Making a $2 million deposit in your checking account

[Bigote]

Gotta tell this story somewhere....

We sold our NYC condo for 2.15MM.  There was no mortgage on it.   So I came out of closing with a check for a little over 2 mil.   Walked it down the block to the closest bank branch and went in to deposit it.

I grab a deposit slip and notice they only have space for 6 digits to the left of the decimal point.   I'm thinking WTF??? Don't they know there are Mustachians about?  :)

So I walk up to customer service and say, "I'm trying to fill out a deposit slip but there aren't enough digits on the form".  She says "here let me see" and takes the slip and the check from my hand.   No doubt she figured I was confused or something.  I should point out I was wearing jeans and a polo shirt from Old Navy. 

 Then she sees the check, and next thing you know I'm seated and someone's bringing me coffee while they process the deposit, make me a photocopy of the check, etc all on my behalf.   They bring back an envelope with all my paper work, and ask me if I'm interested in becoming a private banking client. No thanks, I say, my regular old checking account serves me well.


On the way out I had to get cash out of the ATM, it was cool seeing the printed receipt showing the balance.



Oh, and the place we bought?  Less than 800k.  So we basically upgraded our housing (condo in the city to a house in the burbs) while pulling out 1.3MM to add to the retirement kitty.   


Thanks for being the only people I can tell that story to...

[Frankies Girl]

This made me laugh thinking about how they probably totally freaked out at your just walking in like a normal everyday customer with THAT MUCH MONEY.

Congrats one the sale and profit - that is really, really cool!

[cerberusss]

Hahahaha amazing story. I'd loved to have seen the look on the customer service woman's face :-)

So did you keep the ATM printed receipt? Or did you just "meh" and then walked past Starbucks and NOT get yourself a nice cup of coffee? :D

[happy]

So Cool, I love it.
and congratulations on the stash

[NunyaBidness]

I used to work at a bank in Soho and they people that wore Polo Shirts and Jeans on weekdays were usually the richest

Congrats on the sale.

[footenote]

Good on you! What a fun story. And you're right - this is one of the few places you can tell it.   : /

[brighteye]

Thanks for being the only people I can tell that story to...

Your welcome :-)
...and congratulations, sounds like you had an awesome day!

[mpbaker22]

Just be careful.  I imagine I would be freaking out if I had that much money for someone to steal.

Good story, thanks for sharing!

[arebelspy]

Such an awesome story.  Love it!

And congrats on the badassity.  Downsizing to a place that will fit you better, adding a large chunk to your stache.. awesome.

Thanks for the inspiration.  :D

[Mr Mark]

Congrats!

Being able to cut a check for $800k can't have been bad either!

Hope you still got a small 30 yr mortgage... ;-)

[oldtoyota]

That is wonderful and badass. Thank you for sharing the story. :-)

[dragoncar]

Wow!  I don't believe I'll ever get a chance to do this, but it sure would be fun.  I'd make sure to put it down my pants first.

Question for everyone:  what is the most money you've ever had down your pants?  I top out around $15k, but have a friend who has had 6-figures down there.  We are all very mature as you can tell.

[DocCyane]

Wow!  I don't believe I'll ever get a chance to do this, but it sure would be fun.  I'd make sure to put it down my pants first.

Question for everyone:  what is the most money you've ever had down your pants?  I top out around $15k, but have a friend who has had 6-figures down there.  We are all very mature as you can tell.

Damn it. I've never put money down my pants and I feel like I've really missed out.

[dragoncar]

Wow!  I don't believe I'll ever get a chance to do this, but it sure would be fun.  I'd make sure to put it down my pants first.

Question for everyone:  what is the most money you've ever had down your pants?  I top out around $15k, but have a friend who has had 6-figures down there.  We are all very mature as you can tell.

Damn it. I've never put money down my pants and I feel like I've really missed out.

It's never too late to start.

[olivia]

Wow!  I don't believe I'll ever get a chance to do this, but it sure would be fun.  I'd make sure to put it down my pants first.

Question for everyone:  what is the most money you've ever had down your pants?  I top out around $15k, but have a friend who has had 6-figures down there.  We are all very mature as you can tell.

HA I can't say I've had more than a couple thousand on me, but I didn't put it down my pants.  :(

To the OP-awesome story, thanks for sharing!

[DoubleDown]

That's excellent! You're retiring today, correct?? ;-)

[Another Reader]

No, he has to make a rather large withdrawal to pay the capital gains tax!

[KS]

I've never had that kind of money to deposit, but on the couple occasions when I went to deposit "just" ~25k in person (inheritance, etc) the red carpet already gets rolled out, and usually the poor new teller (always seems to be on someone's first day) ends up with shaky hands and calls their manager over for help. :) I've actually wondered if the bank has me flagged now in some way. Unless they've just really stepped up their customer service game, seems anytime I go in for something as soon as my card is scanned I have like three or four people hanging around chatting with me and asking if there is anything they can do for me. I live in a pretty high income area, seems like they would see big numbers all the time but maybe most people take their bigger checks straight to the Tesla dealer and bypass the bank...?

If they go to those lengths just for the amount I've had, I can only imagine the response to OP with a couple million! "Excuse me, these deposit slips need more spaces to hold my badassity..." :)

[secondcor521]

Just a quick reminder to the OP that the FDIC insurance limit on accounts is generally $250K, so if the bank were to fail you could lose $1.75M.  If it's one of the big guys and it's only a couple of days, probably not a big deal, but something to think about.

[Dr.Vibrissae]

No, he has to make a rather large withdrawal to pay the capital gains tax!

Only if the sale price was half a mil more than he and his spouse paid for it.  And if it was, well that's just more reason to celebrate.

[Stachsquatch]

That is an excellent story! Thank you for sharing, made my lunch break! :)

[MakingSenseofCents]

Wow that is awesome! I can't imagine having a $2 million check.

[Another Reader]

Lots of greedy people with their fingers in this pie.  In addition to the Feds, two states have an interest, and NYC will want a share.  I'm guessing the 3.8 percent Medicare tax will apply as well.  However, this is a good example of why you should not let taxes be the deciding factor when it comes to quality of life choices.

[Huffy2k]

Congratulations!  I just had a similar (albeit smaller) experience when I sold my house and walked away with a $161k check.  Of course I'm putting a bit toward the 20% down payment (Yes I'm taking out a 30 year mortgage) on a patio home and throwing about $100 k in my investment account.  Congrats again!

[aj_yooper]

Great story.  Congratulations!

[ny.er]

You sold your condo for 2.15MM! Ha! Only in NYC! Congratulations on your big win!

[Skinnyneo]

Great story OP!  It's always nice to hear about good things happening to good people.

Wow!  I don't believe I'll ever get a chance to do this, but it sure would be fun.  I'd make sure to put it down my pants first.

Question for everyone:  what is the most money you've ever had down your pants?  I top out around $15k, but have a friend who has had 6-figures down there.  We are all very mature as you can tell.

I think the most I've ever had was around ¥600,000 or about $6,800 US at the time.  It was my first paycheck from my new job and included not only salary but also travel reimbursement.  They paid me in cash because my bank account hadn't been set up yet.  That's pretty common in Japan and a very awesome feeling.  Took it straight down to the bank and paid off debt with it.  Not surprisingly two years later I'm out of debt and worth about 40K!

[Snow White]

This story made my day!!  I am too vain though to stuff money in my pants...wouldn't that make me look like I had gained 5 strange looking pounds? ;)

A friend used to work for a Mercedes Benz dealership (in Oklahoma) and he told me about the older man wearing a work shirt and overalls who walked into the showroom and the finely dressed (male) salesmen ignored him.  A woman salesperson went over to him and he bought a car with cash that he was carrying on him AND came back a few months later and bought another car for his daughter from the same saleswoman.  I suspect those salespeople learned to approach everyone regardless of how they look.  He must have been an early mustashian!

[TheFrugalShrink]

LOVE this story!!!  And way to go on your sale.  :)

[ch12]

I really love this story. Kudos to you! I am currently reading Nassim Taleb's book Antifragile and he says that the people who are dressed down tend to be antifragile while a mid-level bank manager with a yearly trip to Barbados who wears a suit every day tends to be fragile and very, very averse to change and risk. Congratulations on pocketing huge gains from your condo and ALSO having the wisdom to buy a $800k home instead of spending all you've got.

[fiskeb]

Cool.  Must have been some pucker factor walking around with that check.  I would have been puckered until it was split up and fully covered by FDIC or invested.

When they sit you down and bring you coffee, it means they have to make some calls because they don't know what the crap to do. 

[Bigote]

So did you keep the ATM printed receipt? Or did you just "meh" and then walked past Starbucks and NOT get yourself a nice cup of coffee? :D

In fact I did walk by a starbucks, NOT get a coffee, then got into my 15 year old compact car and drove back to my new house in the burbs.

Oh, and I did keep the receipt but since tossed it.  I thought I'd post a photo of the deposit slip though.  (with acct # ref covered!).  They've sequestered the funds for a while, the bastards.

[Bigote]

Being able to cut a check for $800k can't have been bad either!

Hope you still got a small 30 yr mortgage... ;-)

Well, we paid cash for the new property a couple months back, but I had to finance a portion of it with a margin loan, as discussed here:  https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/how-much-credit-do-you-have-access-to

But I closed out the loan last week.

[Bigote]

That's excellent! You're retiring today, correct?? ;-)

I retired a while back!

[Bigote]

Just a quick reminder to the OP that the FDIC insurance limit on accounts is generally $250K, so if the bank were to fail you could lose $1.75M.  If it's one of the big guys and it's only a couple of days, probably not a big deal, but something to think about.

Yep, got two more days.   Or, in mustachian terms, those millions of dollar bills have two more vacation days laying around in the checking account spa, then I put them all to work. :)

[Bigote]

No, he has to make a rather large withdrawal to pay the capital gains tax!

Only if the sale price was half a mil more than he and his spouse paid for it.  And if it was, well that's just more reason to celebrate.

Bought the place for 985k a decade ago.  So we made 1.165MM gross profit.  Net-net we'll owe ~150k in taxes on it, thereabouts.  First world problems, I know....

[Self-employed-swami]

I took a cheque for $200,000 into the teller, and put it into my chequing account once.  The manager had to come approve it. 

The next time I went in (to sign papers for my $5,000 personal LOC a few weeks later, after the $$$ was out of my chequing account), they invited me into an office, and wanted me to meet with a planner, to talk about my financial plan. I had sort of snuck out of work to go down to the bank, and I only wanted to be there for 5 minutes, to sign, and get back out.  They'd made up a whole folder of things for me, like an ambush.

I wasn't impressed with the ambush.  And they were kind of pushy as well.

[willn]

Gotta tell this story somewhere....

We sold our NYC condo for 2.15MM.  There was no mortgage on it.   So I came out of closing with a check for a little over 2 mil.   Walked it down the block to the closest bank branch and went in to deposit it.

Awesome! Nice job.

I assume you'll be moving the cash to other accounts, still worth noting the FDIC insurance limits, generally 250K per account holder.

http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/dis/

[Frugally-raised]

Great story! It is fun to play with people's expectations, isn' it?

I opened a new checking account on short notice last year because my bank failed & I didn't like the bank that took it over. By pure luck, I drove past the failing bank an hour before it was going to close permanently. (The full parking lot and sheriff's cars were a giveaway.) So I pulled into the bank and withdrew $10,000 to open a new account. I wanted cash because I wasn't sure how long the new bank would put a hold on a check from a failed bank. Took the old bank quite a while to assemble all the cash, as they had been depleting their stash in advance of the closure.

Then I drove to the new bank & began the interrogation process of opening a new account. Finally we got to the question of "how will you be opening the account?" and when I responded with "cash", there was a dramatic pause. But the account manager recovered nicely, and I handed her two stuffed envelopes and sat back to wait as they counted it all. (The old bank had to give me a significant amount of ten dollar bills as they scraped together the last of their cash.)

I was a tad nervous on the drive between the banks, but then, my 14-year-old Totyota doesn't draw much attention.

[DoubleDown]

I retired a while back!

Excellent! I couldn't remember if that's the case, glad to hear you've already made the jump.

I'm sure a guy that sold a $2 million place in NYC doesn't need advice from me, but hopefully you're already doing everything you can to step up the basis on that place to minimize taxes (taking into account any improvements made along the way, and so on). Either way, not such a bad tax bill on such a great profit.

[Phoebe]

I love this story! Thank you for sharing and way to go!!!

[Coup]

Lol awesome

[Gerard]

Congrats on the sale and the chance to mess with people's expectations!

wrt the important issue of "most money down pants", I used to play in a touring band (paid in cash) in the days before easy multi-branch banking, and we used to sleep on the Greyhound with $5K down our pants!

[Self-employed-swami]

I had $7,300 in cash in my pocket once.  I sold my car, and the buyer paid me in cash.

[Michelle119]

Congratulations!

I've had some big checks for commissions for work in my pocket that my boss entrusted me to deposit, it was about $15k. Personally I've had a $10k check that was a gift from my parents for my wedding.

[nktokyo]

Nice.

I've paid cash for properties in the past and the brief pause on the other end of the phone when you say not to bother contacting your bank is satisfying.

This place is so cool. I love stories like this.

[Cottonwood28]

Just wanted to say that this is awesome!

[PantsOnFire]

That is an awesome story!

I remember looking and smelling like a hobo (I had been up for 3 days straight and was probably on the verge of a nervous breakdown) when I stumbled into my local bank with our check from closing.  It was only a 5-figure check, but I bet it still seems odd when someone who can barely hold themselves upright comes in with enough money to live off of for a year or two.  I wish I had been lucid enough to notice what the reaction was. 

On second thought, bankers probably see big checks from insurance payouts, legal settlements, & real estate transactions all the time.  But I think your $2M would definitely stand out, and probably got brought up at the bank employees' dinner table discussions that night.  :-)

[psu256]

Wow!  I don't believe I'll ever get a chance to do this, but it sure would be fun.  I'd make sure to put it down my pants first.

Question for everyone:  what is the most money you've ever had down your pants?  I top out around $15k, but have a friend who has had 6-figures down there.  We are all very mature as you can tell.

I had to carry about $20k in gold coins in downtown Baltimore once. It was terrifying.

[footenote]

Most money in my hands at once: $127k in bonds. Largest single denom was $5k.