Lock Your Brokerage Account
At Camp FI last week, I was chatting with Julie and Patrick and they passed along an online personal finance security tip that I hadn’t heard before:
You can lock down your brokerage account to prevent scammers from transferring (stealing) your entire account.
I’ve learned that Clark Howard published an article last month called “Why You Need to Lock Your Brokerage Account Today.” He describes:
“ACATS (sometimes just called ACAT) stands for Automated Customer Account Transfer Service. It’s an electronic system used in the brokerage industry that lets you move your money — your investments, your retirement savings — from one brokerage firm to another.
The problem? ACATS has such poor security that criminals are exploiting it to loot your account.
Once that money is stolen, it is unbelievably difficult, if not impossible, to get your own money back.
I’m going to tell you in the simplest terms how this works, and then I’m going to tell you the must-do step you need to take right now to protect yourself.”
Here’s the link to Clark’s short article with specific instructions on how to put this ACATS lock on your brokerage account.
What to Eliminate?
James Clear asked this devastatingly simple question in his newsletter, and I think we all need to contemplate it deeply:
“If a competent CEO got to run your life for a day, what is the first thing they would eliminate?”
Simple Health Hack
At Camp FI we had a breakout session on health & longevity and one of the tips mentioned a few times was something I just saw Bryan Johnson (the guy who spends millions on his health each year) post about:
“Get into the habit of taking a 10-minute walk immediately after eating.
Here’s why:
- Blunts blood glucose (lowers post-meal spikes) by 17%
- Lowers triglycerides by 72%
- Lowers blood pressure 5 mmHg
- Improves sleep
Top tier thing for health.”
Comment on our Podcast Episodes
One fun thing Jonathan added to our new Community site is the ability to comment on the ChooseFI podcast episodes.
Over 40 comments came in on Sean Mullaney and Cody Garrett’s deep dive on “Are Roth Conversions Necessary?”
Frank Vasquez is in there commenting already, with his customary levels of charm and expertise and Jonathan and I, along with our guests, will be in there answering your questions on future episodes.
If you want to leave a comment, you can always log into your ChooseFI account and click “ChooseFI Podcast” on the left and then “View Discussion” on every episode.
Or you can click here to see the list of episodes and then "View Discussion".
ChooseFI Updates:
- Get email notifications of local events: If you haven’t joined your ChooseFI Local Group on our site, now’s the time! Create a free account here, and you’ll get email notifications of all local events in your area.
- 1% Better Conference: Dave Gillis, the admin of our Nebraska local group, is hosting "The 1% Better Conference" in Omaha, NE 2/21 - 2/22 and it is "bringing together people who care about intentional growth, better habits, and making thoughtful progress in their lives and the world around them." Dave is offering you a $50 discount with the code SPARK50.
- ChooseFI App Is Now Live on iOS & Android! We now have an official ChooseFI app in both the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store! Join your ChooseFI local community, contribute to the podcast, post your questions and wins, and much more! Download for iOS here and Android here.
- Travel Rewards Credit Cards: I keep my Top Ten Recommended Cards page constantly updated, so it should always be your first source for travel rewards cards.
(Note: We earn a commission if you sign up for credit cards through our site. I don’t advertise on the podcast or in the newsletter. Your support using these card links makes that possible. Thank you!)
ChooseFI Community Taking Action This Week
This week, I flew back home to Connecticut and helped my parents (ages 70 and 72) reduce their monthly cable and internet bill from $175 to just $60 —a savings of $1,380 per year. I took action by purchasing a $30 antenna so they could cancel their basic cable and still access local channels. I also bought them a $192 modem/router, eliminating the need to rent equipment from Xfinity.
To top it off, I went in person to the Xfinity office and negotiated the lowest available internet-only rate. It took some persistence, but it was absolutely worth it to set them up for long-term savings and financial ease.
— E.
My husband and I have been married 2 years. We had several wins this week. We finally canceled one of our 2 Amazon prime accounts. I switched to his Spectrum cell phone which is free the first year and half what I was paying before.
And we finally calculated our income streams for when my husband is eligible to retire from the military. Even with conservative numbers, with rental properties, disability, me staying in the Reserves, and our investments, we're doing much better than we thought!
— Lauren
I called up home insurance company for my rental and negotiated a discount which was huge by stating that I have made major upgrades by renovating the property.
— Dev
My 1% better feels like 1000% better and I swear no part of this is fictional. I am unnervingly excited to share this with ChooseFI. This was a multi-step process and I’d like to share this in a logical order, not my chronological experience. (My actual experience could have been done better if two steps were reversed).
Short version:
- Donated clothes. I journaled about items that were hard to get rid of until I had a better understanding of why I associated memories/feelings with physical items.
- Took a photo of myself and found the HEX codes of my hair/skin/eye color. Asked ChatGPT for a color analysis for a wardrobe. Also had ChatGPT give wardrobe recommendations based on my body type.
- Signed up for a free styling session at Nordstroms.
- Went to Goodwill and recognized many of the labels that I was newly introduced to at Nordstroms.
- I now have a 20 piece capsule wardrobe that I am THRILLED about (new pieces, thrifted pieces, and old items) and it’s hanging in my room as if it’s art.
— Lindsey
Thank you so much for the work you do and information you have provided, it has been a huge turning point in my life and I am extremely grateful. I started binge listening to Choose FI in 2023 starting from the beginning, and the information I obtained kick started my march to FI and led me to additional resources such as The Simple Path to Wealth.
Since then I increased my investible assets from about $58K to over $160K and what is projected to be over $200K by Q1 of next year.
I have been able to take multiple trips per year utilizing points and miles for flight and hotel with more on the calendar.
Although I feel like a total imposter, I am also trying to kick off a new side hustle to try and help other families get the benefits of travel hacking. I am not sure that there will ever be any monetization, but I enjoy traveling and helping others realize the financial burden that can be released by utilizing points and miles responsibly.
— Daniel
15-20 years ago I invested with a financial advisor on the advice of my parents. It’s not a huge account, but still. Since I’ve been learning about finances, I have realized and confirmed that this advisor charges a 1% AUM fee. On $125k, that’s $1,250 per year = over $100 a month! For doing something I know how to do and actually enjoy doing. Ugh. So I fired them and transferred the funds to my Fidelity brokerage account. Feels good to have that done!
— Allyson