Squirreling away Chai

The Hebrew word chai is a symbol of life, vitality, and good luck. It's made up of the letters chet and yud, which add up to the number 18, considered lucky.

It is common (for me, anyway) to keep low balances in lesser used accounts. There had been need to keep different accounts for different purposes over the years. I had never opted to close the accounts as I have always been under the impression that closing accounts (regardless of which side is doing the closing) is bad luck for your credit report. Of course, there have been closed accounts when banks went out of business...

HIBERNIA BANK
BOWERY SAVINGS BANK
HOME SAVINGS OF AMERICA
WASHINGTON MUTUAL
SECURITY PACIFIC BANK
FIRST NATIONWIDE BANK

Need I go on? Anyway, several years ago when I was on holiday in San Francisco, I decided to find a itsy-bitsy teeny-tiny itty-bitty financial institution for me to leave some money behind. I figured it'd be better than converting it into coins and throwing it into a fountain. So, while tapping down the streets of Chinatown, I chanced upon the NORTHEAST COMMUNITY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION. Back then, it had only one branch and it was located on Walter U. Lum Place. So I went in and opened an account.

It's one of the most primitive credit unions I have ever dealt with. It doesn't offer checking accounts (where you write your own check). It doesn't offer credit cards. It doesn't even offer ATM access. So, what do I do with it. Every week, I send a deposit for chai ($18). No one has ever asked me any questions. About five years ago, I added it to my payroll allotment. That little credit union in Chinatown was able to access the money and deposit it appropriately. NEVER HAD A POSTING ERROR IN ALL THIS TIME!

What I still find a bit unsettling is the rule of holding funds. Can you imagine doing business with a financial institution for nearly two decades and still have holds of ten days placed on your deposits? Oh well... I still make a point of going there whenever I'm in Chinatown in San Francisco. I make a deposit that depletes my other accounts down to about a dollar and a quarter and I then make a hefty withdrawal from the credit union so that I have me some San Francisco mad money.

Chai ... it's life!