Is this making anyone else nervous?

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Bruce Parker

Honest question...when they ban paper money and the only way to pay for anything is by tapping some magic box with your phone, how exactly will we oldsters survive?

We will trade as much as possible.



I have always liked cash, and made some pretty major purchases with only bills. With Covid, my habits changed a bit and I got pretty used to the tap and go of the bank card. I recently decided to start going back to cash. Went to withdraw $400 for some pocket money, and the bank machine reported it was not able to complete the transaction. But my online banking showed they took the $400 out of my account.

I waited a day to see if it would fix itself. It didn't so I called the number on the machine....they told me to call my bank. Called my bank, only got an answering machine and no callback. So the next day I explained the story on my online banking. Got a message back they were going to investigate but let my bank know. Called my bank and got the same answering machine message from the day before...still not updated. So I drove the 30kms to my bank. They saw I opened an investigation, but they moved $400 into my account pending the outcome of the investigation. Then a week later I got $400 put into my account from some other source.So now I am up $400, but will give it a week before trying to call my bank again to get them to take their money back.



Their conspiracy to get me away from cash might just work yet.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

My wife makes most major purchases in cash (like our roof last summer for instance). It's not for any tangible reason other than to make the bank teller's heads explode. She enjoys that. Banks clearly are uncomfortable in chunks of cash much larger than a few hundred bucks.

Same wife got used to paying for gas at the pumps with a credit card. Easy peasy. Until the card bounced some other purchase for no apparent reason. Well there was a reason. Every time she bought gas it locked a hundred bucks on the card and kept it locked for a couple of days. Several back to back fill ups and the card was maxed out.

[rob love]

I think if you google fintrac you will better understand some of the reasons why the tellers are asking questions. I, too, like to give them very few answers. If I am buying another truck or another rifle, and need $9K, they always want to sell you a cashiers cheque. I tell them I am buying a vehicle (no matter what I am buying) and that I can negotiate with cash, but not with a cheque. Then they want to give me mostly cheque and some cash. I turn them down. Then they offer to go into one of the side rooms to count it out so nobody sees me with that amount of cash. I explain to them that if I were to lose $10K, it is not exactly life altering and counting it out at the tellers post is just fine.



If you dig into fintrac, you will see that they want tellers, real estate agents, casinos, and others who deal in cash to report any suspicious transactions. I have also dealt with the 20 question game when I have come back from some of the larger gunshows, and want my pockets back.

[Ed Storey]

I am over 60 and I don't have a cell phone and if I did, I would probably loose it. Back when I was still in the military I had to sign out a Blackberry even though I had no use for one. I took said Blackberry, box and all, back to my desk and locked it in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet. A year later IT was on to me to either use the Blackberry or return it, so I returned it; still in the box. The kids working in IT were not impressed and I didn't care.

I still go to the bank in person and do everything with a teller. More than once the teller has mentioned that for my convenience I could use the automated teller or bank from home. I always respond that I am preserving their job by showing up in person.

[Bruce MacMillan]

Originally Posted by edstorey

I still go to the bank in person and do everything with a teller. .

I also preferred doing that but the bank kept reducing their open hours. They gave me a small security device to do online banking from home. When that device died it was replaced by an ap on my phone. Now I'm told that due to security software upgrade my phone no longer supported the ap and to continue I had to buy a new phone. Back to withdrawing cash until last month they closed my branch. Nearest one is a 45 minute bus ride away.

I now max out the daily cash withdraw to last a month. I prefer paying by cash as my spending habits can't be tracked. I'm not paranoid but annoyed that the info gathered is sold to marketing companies and I don't get a cut.

[Tim Bell]

When there's a power cut... what fuel for the backup generator?

[Lynn Eades]

Over here, we have about 6 banks. Nearly all of them are Australian owned (including the bank of New Zealand) I happen to bank with the ANZ. It is only open 3 days a week. Apparently the banks have to report every transaction involving more than (I think) $5,000. As a semi retired (ok, 68yo) I have spent a lot of time trying to educate myself on money and how it is created, the banks, and government and their roles in it. The system worldwide is corrupt. I have developed a dislike for both and have now become a bitcoiner. Rightly or wrongly this is where I now keep the bulk of my money ("bulk" makes it sound like a lot!) I still have my bank accounts for the normal day to day life stuff. Although Btc is risky, it has been running for 11 years without an issue. It is open 24/7. It is "A store of value"
It will become more mainstream as time goes by. There is a lot to learn and I can see it is particularly difficult for us older people. You would need a smart phone or computer to receive and send payments, so some of us would not cope. I too have a lot to learn on this. If you should venture into it, be careful.

If you have some time to waste, here is a podcast on youtube from your Jordan Peterson. It is educational on Bitcoin, your current currency (fiat money) and also climate change. There is 2 hours of it, so probably not many will go there. I dont know how to set up a link so you will have to copy and paste. The Immaculate Conception: Bitcoin vs Fiat Standard | Dr. Saifedean Ammous | The JBP Podcast S4: E58

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Tim Bell

When there's a power cut... what fuel for the backup generator?

Your windmill will provide it for you.

[Michael R.]

Originally Posted by edstorey

I am over 60 and I don't have a cell phone and if I did, I would probably loose it...
I still go to the bank in person and do everything with a teller.

Everything ?

Ed, do you ever consider we may have been born in the wrong century?

[Ed Storey]

Originally Posted by Michael R.

Everything ?

Ed, do you ever consider we may have been born in the wrong century?

Hehehe, I like to think of it as being born in the right century. At least that is what I tell myself in the morning while reading the newspaper.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by edstorey

Hehehe, I like to think of it as being born in the right century. At least that is what I tell myself in the morning while reading the newspaper.

Swinging this back a little more serious, a good friend and I were talking along these lines. As much as we'd both like to be in our twenties starting this whole thing over again (but retaining what we know of course), we concluded we are happy to have lived when we did. We got to do things and experience a life without all the crap, groupthink progresso-nonsense and, well, left alone to get into all kinds of fun trouble.