Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 13 degrees, chilly, sunny and slightly overcast.
Tuesday is the day I usually visit the two building societies in Kingswinford village for my mother.
She receives money at one and pays her bills at the other, which isn’t very logical. I’ve suggested she simplify this by having just one account for both, but she doesn’t want to.
She receives her pension from The West Bromwich Building Society, where £200 must be withdrawn, then £100 deposited into the Nationwide Building Society next door. The remaining £100 is either for paying bills or for food in cash.
Usually, I cover any expenses from my own money so that my mother doesn’t have to pay for everything.
English building societies are old, traditional cooperative banks that have been around for hundreds of years. They mainly specialise in savings accounts where people deposit their savings. In turn, the building societies lend money to their account holders for mortgages, making at least 11 times more profit on the deposits they receive from their clients.
English people seem to be obsessed with building societies and buying their own homes, probably because of the saying “my home is my castle,” which is rooted in British culture over generations. However, today’s young generation is shying away from homeownership due to the associated taxes and extra costs.
To have as much of your own money in your account as possible, and the freedom to do what you want with it, is what constitutes the wealth and liberty of today.
Why tie yourself down with mortgage payments or spend a large sum of money on something that could be invested instead, potentially earning much more over the same period? Living off the interest of a reasonable sum is far more advantageous than being enslaved to monthly payments for the next 20 or 30 years.
Until today, even the bank book from 50, 60, or 100 years ago is still used in some building societies for recording each transaction at the till. You need your book to print out that transaction, which is common. If you don’t have the book or can’t find it, you won’t be able to do anything about it.
How outdated and archaic is that?
In Brazil, the banking system is much more dynamic, especially since Bolsonaro introduced the Pix electronic system for transferring money internally between accounts. It is free and instant; even street and taxi drivers accept Pix.
I’m currently in England, and through my bank’s app, I can send and receive money for almost any amount at any time, 24/7 in Brazil.
When my mother went into the hospital for her surgery, I had to visit two building societies to settle her financial obligations. Depositing money at the second bank has always been straightforward; the issue has consistently been with the first building society, the West Bromwich, when withdrawing the money.
Even when I had visited the building society with my mother several times before her surgery, they knew me; I was introduced to them, there was no mystery, and afterwards, following the surgery, there were issues. On one day, I even had to go three times to withdraw money from this dreadful place.
Everything reached a breaking point two weeks ago when the manageress unilaterally decided that my mother had to go in and withdraw the money herself, regardless of her physical or health situation. This caused a lot of stress, confusion, and problems.
My mother phoned the branch and spoke to one of the clerks, arranging an extra month for me to withdraw the money, as long as my mother desires. When I went there, the manageress told me that it would be the last time.
I asked why, and she offered a lot of nonsense about nothing. When I contradicted her, saying it was not her place to decide such matters about other people’s money, the confusion only worsened.
My mother visited another branch of the West Brom building society on the Friday of that same week. The branch staff informed her that the manageress’s procedures at the Kingswinford branch were completely wrong and unethical, and they assured her they would resolve the issue.
Today, I went in as usual to withdraw money for my mother, and there was no hassle or stress. I could even take the bank book back with me, which wasn’t allowed for some reason before. The bank clerk was a kitten; nothing too much was a problem or trouble. I was able to withdraw my mother’s money without any issues.
I don’t really understand what happened or why the manageress tried to make our lives more difficult. Either she has an inflated sense of importance and power, or she has internal issues within the bank and is trying to prevent us from withdrawing our own money, or she is indoctrinated with procedures and protocols where logic is irrelevant, or she simply is a thoughtless b#tch; or a bit of each.
After settling all my mother’s financial affairs, I walked back from Kingswinford to Wordsley, which is probably only two miles. I had a meeting with Luke, the owner of the simpler café in Wordsley, about becoming a partner, or organising a joint venture, or renting and taking over the entire place.
The meeting was fine. It clarified many points for me, but I don’t think I will do business with him because I don’t trust him. I believe he lies and is inconsistent in his work. I would prefer to wait and see what happens with his business. If it looks promising, I might consider taking it over in the future.
The rest of the day was giving classes, buying crypto before the halving and talking to Julie. Our relationship has been going on, and well, however, I have a nagging voice inside me that is telling me to run, but until now I haven’t. Let’s see.
In bed by 11:00 p.m.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
