The day a $2,000 transfer fee made me check my broker's fine print

I was moving some money between accounts (you know, the usual stuff) and got hit with a fee that felt way too high. I called my broker to ask about it, and the guy on the phone said, 'That's the standard fee for an outgoing wire, it's in your account agreement.' I'd been with them for three years and never actually read that part. Has anyone else gotten burned by a fee they didn't see coming, and how do you keep track of them all?

3 comments

3 Comments

reese_chen3mo ago

My old bank charged me $35 just to send my own money to my savings at another place. Honestly, the fine print in those agreements might as well be written in invisible ink. I started taking a screenshot of every fee schedule I see now and saving them in a folder called "legal robbery." Tbh, it's the only way to keep them honest because they sure won't remind you.

wendygarcia3mo ago

$35 to move your own money? That's wild.

thompson.finley1mo ago

My buddy Mike got hit with a $45 wire transfer fee from Wells Fargo last year just to move his own money to a credit union he was joining. He said the teller didn't mention any fee when he filled out the form, just handed him the receipt and smiled. He only noticed when he checked his balance later that night (while eating cold pizza, he told me) and saw the charge. He still calls that branch the "quiet thieves" to this day, ha.