Hi BBCW, this is probably a stupid question, but how relevant are incoming/outgoing wire transfer fees for bank accounts? It seems like they don't have something like Singaporean banks' FAST transfer over there, and most (nearly all) bank accounts I've looked at charge $20+ for outgoing wire transfers (some even charge incoming!?). Given that, I'd assume most people would reasonably avoid wire transfers as a payment method (e.g. paying school fees, rent, splitting bills with friends)?
I think you're talking about the United States.
Wire transfer fees aren't particularly relevant at all, not domestically anyway. First of all, if you expect you might wire funds, try to find a U.S. bank or U.S. credit union account that doesn't charge an incoming wire transfer fee. There are some. Also, some U.S. brokers (and thus U.S. brokerage accounts), notably Interactive Brokers but also to some extent Charles Schwab, provide several inbound fund transfer accounts. With Schwab, for example, you can make a FAST or GIRO domestic transfer in Singapore of Singapore dollars to their custodial account in Singapore, and Schwab then automatically converts those funds to U.S. dollars and deposits the funds in your Schwab brokerage account. The conversion rate is decent -- not as good as Interactive Brokers, but decent -- and there's no additional fee. Some U.S. brokers provide free wire transfers outbound, too, at least for certain clients.
OK, that said, here are the common ways people pay each other in the United States, not necessarily in order:
1. Credit and debit cards, and increasingly mobile payment options, are widely accepted. Visa and Mastercard are the most widely accepted, then Discover (which owns Diners Club, so your Singapore-issued Diners Club card works in the U.S. wherever Discover is accepted -- not that I recommend using your Singapore-issued Diners Club card in the U.S.) and American Express.
Credit and even some debit cards offer rebates or points, so they're great to use if you're a responsible consumer. Try to avoid using the card's magnetic stripe to pay for purchases. Chip readers are pretty widely implemented now, and the magnetic stripe readers are fading away.
You can set up almost every credit card for "AutoPay," which I highly recommend.
It's possible in the United States for almost everyone to get a credit card, even a pretty good one. That's because there are low limit and secured credit cards, and the market is so competitive that some of them still offer reasonable terms, including zero annual fee. I've mentioned some examples in other posts. There are even some children who manage to get credit cards.
If you use a debit card then, for safety, I suggest pairing it to a separate account that you keep at a low balance. Or, in other words, try to get a credit card (and set it up for AutoPay) since there's a little greater safety in that.
2. "BillPay," which is typically a free service that U.S. bank and U.S. credit union checking accounts provide. (Please avoid the few banks and credit unions that charge for this service.) This is pretty similar to what banks in Singapore offer and also analogous to AXS and SAM payment services, except online. However, BillPay takes it a big step farther: if the biller is not known to BillPay, no problem, BillPay can send a paper check with free postage. Of course that'll take a few days, but it works.
Please note that BillPay just sends the paper check (or electronic equivalent), not any notes or letters. So to let the recipient know what the payment is about, make sure you give BillPay the biller's/recipient's reference number and/or some other information. For example, when you want to pay a quarterly estimated U.S. federal income tax bill with BillPay, you can, but you need to make sure BillPay prints these two key pieces of information on the check:
a. Your Social Security Number (SSN) or ITIN.
b. "2020 Form 1040-ES"
The second line tells the IRS that it's a payment for the tax year 2020's estimated personal federal income tax, so they'll credit the payment toward 2020 taxes on the account referenced with the SSN or ITIN.
3. Your own paper checks are still fairly common if you want to pay somebody who doesn't accept a major credit or debit card. For example, you might be at a school charity event and want to donate some money, and so a paper check would still be a pretty typical way to do that, and it also maintains a paper trail in case it's a big donation and helpful for a tax deduction later on. Some banks and credit unions offer free paper checks, still. (I'm giving you some ideas how to comparison shop for bank/credit union accounts.) Many banks and credit unions now offer "mobile check deposit" service, which allows you to sign the back of the check you receive, take photos of the front and back using a mobile app, and deposit the funds. Some recipients don't accept personal checks but do accept more reliable checks, such as bank "cashier's checks" and "money orders," and some banks/credit unions offer free cashier's checks and/or free money orders. Walmart sells money orders for something like 70 cents.
Make sure you know how to fill out a paper check properly, per U.S. practices. There are plenty of online guides explaining the ins and outs. Don't rely on "postdating" a check.
Some U.S. banks, U.S. credit unions, and U.S. brokerages offer postage paid envelopes to mail in paper checks for deposit. Go ahead and request those envelopes (or at least ask) if you'd like some. The postage is free when you mail the envelope from anywhere the U.S. Postal Service serves, including overseas U.S. military postal stations.
4. Cash now represents less than 20% of transactions last I checked and isn't accepted everywhere, but it's still used to some extent. You'll often see cups of pennies and tip jars at retail establishments. The cups of pennies are there both to donate pennies that you don't want to keep and to help out someone (and the cashier) if you're paying in cash and need a penny or three to avoid breaking a bill. Tip jars are invitations to get rid of coins (at least) you don't want to keep. (Tipping is a whole other subject, though.)
One problem with cash is getting it, since ATM operators can charge whatever fees they want. However, there are at least two solutions. One is to do business with a U.S. bank or U.S. credit union that offers a large network of "fee free ATMs." These aren't necessarily the big banks, by the way. Plenty of smaller banks and credit unions have banded together and leverage fee free ATM networks such as "MoneyPass." You can then check a mobile app or online to find one of the fee free ATMs in their network. The other approach is to get an account with a bank, credit union, or broker that offers an ATM card with ATM operator fee rebates. Schwab and Alliant Credit Union are two such examples.
Depositing cash is getting rather hard in the United States, just as in Singapore. Practically all ATMs used to accept cash deposits, but now very few of them do. Try not to accumulate too much cash.
5. Barter. Not too common, but it happens once in a while.
6. "Instant" peer-to-peer (P2P) payment services such as Paypal, Zelle, Venmo, Apple Pay, and Google Wallet. Zelle is essentially like Singapore's PayNow. Stereotypically the cool/hip "Millennials" use these services, sometimes.
My wife believes she needs additional health coverage. She is a PR and has no integrated plan....
She has MediShield Life, but for PRs especially that's basically like a discount card, good for reducing a large hospital bill (in Singapore only) somewhat.
....but I do pay $600/year to opt her into my employer plan, which includes group medical of $345 daily R&B up to 90 days, $7,000 surgical, plus pre & post for a maximum of $17,250 per disability, anything beyond that a group major medical rider kicks in, and that pays 80% of expenses beyond that, up to a maximum $25,000. Private hospital is the only option she would entertain.
The employer's coverage is nice (and looks pretty typical of such plans), but it's not enough unless you're rather well off and can self-insure.
Is there some kind of additional rider we could add? Alternatively I could boost my employer plan to $400 R&B, $8,000 surgery, maximum $20,000 and the rider then goes up to $40k, but it’s is kind of a pricey option, around $1,200 per year more.
Well, the "private hospital is the only option she would entertain" criterion automatically raises the cost, significantly. And the cost delta between private and public will most probably continue to widen.
Would she be OK getting her hospital care specifically from Raffles Hospital if it looks like it might exceed your company-provided coverage? In that case, she could take a look at Raffles Shield Plan A with the Raffles Hospital Option and probably also their Key Rider, although the Key Rider is very arguable given the company coverage. This'd be the least expensive Integrated Shield coverage with private hospital care, but Raffles Hospital is
the hospital -- that's the whole private network. (Plus all public hospitals in single/private rooms, including KK Hospital, which is only for women and children.)
Bear in mind that when you call a SCDF ambulance in Singapore ("995") you'll be taken to the nearest public hospital. If it's an emergency, that's where she's going, no choice. Hopefully she never has a medical emergency, but if she does, she'll get acquainted with the nearest public hospital.
Anyway, I think that'd be a good coverage combo: the company-provided coverage for "minor" stuff, backstopped with Raffles Shield A+Raffles Hospital Option (and
maybe the Key Rider) for "big" stuff, and specifically/only at Raffles Hospital in that (non-emergency) event. It honors her preference in the most affordable way, and with good coverage. If she later decides that she no longer wants or needs the Raffles Hospital Option, that option can be dropped, and Raffles Shield A is among the best public hospital A ward Integrated Shield plans. Also, as it happens, Raffles Shield is running a promotion this month (March, 2020) that guarantees their current premium schedule for the next 3 years.
