Yesterday we had a mini celebration. Why, you ask? Because we have FINALLY returned to one bank. Ahhhhhh.....what a relief!
I'll never look at missionaries with the same eyes ever again. It is a very complicated life. Our banking situation is an illustration of that. Here's a brief snapshot of the banks that we had and why during our 'stint' as missionaries:
Bank #1 - Wells Fargo - this was the bank we used before we went into missions. We used it up until we left for France.
Bank #2 - Bank of Missouri - our mission agency STRONGLY suggested we open accounts at this bank because it was just down the road from the mission agency's main office. If there was an emergency while we were overseas (which there never was), they could easily get money into our account - and fast.
Bank #3 - US Bank - we opened accounts at this bank because our parents both had access to a US Bank in their respective towns. If they needed to get money to us (for instance, sending money for the kids' birthday presents), they could put it in our US Bank accounts and we could get the money while overseas through the ATM. (It doesn't do a lot of good to mail a check from a USA bank to France. We'd just have to mail the check back to a USA bank to cash it. Having the US Bank accounts saved a lot of hassle for us all.)
Bank #4 - Bank of America - we used Bank of America for all of our income from America because we could withdrawal funds from this account in France without incurring any fees - NONE. This saved us TONS of money.
Bank #5 - Credit Agricole in France - this was our main bank in France for the first year or so. But, then, we got a notice one day that they would no longer accept ANY cash deposits from us. This was problematic since we were taking our money out of our Bank of America account at the ATM in France and depositing it into the bank in France in order to move our income into Euros and make it available for living in France. Since they wouldn't accept cash any longer, we had to change banks. BUT, we couldn't close the account at this bank because our renter's insurance was through this bank, so we had to leave it open.
Bank #6 - BNP - I cannot remember what BNP stood for, but the "P" is Paribas. Anyway, this was the bank where we kept our funds in Euros.
So, as you can imagine, it was a bit nuts keeping track of all of this!
And, during our transition to Indiana, we had to open another bank account in Indiana to begin life here! Insanity!
This is why we had a celebration yesterday. Yesterday, we closed the last bank account besides our local account. All 6 of those bank accounts that you see listed above are no longer in existence! Yeah!!! Our lives have returned to normalcy again!!!
On top of all the banking complications a missionary faces, they also have to file taxes in two countries and manage retirement accounts and, in our case, handle a country's pension plan. What a zoo!
Needless to say, we are thankful to return to a calm, predictable, local, and entirely USA way of handling finances.
Ahhhhh..... I think I'll go eat a square of French chocolate to continue the celebration!
Too funny! I think your case was extreme. When we lived in Brazil, we only had one back account - our account in the US. I think we told you, though, that we put Dad on the account in case we needed help on the US end (which we never did). Turns out, someone can only be off the account if they die or the account gets closed! Crazy!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your celebration! Sounds blissful! :-)
Julie