Something I never do now.
Here's the back story. Something happened today that made me think back to this encounter from around 35 years ago.
Stationed overseas, we got our mail at work. 1 person went over to the HQ and got the mail which was then given out where we worked. 1 day a co worker had a few pieces of mail and lots of bad news. Seems his credit union account was overdrawn. Small checks that he wrote at the base club for cash. $15, $25 dollars, not major larceny. Along with the 6, that right, 6 overdraft letters were at the time a per check charge of $15. $90 was a lot of money when you got around $900 a month.
I asked how that could happen. He told me that he would do a balance check and show a balance. But he had checks in the system that had not yet cleared. So he wrote the check, got his cash then spent his money at the bar. This guy was single, living in the barracks. So I opened my mouth and probably started a conversation that began with "If I were you, I'd do this". I told him that he could get overdraft protection and if he overdrew then the bank could float him a loan. He could avoid the bad check charges and life would be good. He takes my advice and he gets a $1,000.00 overdraft at the credit union.
Fast forward a few months. It's mail call time. Same guy gets his monthly bank statement. He has used up the entire $1,000 of his overdraft protection. He's making the minimum monthly payment of $15. $8 bucks goes to interest. He then proceeds to tell me how I screwed him over by making him get a loan to avoid bad check charges. At the current minimum payment, it would take him several years to pay off the loan principle. I never figured into the equation that he would lack the responsibility to use the tool as it was intended instead of using it as a piggy bank of readily available cash.
So that is why I never give financial advice.
On the positive side, when I was a work center supervisor, I made the single sailors sign up for savings bonds through payroll deduction. I had a bunch of the forms in my locker. I had them fill it out, sign it then give it back to me. I took the forms to PSD myself. Years later I ran into a guy I worked with. He told me that the only money he had when he got out was the 28 savings bond I made him get. This same guy made national news on a slow news day for getting a DUI while drunk driving a riding lawn mower down the sidewalk.
May you always buy low and sell high.
Here's the back story. Something happened today that made me think back to this encounter from around 35 years ago.
Stationed overseas, we got our mail at work. 1 person went over to the HQ and got the mail which was then given out where we worked. 1 day a co worker had a few pieces of mail and lots of bad news. Seems his credit union account was overdrawn. Small checks that he wrote at the base club for cash. $15, $25 dollars, not major larceny. Along with the 6, that right, 6 overdraft letters were at the time a per check charge of $15. $90 was a lot of money when you got around $900 a month.
I asked how that could happen. He told me that he would do a balance check and show a balance. But he had checks in the system that had not yet cleared. So he wrote the check, got his cash then spent his money at the bar. This guy was single, living in the barracks. So I opened my mouth and probably started a conversation that began with "If I were you, I'd do this". I told him that he could get overdraft protection and if he overdrew then the bank could float him a loan. He could avoid the bad check charges and life would be good. He takes my advice and he gets a $1,000.00 overdraft at the credit union.
Fast forward a few months. It's mail call time. Same guy gets his monthly bank statement. He has used up the entire $1,000 of his overdraft protection. He's making the minimum monthly payment of $15. $8 bucks goes to interest. He then proceeds to tell me how I screwed him over by making him get a loan to avoid bad check charges. At the current minimum payment, it would take him several years to pay off the loan principle. I never figured into the equation that he would lack the responsibility to use the tool as it was intended instead of using it as a piggy bank of readily available cash.
So that is why I never give financial advice.
On the positive side, when I was a work center supervisor, I made the single sailors sign up for savings bonds through payroll deduction. I had a bunch of the forms in my locker. I had them fill it out, sign it then give it back to me. I took the forms to PSD myself. Years later I ran into a guy I worked with. He told me that the only money he had when he got out was the 28 savings bond I made him get. This same guy made national news on a slow news day for getting a DUI while drunk driving a riding lawn mower down the sidewalk.
May you always buy low and sell high.
