oh yeah, fuck you IBKR.
425 million in pfof a quarter. As tragic as the event is - it will pass or be made to go away. CA. allows joint liability - none the less tragic.
Two weeks ago? That's right when the Gamestop fiasco hit the mainstream. I imagine they were swamped with all sorts of calls and requests in their CS back-end, and you prolly just got lost in the shuffle. Lord knows they have always been woefully-understaffed for the amount of customers they have, based on what I have read here and elsewhere. Too big for their own britches.
I have no problem with credit card companies. And I have no problems with credit card companies visiting campus. I got my first credit card at one of those promotion stands on my university campus. One of the best decisions ever. I got my very first credit card, totally of my own without having to have my parents as co-borrowers and be still under their constant surveillance for my spending habits and my life. It was a chance for me to have my complete freedom and learn to have financial responsibility and discipline and at the same time enjoy better financial management. Instead of paying for something right away, you get to delay your payment for one month and earn interest on that one extra month of money being saved. Back when I was going to school when the interest rate could still reach double digits, and the card that I got had cash-back perks, I thought that was the best deal ever, I get to save money and earn interest and at the same time even earn cash while I spend money which results in more savings!! With credit cards, people are basically lending me money interest-free!! And all I have to do is pay on time and after a while they will even increase the amount of money that they are willing to lend me by increasing my credit limit! Seriously for those "money managers" who advocate cash only and against credit cards, they are doing a disservice to people by denying them one of the best financial management strategies that help your savings grow while establishing your credit history that would result in better savings when it's time for you to get a mortgage. What these people need is not less credit cards, it's discipline, the discipline to do things as promised. Without discipline, you can still get into financial trouble even with cash. Now the same cannot be said for payday loans. Payday loans are a rip-off and are really there to exploit people and not to help them. They charge predatory interest with stringent terms and with an exorbitant amount of fees so high that they knew are beyond people's ability to pay. And unlike credit cards that are really marketed to people who they know should be able to afford it, payday loans especially advertise and target people who they know have the least ability to pay them back and that's how they make money. If I am one of those so called "personal finance gurus", I would stop them from getting payday loans but I would make them cut up credit cards or allow them to retain at least one.
An 18 year old with a wad of cash is a dangerous thing!! Add outrageous interest and you have disaster waiting to happen. I agree, they can be good for establishing credit. But, the pitfalls have not been taught in school...Hence, the kids become slaves to these cards...