In the past, I have tried a couple of small town banks and some of the hugest financial institutions. So far, the best financial services company that I’ve ever had the pleasure to be a member of is USAA. All of my income goes to USAA first and then I transfer my money out to wherever I may need it. USAA is convenient for transfers because they allow you to link numerous external accounts to your USAA checking/saving account. Once you setup a transfer, USAA is very quick with processing everything. When I make a transfer from an external account into my USAA account, they even front me the incoming money while the transaction is processing. This way, I can instantaneously have those funds available to me in case I really need then. Some banks (like WaMu) make you wait a few days before they even think about actually processing the transfer which then takes another couple of days. USAA won me over with their courtesy, trust and common sense when it comes to taking care of their customers. There aren’t a bunch of ‘gotta have it’ or ‘gee whiz’ features but they provide a professional and honest service. Other than a checking account, I rely on USAA for my auto insurance as well as term & universal life insurance policies for my wife and I.

In case you’re wondering, USAA stands for United Services Automobile Association. In order to be a member, you’ll need to be one of the following:

Getting to know USAA

USAA has been around since 1922 and was started by some twenty-five Army officers. With honesty, rather than slimy car salesmanship, USAA has provided financial security to over 6 million (and growing) members. I might also mention that USAA isn’t a publicly traded company; which means that stockholders aren’t calling the shots – instead, the company prefers to listen to their customers. USAA doesn’t have branches everywhere; the company conducts its business through the internet, phones and mail. Beginning in 1922 USAA basically operated through mailings; late in the 1960’s they adopted the use of phones but didn’t get a toll-free number until 1978. Considering that toll free numbers were available in 1967, I’m guessing that USAA was a little slow adapting to change or there just wasn’t a lot of need for phone based services. USAA started operating on the Internet in 1999 and have stayed in touch with technological changes ever since. When I wrote this article, their website was pretty slick. The pages load fast and I can manage every type of account that I have very easily once I login. USAA keeps an archive of your bank statements and other documents (like insurance policies) so that you can look at or print them in a matter of minutes. I can also communicate with USAA’s customer service through speedy email messages that are built in to their site.

USAA runs on integrity; employees don’t receive any commission for selling someone a bunch of different insurance policies that they don’t really need. USAA currently offers incredibly competitive checking, savings, loans, certificates of deposit, credit cards, mortgages, auto insurance, home & property insurance, life insurance, numerous investing options, and much more. USAA also provides a free financial assessment so that you can see where you need to improve your financial situation. The financial assessment is a good tool for anyone but it is especially important for any young military member who just left their parent’s house for the first time. If you are eligible to be a USAA member and are trying to reach a decision on whether you should choose USAA or not, I urge you to read this short article.

Subscriber’s Account

This is just icing on the cake and shouldn’t be a major consideration when deciding to join USAA. When you pay $X amount of money to USAA for some type of insurance policy, your money sits in an account. This account is your Subscriber Savings Account (SSA) and it’s something that you’ll never be able to see or mess with. You can pretty much assume that you will never see your insurance premiums again, however, every once in a while something magical happens. If USAA had an awesome year – one where the company’s investments did great and they didn’t have to cover a lot of member accidents or other catastrophic losses – then USAA may choose to give you some of your premium money back. SSA Distributions are never guaranteed, but I have received them on a fairly regular basis.

USAA’s Official Explanation

Subscriber’s Accounts are a unique feature of USAA membership. As a reciprocal insurer, USAA holds a portion of its capital in each member’s name in a Subscriber’s Account. The association may, at the discretion of the USAA Board of Directors, use these funds to support USAA’s mission and goals.

Subscriber’s Accounts play an important role in our financial structure by providing capital to satisfy legal and regulatory requirements, support current and future operations, and pay large unexpected losses, such as claims from catastrophes.

Each year, the USAA Board of Directors examines whether USAA’s capital exceeds its current and projected needs and requirements. As circumstances permit, the board may authorize a distribution from each member’s Subscriber’s Account. If the board authorizes a distribution, a member can choose to receive the Subscriber’s Account distribution by direct deposit, apply the Subscriber’s Account amount to a USAA auto and property insurance bill or receive a check.

Final Ramblings

If you qualify to be a member – definitely take advantage of USAA’s professional services. USAA strives to be the provider of choice for the military community. They have succeeded in that mission with me; I’d like for everyone to be able to experience the benefits of being a member of USAA.

You might call me cheap, stingy, thrifty, a tight-wad or a penny-pincher but I do most of my shopping online and I hate paying full price for anything. Comparing 10 different stores online is far easier than driving to 10 different stores nearby; which is what causes online prices to be lower than in-store prices. Whenever I’m looking for something that I want to buy, I will usually check the prices at a minimum of 5 different websites prior to actually making the purchase. I usually (a) always find a cheaper price than what is available to me locally and (b) receive free shipping on my goods. When you add the benefit of not paying sales taxes on most purchases (shakes his fist at New York) – the deals become even better. My problem is that even though I’ve found a cheap price somewhere, I’m getting free shipping and I’m not paying sales tax on the item – I still feel the need to receive some sort of deal. Most times I don’t care if it’s $5 off or a 30% discount – I just don’t want to pay what everyone else could buy it at. Finding the codes that get you a discount is often the most time consuming effort in the purchasing process, so I’m going to show you how I get it done.

Searching for additional savings

By the time that you read this article the product, prices and discounts may be different.

If you’re looking for a specific product – I suggest that you start at the manufacturer’s website. Visit the main website for the item that you want to buy and gather some detailed information. If it’s software you want, grab the latest version number – If it’s a leaf blower, grab the model number that you’re interested in. This will help you be more specific during your searches and you might even find a different discount when you use the model number rather than the product name. Normally, I will never buy anything directly from the manufacturer – but it’s a great place to start your research.

In this example we’re going to buy from my favorite print shop – OvernightPrints.com. Let’s say we need to buy 1,000 double sided business cards, which would cost us $49.95. In this example, we’ve already snooped around and it turns out that $49.95 is the best price available. So now that we know what we’re buying and who we’re going to buy it from – we will look for some type of discount from that store, preferably for that product.

Since I love Google, we’re going to start there. Do a quick search for discounts by using the company, the product and the words “discount code.” If you don’t like discount code, you can search for discounts, promos, coupons, deals and so on. Most of the time, my favorite discount website, RetailMeNot.com will show up in the rankings. Go to any of the sites that are listed and check out their special offers or promotional codes that you can enter when finalizing the checkout process. For this example Retail Me Not has a lot of codes for Overnight Prints, we just have to figure out which code will get us better savings. With the current listed codes for business cards from Overnight Prints, it appears that we could save 10% or $10. Since we’re talking about $49.95 we would opt for the $10 discount since 10% would only be $4.99.

Companies also offer special promotions from time to time – you may want to email them or sign up for their newsletter to find out when things will be on sale. While we’re on the subject – sign up for my newsletter to have my updates and articles delivered directly to your inbox.

A quick touch on Security

Most people that I speak with are too scared to get that big online deal because they think that their credit card will get stolen. Identity theft does happen but shying away from the internet isn’t going to protect you from it.

If you’re worried about your online dealings, I suggest that you sign up with PayPal and download their plugin. PayPal’s plugin allows you to generate a MasterCard number that can be used once or multiple times. Just imagine an endless supply of disposable credit cards! Even if your single-use credit card number was compromised during an online purchase, the criminals wouldn’t be able to charge it again.

I also recommend that you use a program called, “Roboform” to assist you with storing your personal information such as names/logins, addresses, phone numbers, passwords, credit cards, and banking numbers. Whenever you need to fill a form on any website, Roboform will automatically fill in all of the information with a simple mouse click. This not only helps you remember all of your important logins and such, but it protects you from hidden programs on your computer that record and send out logs of everything that you’ve typed on your keyboard.

Final Ramblings

If the advice above isn’t working or you’re planning on making a big online purchase and want to make sure that you’re getting the best deal – feel free to contact me and I’ll try my hardest to find some savings for you.