We are full-time and recently sold our house. We are having problems finding a place to put our money. All banks I have contacted that offer "decent" interest rates insist that we provide proof of a physical address which is a utility bill.

Questions: Are you full time and, if so, which banks do you use for your investments/savings? Do they require proof of a physical address?

Thank you for your help.

I wish I had an answer for you. All I can say is.... Welcome to the Patriot Act. Write your Congressperson.

You might need to find an "online" thing, or use a Mail Forwarding service or something.

JJ

That would certainly be great for getting mail, but it still does not give them a physical address with a utility bill. We don't full time so I don't have an answer either, but surely someone knows a solution. I browsed through some of my books on RVing, but they were written before 9/11 when not having a physical address was not that big of a problem. Maybe some of the newer books have addressed this. Good luck.

Hello Rangiebob and congratulations on the sale of your house !!!
We continued to use the bank we had accounts with for the last decade. Like you, we were not sure what to do with the proceeds from the sale of our home. Re-investing makes sense, just wanted to do some traveling to research the possiblilites. Here is what worked for us:

1. Find a relative, friend (or previous neighbor) that does not mind having a 'virtual' roommate.
Our daughter fills this need for us. We set up paperless, online banking...so no bank statements ever arrive at our new 'virtual' home address. Also works great for Verizon, DirecTV, etc., monthly billings and year-end statements.

2. Update your DMV registrations, RV/car insurance, (and any other service you plan to use) to reflect your new virtual address.

3. Interview potential banks.

If a bank is familiar with you from previous 'stick-home' and working lives, they will be pleased to accomodate the proceeds from your home sale. Discuss FDIC coverage and how best to allocate your funds within their institution.

FYI So glad we did not change banks to one with a significantly higher interest rate: IndyMac. Yes, they were FDIC insured...but what a nightmare.

Communicated that we had not yet received utility bills for our new address...but had the DMV and new insurance cards: all with our new virtual address. Had already received a Directv confirmation change-of-address, so showed that also.

We were upfront: newly retired, just sold primary residence, planned to do a bit of traveling, new address was our home-base. Also upfront about interviewing other banks in regards to interest rates, etc.

Bank was pleased we chose them with the proceeds from our home sale. We were/are pleased to continue with a familiar bank.

Hope this helps!

We stayed with our own bank when we left full-timing for a checking account. As for investing money, I've never had any problems. I use the address of our mail forwarder. Most ask for a photo copy of my driver's license and SS card. Some don't even do that.

For privacy freaks, the Federal Government clarified Section 326 of the Patriot Act. Financial Institutions are required to have procedures to VERIFY identity. But the final rule indicated that it was not necessary for the institutions to obtain a COPY of said identity.

Now, if you are applying by mail, you are pretty much stuck, you will have to send in a copy. However, if you do this, take a black marker and mark out the driver's license number. The banks have no "need to know" on this.

On the other hand, if you are applying in person, you have the right to SHOW it to them, but you can say NO to having it copied. Just because they are a bank, doesn't mean all the employees are honest. A copy of your driver's license gives a potentially dishonest employee all the information necessary to commit identity theft.

If you have a passport, use that instead. It can be used as "acceptable" photo ID. What they need is the photo, not the document.

(Yes, I'm an information privacy freak....)

JJ

Good information JJ !!!
Thanks

Hi,
How are you getting your mail? Can you use that address? If not, perhaps a trusted relative or trusted friend?

Happy Travels!
Suzanne
campingandtravels.blogspot.com

In Utah there is an RV park with no name. Its out in the country middle of nowhere, has 8 rv sites and 4 modular houses on it. All have the same address because there is no local mail delivery in that town, everyone has a po box at the local post office. Of course I pay for my mail box since I do not live in the town. I also opened a credit union account in a town 2 miles from there and a bank account in a bank 20 miles from there. I also have a drivers license using that address. When ever I do anything I use the address of the rv park as my home address and have not run into a problem yet. Have all my mail sent to the post office there and pay premium mail forwarding from there to where ever I am at. Owner of the property/park and modular homes lives 30 miles away in another town.

Lee, send in a review of that park! That would drive the Admins nutso trying to figure it out! Call it the "NO NAME RV PARK" in NOWHERE UTAH! Do they have WiFi? Cable? Does the Verizon Air Card work there? Can you get satellite there? Are the bathrooms clean? And will the new mapping feature on this web site be able to locate it?

Hee hee hee!

Oh yeah. The original thread was about someone trying to find a place to park the sale of their home proceeds. Ok, back to that........

JJ

I did a review on it and dont remember what I called it. Think I named it after the city its in.