Digital Analogue: Finding my money

March 15, 2004

Finding my money

Merrill Lynch is trying to find my money.

When I moved from Providence, I figured I'd leave my account there, since it's not as though I ever visited in person anyway, and I didn't want to have to switch to a different person. But last, oh, October or so, I called and found out my financial adviser had left a few months previously (thanks for telling me, guys), and so I figured I might as well switch branches if I had to switch advisers. But then I dropped the ball and forgot about it.

As I was gearing up to do my taxes last week, I had a few questions about my account, so I decided now was as good a time as any to process the switch. I called the office in Peoria (Moline and Burlington are technically closer, but only by a little bit, and a trip to Peoria can turn into a pit stop on a trip to Urbana ;). I called them up, left my name and the fact that my account was in Providence, and was told they'd get back to me.

They just did; they were asking for my account number because they couldn't find my account, and Providence was claiming they didn't have it. Of course, I'm still getting statements and announcements and a few old-growth trees' worth of fund summaries and status reports; these all list my account as still being in Providence, though with no financial adviser. I was just logged in to their online site a couple days ago. So I'm not worried that it is there, but it is pretty funny that they "lost" it. Armed with the actual account number and my SSN, she was going to make another go at it, and should get back to me soon. And then, my account will move to Peoria.

Slowly but surely, I'm completing the move to Galesburg. I'm already starting to feel like an actual permanent resident. Which is funny not only because it's Galesburg, but because I haven't really felt like a permanent resident of anywhere since I was little---Providence came close, and that was where I spent more years than anywhere else and essentially my entire adult life to that point, but I always knew it was only temporary, until I got my PhD. Now, though, I'm here for the long haul.

On implementing perl on top of scheme: "You say this as if it were a gentle afternoon's exercise, rather than a lifetime of quiet torture." --Simon Cozens

PS: Illinoisans, remember to go vote tomorrow!

Posted by blahedo at 4:50pm on 15 Mar 2004

Comments

Some transactions today that are done through online are quite uncertain to do, because of some hacking issue. But then, doing this is much better since it saves your time and effort. In the wake of sudden expenses, some people are lucky enough not to have to look into options like payday loans. It is a fact of life that some are far better off than the majority, but there is a more disturbing fact that is becoming more and more evident every day. It seems the super wealthy seem to think that the rules don't apply to them, and some of them seem to think that they should be allowed to get away with it. Pertaining to Merrill Lynch, just recently, the investment giant had to be sold to Bank of America to avoid bankruptcy in the wake of the subprime mortgage collapse. An article in the Wall Street Journal reports that Merrill Lynch CEO, John Thain, has asked for a $10 million dollar bonus for the year, after he had to sell the company to Bank of America to avoid bankrupting it. In order to save his company from bankruptcy, he cam up to this decision, furthermore he said that he deserves a bonus. The Attorney General of New York State, Andrew Cuomo, termed his request as "nothing less than shocking," as it seems callous to even ask for a bonus of that size when his company is barely able to stay afloat. Now here is the funny thing – any other ordinary company employee, if they failed to make money for the company they worked for, or failed to complete the tasks set them, they get reprimanded or fired. Perhaps those at the top of the ladder don't think that the same rules apply that apply at the bottom, and perhaps they should. However, the rest of us don't have to sell ourselves to Bank of America if we have a financial crisis suddenly – we have options, such as payday loans. Click to read more on Payday Loans. Posted by Lisa O at 3:23am on 13 Dec 2008