SatoshiFire

N26 USA – A review of America’s newest and coolest bank

To start off: N26 is a proper, EU and US licensed bank. It is also official: they are launching in the US in the first half of 2019 (confirmed by our sources). It means they follow all the rules, have the same guarantees by the government as Citibank or BofA. The app may be whimsical, the TV ads cool, but they are a proper company with thousands of employees and the financial backing of billions of dollars and millions of daily users.

They jumped to the forefront of the so-called banking startups world in a time when most failed to connect with youths. It makes sense: banks use what is called “legacy computer systems” so they simply cannot offer any new tech without having to throw away millions of dollars investments and fire entire tech teams just to offer an app. So, N26 new this and cleverly saw that by offering convenience and ease of use, they could take on a market that was settled in their good old ways.

First, they make opening an account easy. With video identification, there is little to no stress involved regarding the sign-up. If you a human with a national ID or passport, you can get an N26 account in the United States or in Europe.

Sending money to anyone is easy with N26

Sending money to anyone is easy too: click a button, type in an email and money is transferred instantly which is quite remarkable. There is no fee to receive money from anyone. However, if you deposit the money yourself using their Cash26 feature by visiting a participating retailer, you will be charged a small transaction fee and money will be on your account immediately. The fee is 0.3% which is how they make their money. So, as long as you are getting paid via direct deposit, you won’t be paying to use N26 in the United States.

Receiving money with N26

Receiving money work quite well, to be honest. Even international money transfers through their partnership with Transferwise which is kind of amazing. Just to make sure this is clear: you can get paid in almost any currency with one bank account! The entire experience feels intuitive and – this is high praise – it feels like an app, not like a banking app. They have given funky names to basic banking routines too: they have a thing called Spaces which means you have multiple electronic wallets so you can manage your savings.

You can easily schedule regular payments and they have a clever little notification feature that prompts you in case you are short on funds and there is an upcoming charge. At least it gives you time to transfer money from one of your N26 Spaces or ask a loved one for a short loan.

Speaking of loans, N26 has a nifty loan feature to get you a loan instantly. It verifies your standing with credit agencies and asks you a series of questions (and document uploads) so you can take out a 6 figure loan directly from its app.

N26 card selection

Their card selection is pretty decent in our opinion too. First of all, it is a normal chipped debit card that works anywhere Mastercard is accepted which is everywhere. The standard design is in a handsome transparent and black plastic featuring their minimalistic logo with the more upscale black and metal offers being what I consider to be the most distinct offers in the market. When it comes to cool cards, N26 wins the battle.

Their premium cards are paid, but feature free international withdrawals, travel, and luggage insurance, dedicated support and partner offers.

Now for its customer service. For a bank, it is not bad given that have rules to comply and cannot risk fines with the authorities. If some hacker in a foreign country steals your card if may not be that easy to recoup your money as there may be some forms to be filled out. You won’t be out of luck and you will see your money: it just may take a while.

Now to some awesome N26 basic features:

• Of course, N26 works with Google and Apple Pay, with setup being the easiest we have ever seen.
• You can set deposit and withdrawal limits right on the app: no more calling your local branch to ask for things you could do yourself
• You can log in using your fingerprint reader
• Lost a card? Lock it through the app.
• All account activities are shown on the app instantly via push notifications
• Tag transactions yourself, or let the system automatically do it for you. Easy accounting and balancing!

That is it. We much recommend N26 in the USA because it is – so far as we can tell – the best bank in the world.

https://n26.com/en-us/

At the risk of sounding a bit old, please hear me out. I promise you that this article will not be about the advantages of giving up your life of leisure and start a family at 20 so by the time you are 40 and still young, you can enjoy going to operas on your Maserati.

This is about far more than the above: it is about building wealth as a result of the opportunities that are afforded to you as a common human being because of the connections that you will make with other people with responsibilities other than feeling and entertaining themselves. It is also about setting your mind to reality – a culture if you will – that by giving up a certain lifestyle, there is a huge government-sponsored support network that allows you to have stuff that otherwise you could never dream of if you are young and single. Things like house subsidies, medical care, family help, free education, free stuff, free fun.

There is a huge push by popular culture that — self-servingly — tries to removal our family and moral compass with anger for political change, sex, drink, and entertainment subscriptions. Although these should be experienced and they are fun for a while, my advice is to curb your enthusiasm about these pursuits and learn to refocus on stuff that even the government is willing to pay for you to have. It is quite amazing to realize that the earlier you start, it is possible to start saving and even reach the 7 figure dream while having children.

Contrary to popular belief, children are cheap. Maybe even free. Here is how to make it happen

• It is cheaper than you think. diapers, meals, doctors, toys, clothes, baby stuff. You may think all of this stuff has to be either bought brand new or of the best available quality. This is far from the truth. If creatively and lovingly planned, you can find free sources for almost all your baby needs and make meals at home that surpass all but the best main street offers. In many cities across the world, there are baby clothes exchanges, for example. Used toys cost 10% of their original cost, and are often free. For the majority of people, children’s health costs are low too. It is possible to keep a healthy child for as little as $200 a month. With almost all western nations giving tax breaks for every child you make, these costs are offset.  
• There are tax breaks. Some countries will give you as much as $10K in yearly tax breaks for every child you have. Some will eliminate taxes altogether. Overall the idea that suddenly you are able to have several thousand extra bucks in your accounts in order to make your own investment choices instead of having to subsidize government projects. It is a new level of independence.
• Fun becomes nearly free. Not only you have a little funny chubby clown making the lives of most people instantly hilarious, but becoming a parent puts you in touch with new funny people by default. You get to meet so many new people that you are bound to meet some wonderfully funny individuals that laugh at themselves and have access to interesting information and life experience that is so different it is funny. I have met parents that have hitchhiked the world, who live in barns in the countryside, social entrepreneurs to loan sharks. Over time, as kids grow, they bring their friends in and that is even funnier: I walked in the kitchen one day and the girls were baking cookies, except that about ⅔ of the batter was on the floor. That is true honestly hilarity.
• There are a lot of investors that are parents. Being a parent makes one grow up fast and think of the future. Startup ideas small and large, ways of saving money, tactics to have fun on a budget, making life easier and better as a result of the family unit. Over time, ideas and partnership opportunities may abound and help you and your family thrive. Remember to stick with that you know. If ideas come around, make sure that you can manage your life and it makes sense. Test it a lot, learn a lot, make sure that you are applying yourself and your competencies, not the wishful thinking version of yourself  
• You will live in a nicer, bigger home. That is right, the life of the bachelor apartment is over. Time for the big boy life with the electronics, the garage, the living room with a palatial ceiling, the fireplace, or whatever local equivalent you may have experienced. I am just trying to illustrate that you can have what your parents had, which would never have happened if there was no family. This is true: people are wrong to think there is no fun in the family. It is certainly better than renting a room for 2k/mo in Williamsburg.  
• Travel can be cheaper. Free home exchange, friends with other families in welcoming countries opening their arms. the Rotary Club even, borrowing the RV, going on a shared RV trip with your neighbors. There are so many opportunities to have a lot of fun regionally and abroad that do not involve overpaying for a hostel. Sure, hotels are expensive, but you can avoid them. Food is cheap if you are able to Couchsurf, home share. Artists collectives have sharing opportunities. Airbnb can actually be awesome too.

It is tiring, poop is stinky, but it is worth it. Life as parents can provide with some of the most productive, rewarding, and meaningful experiences ever. It is cheap. The government wants you to do it because otherwise they are forced to spend money with immigration propaganda which is controversial and they only do it when we don’t want to make families. So yeah: want to get rich? Start a family!

My father woke up at 5:30 every day for 30 years, including Saturday. He took one 30 day vacation in 30 years. He is the epitome of what it means to hustle. As a result of his massive effort and courage to be himself, he was able to have millions in the account, in safes, inland, and eventually becomes of the biggest taxpayers in his home state.

We do not have to be like him to succeed. Literally, 10% of what he did is enough. If you live for 80 years, please take 2.4% of your total days to work like an animal and see that you could be setting a future for yourself that allows you to afford more than a proud stance: a home, new friends, new knowledge, newfound freedom.

It will be tiring, and in order to survive, you may have to ask yourself some tough questions. Let’s call it investigative personal psychology. It is about hacking your mind to make sure that you can work while having the minimum amount of fun that allows you to keep going. The most bang for your buck if you will.

Here are some strategies that I have personally used that allowed me to succeed.

1. Cooking: Learning how to cook not only saves you money but it can become a joyful experience. I recently learned that there is something called “fake fillet” in Germany that costs €8/kg. Because of the recipes, I learned from Youtube geniuses, I got enough practice now that I can make a mean steak at home and it makes me feel like a master chef.  It also connects you with multiple cultures because you may be visiting foreign food grocery stores to buy that obscure type of cheese or spice. For the vegetablists out there (kidding, my friends), it is the same and you can make amazingly delicious creations. But do not think you will be saving money by not buying meat. It is not true at all. You only save money with food by practicing making amazing food on a budget which means you will have to make a bunch of mistakes. In my case, I learned that you do not need a fancy steak to eat a fancy steak. 
2. Flirting: take your time to flirt with people that you find attractive online. It is not that hard. All you need to do is understand that it is a game played by millions of people that have created personas – online avatars of themselves. It is not real. If you want to play, you have to make one for yourself. So learn how to use those Instagram pictures and make sure you have full body pictures, close-ups, pictures with friends and pictures doing “adventures”. Cover all of the bases. Google for Tinder profile tips and follow those that you find more closely match your personality. Overall, remember that it is a game that it is free to play: do not get attached to it or other players. You have a mission with yourself. 
3. Photography: a mobile phone can be a source of endless creative expression. Most people suck at taking pictures simply because they do not take time to practice. What is practice? To purposely try to get better at something by being detached from current results and criticism and of course, never compare yourself with others: it is simply silly behavior that must be avoided. A good strategy is to focus on successes and using the lean 80/20 rule. Start shooting stuff that you like and modify it to your liking. Once you see success stick with it. Say you got good at taking close-ups. Stick with it. Once you get great, move to the next best thing. 
4. Audiobooks: It is true that books are great because they are a way for one to peek inside a person’s mind, their personal Magnum opus. It is pretty awesome if you think about it. I suggest that you listen to anything that gets you to pay attention to. Do not try to listen to stuff that you do not care about and do not force yourself too much into a direction. Why you may ask. Because what you are looking for here is to become an attentive listener, a communicator, a more wordy person, the stuff that really matters. You will listen to the things that make you happy and as a result, you will be more interesting and there is nothing cooler than that. 
5. Fun chemicals: I do not condone drug use at all, and you should not in any form follow this advice. I am here simply telling a story that has worked for me. Over time, for example, marijuana has been mana sent from the heavens because of the way it helped me sleep when I needed to. In other times, “bulletproof” coffee served its purpose. In other times, forcing myself to eat less sugar got my body into overdrive. Occasionally, I have dabbled with a class of drugs called nootropics that have indeed enhanced my life experience. I suggest that you make your body an amusement park, not a temple. Just make sure you maintain the rides properly.

People like Katy Perry, Beyonce and PewDiePie are called influencers by the media. It makes sense: youths are fascinated by their shiny lifestyles. There is someone to inspire all of us out there as if they were made in our image. Guess what: they are made in our image, the products of publicists and data, not authenticity.

Ok, that is out of the way. Now it makes sense why these people have replaced our grandmothers, bosses, significant others, presidents, and others as our sources of wisdom. They are not people: they are memes created for profit. They should not matter.

This bit of advice is for you that has been stuck in a world of news media hype and pop culture, not seeing the obvious death of culture by financial pressure. This is your chance to wake up dignified because you have realized that there is still time to take action and assume responsibility for your future instead of being drowned in cultural emancipation sales pitches by the new rich of the world: the owners of the meme factories.

To that point, are there any memes worth following? Yes. How does one know which memes are good and which ones aren’t? Well, a good way to find this out is by seeing the actual results of a meme:

• Does it create financial prosperity for yourself?
• Does it help you grow as a person
• Does it help your community?

One meme that makes the world a better place is what the Chinese call their “economic miracle”. Imagine this: despite some silly government propaganda and a culture that to us seems to be stuck in the 1930s, they are growing because their meme is about building themselves a future.

As a result, they have transformed villages into high-tech paradises while we got really good at coffee serving in places like Little Italy and real Italy. They are building robots, houses, giant buildings, leading the space race, car sales, manufacturing, robotics, fast trains, etc. We make Twitter battles and popular video games while highways crumble. It seems like we are winning the cultural war, but the reality is that there are billions of people living their own culture and their own lives removed from what we westerners think is right while they build parallel empires.

That is right: we fight a culture war. They build an empire. Something is wrong here. We need lessons from people like the Chinese instead of criticizing their culture which seems to be the only thing we know how to do because the media knows how to move us by aggravating us with cultural shock. We are better than this: we should take a look at what moves a society and learn from the good part of it. It is like looking at Brazil and thinking: look at those rapists and murderers when realizing there are 60K of each of these capital offenses every year.

What are the lessons from the Chinese?

• Work hard, reap the benefits of your labor. There is no free lunch, folks. You can tell yourself over and over “work smart, not hard” and what you are doing is making a life of being a Netflix binger.
• Save most of your money. Yes, leave with several people, be mental about being economical until you have a stash of cash.
• Follow the rules of engagement of the society you live in so you do not have to waste money on stuff that does not improve your life.
• Respect and stay connected with your family. They are your lifeline and source of inspiration. If you do not see it, find it. There are exceptions, but for most people, this is a good path to follow.
• Be sensible, not sensitive. Huge difference. Sensible means if your kind asks about beer, talk about the pros and cons of it, have the child try a little bit so it is not a taboo. Sensitive means being outraged when a group of kids binges in a culture that makes alcohol seem like the only cool thing to do.  

The Chinese have a lot of faults like every nation out there. Take sexism, the cool topic of the day. In China, the crass form of sexism is rather normal. Women drivers suck is a good one. Yet, women do not feel disempowered: they work like animals, and more or less 50% of their billionaires are women.

This is what we are saying here. Take the good things, learn how to see things from a positive light instead of criticizing everything according to your current cultural grounds in order to position socially. Instead, be an influencer by being humble, by asking for help, by loving your neighbor, by caring for your family. By working damn hard.