Any reason to keep Navy Fed, USAA banking?

[exNavyOffRec]

I know plenty of folks that have had much more mixed experiences than I dealing with home and car insurance, and they ALL don't do this as well as USAA has for me. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, USAA paid out for more than what my neighbors go and for some of them it was nothing. USAA certainly isn't without its flaws, I've known a few who've had issues with their car insurance, but I haven't.

Some of it can be attributed to the actual adjuster and or the person managing the adjusters on that team, and the experience can differ, for example I have yet to personally know someone that had a good claim experience with Progressive, however when we were hit by a person insured with Progressive we had no issues at all, my sister who is with Progressive was hit by someone that then ran and it was a nightmare for her.

It is good you have continued to have good experiences with USAA no one wants to ever have bad experiences with an insurance company as it just ads to a stressful situation.

One of my past coworkers loved USAA auto insurance, of course it could be that was because no one else would insure him with his driving record lol

 

[RedFive]

After reading the last three pages, I feel like I've been in some sort of sinking ship and nobody told me until now! I had been looking for a new auto insurance company that covers both US and Mexico when Corona started, but kind of gave up since they closed the border. My girlfriend's Mexican auto insurance company covers her in Mexico and the US, but I can't really find a US company that does the same. Some of them provide limited coverage 25-30 miles inside of Mexico, but that's pretty useless. I've kind of resigned myself to simply buying a separate policy from a Mexican company once the border is open again.

What insurance companies are people using besides USAA that have good rates AND take care of you during claims/accidents?
Same question for banking...where is everyone going? Where is the new hotness??

 

[DanMa1156]

For what it's worth, and I've stated this before - I've made one claim and they paid out more than my claim was for because the stolen item (a bike) had gone up in value in their book. I was impressed and would never have looked up what the total present value was of the exact bike was. All they wanted was a copy of the police report to make sure I let the police know and what the year and type of bike it was. Never had to submit a receipt, prove I had it, etc. They were great. With their auto side they are currently the only company I've found that is willing to insure my cars registered in FL but stored in MD in the care of my in laws while I am overseas. Literally no one else will which I appreciate.

I've given them a crack at my business ever since the bike incident, but they haven't always won. Life insurance wasn't a great price. Home insurance wasn't even close - the guy on the phone even told me he knew it wasn't a competitive price because of losses they had taken in the area (Pensacola) in the past burned them.

They have changed, and have some good business practices still.

Not sure what I would do in the OP's case, but I've gone back and forth with NFCU and USAA over the years along with other banks but have always kept my accounts open and haven't regretted that as both of them have come in handy for one thing or another over the years whether it was a mortgage, insurance, or banking.

 

[DanMa1156]

Same question for banking...where is everyone going? Where is the new hotness??

Domestic checking: USAA I still think is great for ATMs, for what it's worth, ease of bill payments. customer service. etc. I guess same could be said for NFCU if you have direct deposit and the right checking account with them too. Plus, their website is very low-bandwitdth friendly (for us peeps still out on boats) which I appreciate.

Int'l Checking: I'm very happy with Schwab. Totally reimbursed int'l ATM fees, and the single country I went to that added on a surcharge on top of the bank fee (Thailand) they reimbursed too. Not sure what the limit is, but that month it was about $21 in fees they reimbursed.

Savings: Discover. Good customer service, better rates. I keep a base amount in savings account and then do CD ladders with them and whoever else has better rates for my cash. Only downside is transfers to/from other banks seem to be slower than USAA/NFCU, but for savings, shouldn't matter too much if you're properly balancing your checking. For the other banks, I basically keep enough in the savings accounts to keep them free/open.

Investing: I'm still a Vanguard guy and can't imagine switching from them.

 

[snake020]

Pro-Tip: If you do close your USAA account, you should get a lump-sum one-time repayment from your Subscriber's Savings Account (SSA).

Domestic checking: USAA I still think is great for ATMs, for what it's worth, ease of bill payments. customer service. etc. I guess same could be said for NFCU if you have direct deposit and the right checking account with them too. Plus, their website is very low-bandwitdth friendly (for us peeps still out on boats) which I appreciate.

Int'l Checking: I'm very happy with Schwab. Totally reimbursed int'l ATM fees, and the single country I went to that added on a surcharge on top of the bank fee (Thailand) they reimbursed too. Not sure what the limit is, but that month it was about $21 in fees they reimbursed.

Savings: Discover. Good customer service, better rates. I keep a base amount in savings account and then do CD ladders with them and whoever else has better rates for my cash. Only downside is transfers to/from other banks seem to be slower than USAA/NFCU, but for savings, shouldn't matter too much if you're properly balancing your checking. For the other banks, I basically keep enough in the savings accounts to keep them free/open.

Investing: I'm still a Vanguard guy and can't imagine switching from them.

My only hangup with Schwab is they charge for trading Vanguard mutual funds. Looks like I'm going with Chase. They seem to be the only ones that have no fees for trading equities/ETFs/mutual funds and don't make wire transfers a hassle.

If anyone else has experience using Chase for banking and investments under the same roof, gouge would be appreciated.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

After reading the last three pages, I feel like I've been in some sort of sinking ship and nobody told me until now! I had been looking for a new auto insurance company that covers both US and Mexico when Corona started, but kind of gave up since they closed the border. My girlfriend's Mexican auto insurance company covers her in Mexico and the US, but I can't really find a US company that does the same. Some of them provide limited coverage 25-30 miles inside of Mexico, but that's pretty useless. I've kind of resigned myself to simply buying a separate policy from a Mexican company once the border is open again.

What insurance companies are people using besides USAA that have good rates AND take care of you during claims/accidents?
Same question for banking...where is everyone going? Where is the new hotness??

over the years I have had to deal with other peoples insurance and Progressive was fine for me but not the case for others, State Farm was a nightmare as their guy went out of his lane through the turn lane and hit my wife head on and they tried to claim it was my wife's fault so I hung up on them and went through my insurance who totaled the car in 5 minutes. I had to deal with farmers on another incident when we also were hit and that was fine.

My insurance over the past many many years has been Allstate and they have paid out on ruptured water heater with flooding, backed up septic and minor flooding, my car hit in parking lot while I was shopping, rear ended by uninsured driver, my daughter causing minor damage to another car in a parking lot.

In each case everything was dealt with no questions asked, flooding issues they had people out within 3 hours working on cleaning it up, in the case of car damage in parking lot it was approved for work in less than 24 hours and fixed in a week, totaled car was paid out 48 hours after it was totaled.

I also went with them for my life insurance, at the time (can't speak for right now) they beat everyone hands down, so much so I went back and had them verify as I thought they made a mistake.

The other important part when looking around is comparing apples to apples, often you will see some agents cut coverage to get you a lower premium, Geico is infamous for this.

 

[Jim123]

Plus, their website is very low-bandwitdth friendly (for us peeps still out on boats) which I appreciate.

Which is funny, because in about 2008, they only had the one website and it was really badly bloated. When I was on staff, I could only get on when the ship was at Quarters. (Well, that or River City...) I wrote a complaint using the "contact us" link on the website, berating USAA for their bandwidth-hogging stupid pictures of yuppies drinking their coffee while smiling about their finances, and how badly that sucked for us deployed people. It worked equally badly whether you were using shipboard internet or those SPAWAR/MWR internet labs on FOBs in the desert. It worked okay on my 3G aircard as long as I could get one or two bars.

A year or two later they came out with the mobile version of the website, although by then a lot of companies were figuring out the same thing.

 

[nittany03]

Service-wise, I've been whelmed by my recent experience with USAA's insurance. Not overwhelmed, not underwhelmed, just whelmed.

My 2005 RX-8 was my JG-mobile, and my goal is to hang classic car plates on it one day. But it's right in the time period of max depreciation before any potential classic car appreciation. Unfortunately, over the holidays, I found out my garage wasn't rodent-proof the hard way, when a bunch of mice chewed up the engine bay insulation and made a nest in the cabin air filter box. The adjuster was cool about it, because the amount of potential damage could have made me convert to a salvage title, which would have sucked (luckily the mice didn't eat any wiring harnesses). Turns out I wasn't really at risk of that when we did the math, but at least he didn't go looking for stuff to total the car. So I got a cool $900 to help with the repairs, and I'm just waiting for post-COVID to get an engine bay detail to make the mouse pee smell go away from the outside when the engine warms up. At least the little bastards didn't get into the HVAC ducts. ?

My house claim was a lot less thrilling. We had a huge windstorm in greater Seattle the winter before last. I lost basically half my roof, which was contractor-grade 3-tab shingles. USAA showed up, inspected the damage, and said that they would only cover half a roof . . . like I'm going to be an idiot and somehow end up with roof that's half brand-new and half 25-year-old contractor-grade shit. Thanks a freaking bundle. I ended up upgrading out of my own pocket to decent architectural shingles that well exceed the county code, just so I know I won't have to worry about another windstorm screwing up everything. But I'm still pissed those cheapasses wouldn't pay to have the entire roof replaced. Who buys a half a damn roof? Sorry if a multi-billion-dollar insurance agency has to pay an extra few grand to satisfy a customer . . .

 

[AllAmerican75]

My only hangup with Schwab is they charge for trading Vanguard mutual funds. Looks like I'm going with Chase. They seem to be the only ones that have no fees for trading equities/ETFs/mutual funds and don't make wire transfers a hassle.
If anyone else has experience using Chase for banking and investments under the same roof, gouge would be appreciated.

When the news broke that USAA had sold their investment accounts out to Schwab, I went ahead and switched my accounts over to Schwab to consolidate my IRA and money market (which was with TD Ameritrade) under one roof. I have a lot of Vanguard funds and I have yet to pay any fees for those Vanguard funds.

I also hold a Chase banking account and multiple credit cards. I looked into their trading platform through JP Morgan and Schwab's is better. Also, the level of products and service with Chase just aren't the best unless you have enough money with them to be a Private Client (about $250k total). Otherwise, don't ever expect to talk to someone who is a native English speaker or be dealt with quickly when you call to resolve any issues. I keep my Chase account open only to be have a connection to a brick and mortar bank if I ever have to deal in cash or cashier's checks.

About USAA: I think they're moving back on the right track to recover their business back to where it needs to be. When I called to inquire about what them selling my account off to Schwab meant for me, the customer service rep acknowledged all of the problems they had been having recently and how they were working to sell off all of their unprofitable services such as investment and brokerage services. He said they could never achieve the same amount of customers and capital as the big players to be able to negotiate competitive fee and pricing structures.

USAA has always done well by me and I am happy with the level of service they provide for banking and insurance. There are many companies that offer better credit cards and mortgages, but for day-to-day stuff, USAA has been great. I will say, that I recently shopped around for insurance and GEICO was the most competitive, being within a few dollars of USAA's price but with a slightly higher deductible.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

When the news broke that USAA had sold their investment accounts out to Schwab, I went ahead and switched my accounts over to Schwab to consolidate my IRA and money market (which was with TD Ameritrade) under one roof. I have a lot of Vanguard funds and I have yet to pay any fees for those Vanguard funds.

I also hold a Chase banking account and multiple credit cards. I looked into their trading platform through JP Morgan and Schwab's is better. Also, the level of products and service with Chase just aren't the best unless you have enough money with them to be a Private Client (about $250k total). Otherwise, don't ever expect to talk to someone who is a native English speaker or be dealt with quickly when you call to resolve any issues. I keep my Chase account open only to be have a connection to a brick and mortar bank if I ever have to deal in cash or cashier's checks.

About USAA: I think they're moving back on the right track to recover their business back to where it needs to be. When I called to inquire about what them selling my account off to Schwab meant for me, the customer service rep acknowledged all of the problems they had been having recently and how they were working to sell off all of their unprofitable services such as investment and brokerage services. He said they could never achieve the same amount of customers and capital as the big players to be able to negotiate competitive fee and pricing structures.

USAA has always done well by me and I am happy with the level of service they provide for banking and insurance. There are many companies that offer better credit cards and mortgages, but for day-to-day stuff, USAA has been great. I will say, that I recently shopped around for insurance and GEICO was the most competitive, being within a few dollars of USAA's price but with a slightly higher deductible.

When it comes to insurance companies and controlling expenses GEICO is king, of course they have found that there is only a certain percent of the population that will buy insurance online, that is why they have started opening up brick and mortar stores.

 

[DanMa1156]

My only hangup with Schwab is they charge for trading Vanguard mutual funds. Looks like I'm going with Chase. They seem to be the only ones that have no fees for trading equities/ETFs/mutual funds and don't make wire transfers a hassle.

If anyone else has experience using Chase for banking and investments under the same roof, gouge would be appreciated.

That's why I only use Schwab for Int'l Checking. I have a few penny stocks since stock trades are free and they needed a brokerage account in order to keep the checking account open/free.

Why not just open a Vanguard account for Vanguard funds? I'm a big fan of all things investing with Vanguard. I've seen some critiques of their website and technology lagging, but I've yet to experience a hang up with them and I find the other brokerage services offer lots of charts and data, but for the standard index fund investor I am, I don't need all that stuff: my only bet is the American / Global economies will have grown from the time I put the money in to when I need it. I want low costs, a simple to use platform, and a variety of funds to choose from. Vanguard wins.

Which is funny, because in about 2008, they only had the one website and it was really badly bloated. When I was on staff, I could only get on when the ship was at Quarters. (Well, that or River City...) I wrote a complaint using the "contact us" link on the website, berating USAA for their bandwidth-hogging stupid pictures of yuppies drinking their coffee while smiling about their finances, and how badly that sucked for us deployed people. It worked equally badly whether you were using shipboard internet or those SPAWAR/MWR internet labs on FOBs in the desert. It worked okay on my 3G aircard as long as I could get one or two bars.

A year or two later they came out with the mobile version of the website, although by then a lot of companies were figuring out the same thing.

Ha, I meant this for NFCU. I appreciate their simple layout, but USAA's mobile site is fine too.

 

[snake020]

Why not just open a Vanguard account for Vanguard funds? I'm a big fan of all things investing with Vanguard.

Because I'm trying to keep everything under one roof. For my excess cash I typically dump it into a VMMXX and then reallocate it into investments or other things as needed, and there are a couple other funds I buy into for my longer term investments. Don't want to add the overhead and waiting of constantly moving stuff between institutions.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I found this just now, not really posting for the relief during the virus time, mainly posting to show the market share each company has, I find that interesting.

If looking at the money given back the more market share the more money they should be giving back, so GEICO seems to be out of line with the other companies that are giving back.

https://consumerfed.org/press_relea...WEmbcne3AbbNWPqMMWi4aO_nXTXVnE_8Ve985tKgy8R70

 

[squorch2]

related:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1250771236331741184

(other, but not all, banks do this too)

ETA:

 

[Deleted member 24525]

yeah USAA isn’t special anymore.