A plan for possible worst-case outcomes where mission critical infrastructure in banking, healthcare and telecommunications suffer outages due to a cyber and land attack by state agent: DOGE.
As someone whose entire income is Social Security and VA family disability, this is extremely frightening. I’m 70, so I know how to be offline. Thank you for this powerful information. Do you know any small cell companies that don’t share towers and access?
And we thought Y2K was going to wipe us out. LOL
I don’t trust the administration and Trump’s butt-buddy Putin. Elon Muskrat is a national security threat. His goal is to be God.
Ironically, I expect folks that have lived entire lives before the digital age are better prepared for what is to come. As far as small cell companies to switch to, that is a great question. I am considering switching to a Jitterbug but need to research their network coverage. I'll post more once I've moved off of AT&T (my current provider) as my primary network.
I remember Y2K, we were so worried about our computer clocks resetting. Thankfully that didn't cause major issues, although the dot-com crash did come shortly after... which I feel is more akin to what we are on the precipice of (a collapse in financial systems).
I'll keep sharing as I make moves to plan for the DOGE fallout. My goal is to stay one step ahead of their breaking changes.
I’ve been on consumer cellular for years but I don’t think that will make any difference. They actually work through at&t towers. Little companies don’t put up their own towers.
Basically cell phones are the only communication lifeline and when they go down, there won’t be any way to get information unless we have short wave radios? Or AM/FM? May be a scanner. I know when the fires were happening in my area I bought a subscription to a scanner, but I depended on access through my cell phone for that so I’m not sure how it would work if my phone isn’t operative.
I am looking into Rapid Radios at rapidradios.com, a small company out of Michigan. They are encrypted hand held walkie-talkies essentially and have nationwide coverage without subscription fees. Granted, he due use LTE towers but all of them. If one goes down, it will seamlessly access the next available.
I was the worldwide Y2k manager for an international computer company and a sh1t-ton of work and sweat went into making the turn of the millennium a big joke for everyone else.
I remember that well. Years of digging through old code to find any reference to date being two digits instead of four. It’s only because of years of work around the world that Y2K was no big.
Thank you for flagging. I did not even catch that part of the comment as I was reading through and responding quickly. I'll collapse it in hopes that removes visibility.
Many of we folk over 80 do not know a lot of what you’re talking about. We didn’t grow up with technology. No laptops or cell phones until we were over 30. Probably some low income folk who aren’t up on the latest technology don’t either. I’ve got friends who can’t cope with the constant required updates!
Tell us simple steps. Do we need to stop online banking? But they charge for paper statements. $6.00 a moth. That’s counts if you’re low income.
Should we get rid of credit cards? Pay by cash or check only?
Please tell us what to do.
As for we wretched married women who had to change our names when we married - were being heavily punished for that horrendous misdeed.
Suppose you can’t afford all it requires to prove it’s who you are?
Anything FREE and easy? Is there anyone who’ll help you free of charge?
I'm so sorry this is a scary time full of uncertainties. What's even worse is the pace DOGE is moving is making it especially difficult to keep up and respond appropriately (by design).
If it's any reassurance, I believe your generation, having lived before the digital age, is better prepared emotionally to weather what's to come. I fear most for the young people that will see their futures robbed from them and have to deal with the aftermath of rebuilding. When we emerge on the other side of the DOGE phase of dismantling critical services, there is a going to be a big mess to clean up.
Your points are completely valid and I am not a financial expert and so not a reliable source for financial advice. However I have been meeting with my financial planner since the DOGE attacks so will gladly share what she has told me:
Store up to 3mos of money and provisions. Have a "stocked household" so you are in a good position to barter/ trade for goods. Also send some of your money oversees if you can, any American-based bank is susceptible to be seized by the new order.
Again, I'm not a financial advisor to please speak to someone that knows your financial situation and can help you think about what's best for you.
Good luck, I'll keep posting as much as I can to help. Am also trying to avoid being redundant with what info is already out there.
Folks need to be aware that, if the government can put money into your bank account (e.g., direct deposit of your social security check, VA check, income tax refund), then it can also take money directly out of your bank account. In normal times, that is strictly limited to instances such as the person dies and that last social security check was deposited after death. But in this era of Trump and Musk disregarding the law, who knows what they might cook up? And what would constrain them from taking a lot more than the initial direct deposits?
There is a way to add a layer to, hopefully, insulate your bank balances. Leave open the bank account with its direct deposit (which is already compromised by now, anyway), but open another account and use the new account by transferring your social security check, etc., as soon as it arrives in the old account. You then pay bills and get your cash from the new account. I discussed this with my banker yesterday.
To my knowledge, there is no master list of bank accounts tied to each Social Security number. In any event, we have no control over bad actors/cybercriminals or the info which they may hack into. At this point, I've gotten many notices of data breaches, stretching back over years. I've put a freeze on all three credit bureau accounts and I monitor my credit card activity and bank account activity.
Just to add a note: I read an article disagreeing with the advice to take the Social Security deposit out of the original bank account, because there is some protection against creditors if the Social Security benefit is still in the same bank account. It's true, but the protection against creditors is limited in scope. Since I pay my bills when due, I don’t need to worry about creditors trying to garnish my bank accounts. I'm much more worried about DOGE/Musk/DJT illegally trying to take back direct deposits and bad actors getting my bank info on the dark web because DOGE sold its SSA info. Hence the extra layer of protection.
We applied for an extension this year and when my husband went in there with a check to pay for the extension, our accountant told us that the IRS takes it directly out of your account now… so yeah things are pretty scary
I used the same financial institution so I could easily transfer funds from the compromised account to the new account. It may not be perfect, but my goal is to disrupt a clawback from the compromised account. My banker said the bank doesn't automatically take $$ from a different account, if the compromised account has insufficient funds.
Just to emphasize that I pay legitimate debts, but this is to keep the government from illegally taking clawbacks without notice (which would result in checks bouncing). Hopefully, I'd then have time to protest.
If they 'take' your money electronically, they'll just turn your account 'negative'. Remember that. Having two accounts doesn't really change much. Having cash does.
But if someone tries to take my money electronically, at least I'll be able to protest and contest the action with my bank and with SSA. And, since I don't have automatic overdraft coverage on the compromised account, and my bills are paid out of a different account, payment of my bills won't bounce and incur "bounced check/ACH" charges.
As for cash, it's not practical for me to pay all my bills in cash. My mortgage, utilities, credit cards, etc., must be paid to addresses in distant cities and our USPS service is awful (due to DeJoy). I don't see a viable alternative to having an uncompromised bank account. But you may be able to do all cash.
Not trying to be all negative with you. I am simply sharing what I know. Having worked at a bank more than 20 years, I can tell you that if the government initiates the negative balance withdrawal, the bank will have no alternative action for you. You would be forced to pay the negative balance until or unless the government makes a change or you pay it. The bank or credit union would not 'force a negative balance' unless they have to (ie SSA, gov't). The forced action can also impact your credit in a negative way.
Good question. Yes, the transfer would be recorded in the original account, but my goal is to make it difficult for money to be taken back out by the Federal government, and to limit the amount in that event. My understanding is that it's easy for the government to take money back out of an account to which a direct deposit was made. So, if a person maintains only a small balance in the original account, only that small amount would be at risk. My hope is that it would take more effort for the government to trace the money into another account or bank -- and that would be done only if the government was specifically targeting the individual, in which case the individual would have very little protection anyway. I'd like to hear others' opinions on this.
I would go with a credit union. A lot of credit unions have certain requirements that you have to meet in order to qualify for an account with them, but sometimes they let you join if you make a small donation to their organization (mine was $5)
First of all they don't have fees and are "owned" by their members so best to use a CU instead of a bank anyway. Also since they are smaller than banks they are less of a target.
Yes, then can transfer funds online from the old account to the new account. Still need to be vigilant against hackers who might get a password and use funds - same as now - check often to make sure nothing is amiss.
I've been trying to find an overseas bank, but don't the reporting laws require financial institutions to report our accounts to the fed, anyway? Wouldn't they then be able to seize the funds in those accounts?
I use Wise. It’s UK based, has a nice high yield savings account and if you have any ideas of crossing the border and fleeing to another country, you save loads on exchange rate fees, as it is a bank that was created to support international workers who live in a country with one currency, but get paid in another currency. . The user experience is excellent as well.
You have 2 choice when it comes to your name changes
1. You can legally change your name back to match the name on your birth certificate.
2. You can file and addendum with the state the birth certificate was issued in to have the name on your birth certificate changed. This usually will require a judged approval as reason for doing so. It takes a few months. (I know this because of having to make correction on birth certificates from family members during genealogy research).
3rd encourage you women to NOT change their name when they marry. I never changed mine and never will. My husband got super pushy about it this past year and I told him NO it's never going to happen (we have been together 10yrs) and I was clear from the day we met it would never happen.
Because they are going to make us prove our identity. If your birth certificate says Mary Jones but your current name is Mary Smith, you will have to provide documentation of all name changes that brought you to Mary Smith. Say you were married to Tom Brown & then divorced, but kept the name Brown. Then you married Jim Smith. You'll have to provide documentation of your first marriage, the divorce, and the second marriage.
We shouldn't have to, which is the point of fighting the Act. But if it goes through you need to do one of these 2 things in order to continue to vote if you don't have a current passport.
I will say it only took about 3 weeks to get a passport, it was super quick. Do it before things get crazy.
It’s important to note that Starlink is only partnered with T-Mobile currently, and it is beta testing. The way this reads is that Apple and Starlink integrated, which is inaccurate. T-Mobile put Starlink beta testing on its newest Apple software upgrade, and users can opt out of it in settings. Facts are important so people don’t get panicked!
Leigh you're right, I will update the post to be specific on what devices are impacted.
- The service is available on most iPhones from the iPhone 14 onward
- It's also available on many Samsung Galaxy phones, the Z Flip and Z Fold 3, and the Google Pixel 9s
The concern I have is Apple did not publish their support, the release notes I saw for 18.3 had no mention of the Starlink support, they were not detailed in the Apple Support docs.
To your point that may be because this is a partnership between Starlink and T-Mobile and Apple wants to stay out of it.
This article makes me feel a little better, but I still haven’t updated my phone to 18.3. I have trust issues LOL. The article also tells you how to disable Starlink if/when your phone updates to allow the connectivity.
Agreed! Apple didn’t say anything about it. I saw a TikTok about the update and how to turn it off as you mentioned. It was also mentioned that we as consumers should write to Apple support and write letting them know we refuse to update due to start-link, in the hopes that T-Mobile will rethink and not use star-link at all due to boycotting which has shown them many people can just drop them and they would loose tons of money.
From what I understand, only iPhone 14 or newer have the hardware to even connect to satellites and for any who do have the satellite capability, you have to opt in.
Reality check - Elon Musk role/hate - it’s part of the ruse/con - the “DOGE tax cuts were predetermined in P2025 planning - They couldn’t say this was all planning before the election - it had to be identified as “waste, fraud & abuse” to sell it to the maggots - Musk was told he was to pretend he was a genius that uncovered it all overnight - Musk was told he would be venerated as a genius - but everyone that gets involved with trump ends up bankrupt & indicted - its all part of the con - the hate is directed towards Musk - Musk isn’t so smart huh - bahahaha
Agree. Musk is not a smart dude and those of us from Silicon Valley have known that for the last decade. I'm planning to write another post here shortly about how Wall Street took over Big Tech and now our products and leaders have lost credibility. A correction is long overdue to get these vulture investors out of our industry.
I’m an older woman with the will but not the skills to understand and execute all these maneuvers. I would hire someone to help, but who can you trust? What I can do is have cash on hand, so I’ll do that, at least. Thank you.
Cash is a good place to start, and if you've lived before the digital-age then I also think you're better equipped to weather what's coming. Soon the younger folks will be asking you to show them how to write a letter, calculate a total and balance a check book. :)
TTYTT, I miss the pre-Internet days, even though it enabled me to telecommute many years before it was common. I have two tech-savvy daughters in their 30s, so perhaps I can ask them for help. But yeah, I have a number of old-timey skills that may come in handy.
Yup, me too. Thinking the same thing, cash on hand. Just bought a safe, husband is bolting to the cement floor as we speak. Funny went to our local bank last week and they were not able to give us all the money we requested to manually withdraw, they wanted to know what for, just say for future use, don’t explain in detail. Said come back next week, which we plan on doing. This is not comfortable for us but feel it is doable. Update complete on my phone, it was auto update 18.3.1, turned off future updates, too late? Maybe, next step bank accounts, CC making sure I have enabled MFA where I haven’t already and downloading a bunch of personal records on a stick. I have most important docs printed and in a safe. Interesting about the flip phone, have to look into. I am pretty savvy using my iPad and phone but the inter workings never interested in, still not understanding entirely but will try my best.
Pulling out a lot of cash is a sign of being under the influence of a scammer. Just be patient and follow their rules, would be my advice, and you should be fine. @Lexi is the author here and much smarter than me, so can correct me on this.
Not a lot of cash, just 3 months operating, so if grid blacks out during Musks’s implementing his controls over our data, I can pay my bills and eat. That’s all. Believe me it is not comfortable but helps me feel a bit in control over Me. Besides, the bank I use was not surprised and understood, in light of the fact I was not the first person to ask these questions. I also asked them how much cash could I withdraw if they went offline. I can get a maximum of $5,000 based on previous day’s deposits. Being prepared is smart not under influence of scammer.
You are correct, that 10,000+ may raise a red flag to the bank. Ours is a small, regional bank we have been with for 40 years. We had an in depth discussion before our withdrawal.
Some neighborhood banks keep very small amounts of cash in case of robbery. If you go in and ask for a certain amount they will tell you which day the cash is available. You don't need a reason to ask for cash.
You’ve already got the update with the connection to Starlink and Apple Intelligence if you have a newer phone (at least 15), and you don’t want to stop updates because then you will miss essential security updates. All you need to do is read up on the update before installing it. That is what I have always done.
They are very different. Wise works like a bank, including interest payments and allows you to create “buckets” of money in various currencies, with a low exchange rate and minimal fees and a debit card (usable in Apple Pay). It makes sending money across banks (& counties) very very easy. I’ve had an account for ~ 3 years and use it for international travel and payments.
I’ve been seeing a number of posts about moving banking from large banks to small banks or credit unions. It’s extremely frustrating to have this framed as one of the central approaches to financial safety because it’s not possible for the vast majority of people. Most credit unions won’t allow just anyone to join and small banks are almost nonexistent, particularly if you live in a city, like the majority of the population.
Where I live, this is actually an impossible task. Large banks are all that exist but for a handful of credit unions that require specific union memberships or are tied to specific neighborhood residencies. Would be great to have some other Plan B floated in these cybersecurity posts.
I signed up for Wise today as I have a brother that lives in Germany so am hoping to send some funds to him for safekeeping. I'll post with steps on how to do that if I'm successful in moving funds. My financial planner recommended moving some money overseas.
In the near term, having enough cash on hand to get through a month in the case that your bank is "offline" isn't a bad idea even if this is all overkill and everything will go "perfectly" like the new order has promised.
This is interesting! Yes would love a post about the overseas transfer. Something I’ll ask my financial planner about as well. Thank you for responding!
I signed up with Alliant Credit Union - did everything online, and only qualified because I made a $5 donation to their organization. I’m still setting everything up, so we’ll see how it goes.
I have been saying this very thing since it all started. This is exactly what Elon is up to. Control of the resources of govt and the population of the country
That appears to be his end goal, I have many reservations about whether he will be even partially successful. Musk is comically out of his league with trying to fast track a refactor of enterprise systems. Regardless, his efforts will cause a lot of headaches and suffering so we should prepare a contingency plan for how to outlast the DOGE phase.
What about elders who are in nursing homes and have those automatic payments and require funds from Medicaid to access life saving treatments - dialysis for example?
Sadly, in my honest opinion, I believe one of the goals is to let a lot of people die. Musk calls anyone who is disabled or otherwise reliant on systems such as social security “parasites”. The “make America healthy again is thinly veiled eugenics.”
I do not have a good answer short of trying to gather necessary meds for a few months supply and making room in your home.
To get through this we will need to be local communities helping one another. What do you do or have that is valuable to others? Brush up on those skills. For the vulnerable we will have to do the best we can to care for them.
I agree- my mother is in long term care has paid taxes her whole life -along with the other residents many of whom are veterans, I saw the parasite comment- reminds me of the quote the” only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” -
My question is also concerning Social Security payments, as they do not offer paying by check. Also, several services I use require auto-pay. How do we navigate this? I have a very small business - most ppl pay with credit/debit cards. This is just so overwhelming for me. I'm 68, so I know how to live off-line too, but that option has slowly been eroded. For example, some banks now charge you to go in person & make transactions. I'm assuming I'll end up destitute in this new order. It's hard to have any hope.
Hang on to hope! What I anticipate happening is this will be a "death by a thousand cuts" deterioration of infrastructure and federally subsidized services.
Those hit hardest will be blindsided by outages. By having line of sight into potential interruptions you'll have a better chance to be nimble and respond.
It's easy to be overwhelmed, I am trying to do 1 thing a day. DOGE is moving fast and breaking things but if you do 1 thing a day my hope is we can stay one step ahead of them.
One major thing we have going for federal government is its size. It's going to be a slow burn to dismantle and there will be a lot of false starts and resets along the way. Focus on your immediate surroundings and try to tune out the rest. Hopefully it'll be months before you see material impact to your environment.
Hang on to hope and celebrate daily wins with incremental acts of resistance, we are in this together!
If using WISE, watch transactions and charges closely and realize it is not an insured bank account (which may not be of value re DOGE). I caution re WISE because they were recently in trouble with the CFPB and fined heavily.
I was wondering if your amazing accessment is being considered in the highest levels of anti DOGE movements. Wherever & whomever they are. Are they aware of the end game? I can't believe we are in this moment.
I suspect they are aware, since I've seen multiple posts about the dangerous Neo-reactionary movement that Musk is part of, but we run the risk of over-indexing on the political dynamics in play.
The legal system needs to be used to the fullest extent to buttress against DOGE insurgence, but we need to also disarm their change mechanism: cloud-enabled technology.
This is where I'm hoping to help. I helped build the virtual world, and I will now assist with an off ramp for those that are willing.
If we reach critical mass with resistance across the political landscape, consumer boycotts and cloud data removal we will be impossible to govern through a centralized technology model. I hope it is all enough.
Thank you for the kind words and helping get the word out!
As someone whose entire income is Social Security and VA family disability, this is extremely frightening. I’m 70, so I know how to be offline. Thank you for this powerful information. Do you know any small cell companies that don’t share towers and access?
And we thought Y2K was going to wipe us out. LOL
I don’t trust the administration and Trump’s butt-buddy Putin. Elon Muskrat is a national security threat. His goal is to be God.
Thanks again.
Ironically, I expect folks that have lived entire lives before the digital age are better prepared for what is to come. As far as small cell companies to switch to, that is a great question. I am considering switching to a Jitterbug but need to research their network coverage. I'll post more once I've moved off of AT&T (my current provider) as my primary network.
I remember Y2K, we were so worried about our computer clocks resetting. Thankfully that didn't cause major issues, although the dot-com crash did come shortly after... which I feel is more akin to what we are on the precipice of (a collapse in financial systems).
I'll keep sharing as I make moves to plan for the DOGE fallout. My goal is to stay one step ahead of their breaking changes.
Thank you for the kind words!
I’ve been on consumer cellular for years but I don’t think that will make any difference. They actually work through at&t towers. Little companies don’t put up their own towers.
Spectrum and Verizon use the same towers as well.
Basically cell phones are the only communication lifeline and when they go down, there won’t be any way to get information unless we have short wave radios? Or AM/FM? May be a scanner. I know when the fires were happening in my area I bought a subscription to a scanner, but I depended on access through my cell phone for that so I’m not sure how it would work if my phone isn’t operative.
I am looking into Rapid Radios at rapidradios.com, a small company out of Michigan. They are encrypted hand held walkie-talkies essentially and have nationwide coverage without subscription fees. Granted, he due use LTE towers but all of them. If one goes down, it will seamlessly access the next available.
Thanks
That's my carrier, too.
Thank you for helping us understand and prepare. So glad we found you, we will follow!
I was the worldwide Y2k manager for an international computer company and a sh1t-ton of work and sweat went into making the turn of the millennium a big joke for everyone else.
I remember that well. Years of digging through old code to find any reference to date being two digits instead of four. It’s only because of years of work around the world that Y2K was no big.
Thank you for making us less crazy that January. You would receive a big round of applause if you weren’t a behind-the-scene hero,
That's what I keep telling people. We worked really hard to prevent the disaster & then everybody thought it was a false alarm.
Right? Like that comment needed a gay slur to somehow be complete. Ugh
Thank you for flagging. I did not even catch that part of the comment as I was reading through and responding quickly. I'll collapse it in hopes that removes visibility.
Cut the game indignation. It's directed at Trump & Putin for Christ sake
This comment at the end makes it feel like this is an imposter.
Many of we folk over 80 do not know a lot of what you’re talking about. We didn’t grow up with technology. No laptops or cell phones until we were over 30. Probably some low income folk who aren’t up on the latest technology don’t either. I’ve got friends who can’t cope with the constant required updates!
Tell us simple steps. Do we need to stop online banking? But they charge for paper statements. $6.00 a moth. That’s counts if you’re low income.
Should we get rid of credit cards? Pay by cash or check only?
Please tell us what to do.
As for we wretched married women who had to change our names when we married - were being heavily punished for that horrendous misdeed.
Suppose you can’t afford all it requires to prove it’s who you are?
Anything FREE and easy? Is there anyone who’ll help you free of charge?
Hi Penny,
I'm so sorry this is a scary time full of uncertainties. What's even worse is the pace DOGE is moving is making it especially difficult to keep up and respond appropriately (by design).
If it's any reassurance, I believe your generation, having lived before the digital age, is better prepared emotionally to weather what's to come. I fear most for the young people that will see their futures robbed from them and have to deal with the aftermath of rebuilding. When we emerge on the other side of the DOGE phase of dismantling critical services, there is a going to be a big mess to clean up.
Your points are completely valid and I am not a financial expert and so not a reliable source for financial advice. However I have been meeting with my financial planner since the DOGE attacks so will gladly share what she has told me:
Store up to 3mos of money and provisions. Have a "stocked household" so you are in a good position to barter/ trade for goods. Also send some of your money oversees if you can, any American-based bank is susceptible to be seized by the new order.
Again, I'm not a financial advisor to please speak to someone that knows your financial situation and can help you think about what's best for you.
Good luck, I'll keep posting as much as I can to help. Am also trying to avoid being redundant with what info is already out there.
Folks need to be aware that, if the government can put money into your bank account (e.g., direct deposit of your social security check, VA check, income tax refund), then it can also take money directly out of your bank account. In normal times, that is strictly limited to instances such as the person dies and that last social security check was deposited after death. But in this era of Trump and Musk disregarding the law, who knows what they might cook up? And what would constrain them from taking a lot more than the initial direct deposits?
There is a way to add a layer to, hopefully, insulate your bank balances. Leave open the bank account with its direct deposit (which is already compromised by now, anyway), but open another account and use the new account by transferring your social security check, etc., as soon as it arrives in the old account. You then pay bills and get your cash from the new account. I discussed this with my banker yesterday.
The other purpose for opening a new bank account is to thwart cybercriminals who may soon find our bank account info on the dark web.
How does this help if they have your Social Security number?
To my knowledge, there is no master list of bank accounts tied to each Social Security number. In any event, we have no control over bad actors/cybercriminals or the info which they may hack into. At this point, I've gotten many notices of data breaches, stretching back over years. I've put a freeze on all three credit bureau accounts and I monitor my credit card activity and bank account activity.
Just to add a note: I read an article disagreeing with the advice to take the Social Security deposit out of the original bank account, because there is some protection against creditors if the Social Security benefit is still in the same bank account. It's true, but the protection against creditors is limited in scope. Since I pay my bills when due, I don’t need to worry about creditors trying to garnish my bank accounts. I'm much more worried about DOGE/Musk/DJT illegally trying to take back direct deposits and bad actors getting my bank info on the dark web because DOGE sold its SSA info. Hence the extra layer of protection.
We applied for an extension this year and when my husband went in there with a check to pay for the extension, our accountant told us that the IRS takes it directly out of your account now… so yeah things are pretty scary
Opening a new account sounds like a good idea. Would it need to be with a different financial institution?
I used the same financial institution so I could easily transfer funds from the compromised account to the new account. It may not be perfect, but my goal is to disrupt a clawback from the compromised account. My banker said the bank doesn't automatically take $$ from a different account, if the compromised account has insufficient funds.
Just to emphasize that I pay legitimate debts, but this is to keep the government from illegally taking clawbacks without notice (which would result in checks bouncing). Hopefully, I'd then have time to protest.
When you say to transfer your SS money to a new account, it would have to be in cash, right?
If they 'take' your money electronically, they'll just turn your account 'negative'. Remember that. Having two accounts doesn't really change much. Having cash does.
But if someone tries to take my money electronically, at least I'll be able to protest and contest the action with my bank and with SSA. And, since I don't have automatic overdraft coverage on the compromised account, and my bills are paid out of a different account, payment of my bills won't bounce and incur "bounced check/ACH" charges.
As for cash, it's not practical for me to pay all my bills in cash. My mortgage, utilities, credit cards, etc., must be paid to addresses in distant cities and our USPS service is awful (due to DeJoy). I don't see a viable alternative to having an uncompromised bank account. But you may be able to do all cash.
Not trying to be all negative with you. I am simply sharing what I know. Having worked at a bank more than 20 years, I can tell you that if the government initiates the negative balance withdrawal, the bank will have no alternative action for you. You would be forced to pay the negative balance until or unless the government makes a change or you pay it. The bank or credit union would not 'force a negative balance' unless they have to (ie SSA, gov't). The forced action can also impact your credit in a negative way.
Same bank? Different bank? Wouldn’t the withdrawal be recorded in the original account including info on where it went?
Good question. Yes, the transfer would be recorded in the original account, but my goal is to make it difficult for money to be taken back out by the Federal government, and to limit the amount in that event. My understanding is that it's easy for the government to take money back out of an account to which a direct deposit was made. So, if a person maintains only a small balance in the original account, only that small amount would be at risk. My hope is that it would take more effort for the government to trace the money into another account or bank -- and that would be done only if the government was specifically targeting the individual, in which case the individual would have very little protection anyway. I'd like to hear others' opinions on this.
So open a new account with the same bank as the original account?
Thank you for this tip!
I would go with a credit union. A lot of credit unions have certain requirements that you have to meet in order to qualify for an account with them, but sometimes they let you join if you make a small donation to their organization (mine was $5)
may I ask how going with a credit union will help
First of all they don't have fees and are "owned" by their members so best to use a CU instead of a bank anyway. Also since they are smaller than banks they are less of a target.
Yes, then can transfer funds online from the old account to the new account. Still need to be vigilant against hackers who might get a password and use funds - same as now - check often to make sure nothing is amiss.
This is assuming we aren’t using phones that have automatically been downloaded with starlink? And using a safe network while on line, correct?
Thank you!
I've been trying to find an overseas bank, but don't the reporting laws require financial institutions to report our accounts to the fed, anyway? Wouldn't they then be able to seize the funds in those accounts?
I think Schwab might be a possibility. They have international checking and brokerage accounts.
Thank you! I'll look into that.
I use Wise. It’s UK based, has a nice high yield savings account and if you have any ideas of crossing the border and fleeing to another country, you save loads on exchange rate fees, as it is a bank that was created to support international workers who live in a country with one currency, but get paid in another currency. . The user experience is excellent as well.
I was just looking into Wise this week and wanting to learn more. Thank you!
You have 2 choice when it comes to your name changes
1. You can legally change your name back to match the name on your birth certificate.
2. You can file and addendum with the state the birth certificate was issued in to have the name on your birth certificate changed. This usually will require a judged approval as reason for doing so. It takes a few months. (I know this because of having to make correction on birth certificates from family members during genealogy research).
3rd encourage you women to NOT change their name when they marry. I never changed mine and never will. My husband got super pushy about it this past year and I told him NO it's never going to happen (we have been together 10yrs) and I was clear from the day we met it would never happen.
Why should we though????
Because they are going to make us prove our identity. If your birth certificate says Mary Jones but your current name is Mary Smith, you will have to provide documentation of all name changes that brought you to Mary Smith. Say you were married to Tom Brown & then divorced, but kept the name Brown. Then you married Jim Smith. You'll have to provide documentation of your first marriage, the divorce, and the second marriage.
We shouldn't have to, which is the point of fighting the Act. But if it goes through you need to do one of these 2 things in order to continue to vote if you don't have a current passport.
I will say it only took about 3 weeks to get a passport, it was super quick. Do it before things get crazy.
Yep. Step by step please.
Use marriage certificate?
Does that work? I do have a passport though. I hope that’s adequate.
It’s important to note that Starlink is only partnered with T-Mobile currently, and it is beta testing. The way this reads is that Apple and Starlink integrated, which is inaccurate. T-Mobile put Starlink beta testing on its newest Apple software upgrade, and users can opt out of it in settings. Facts are important so people don’t get panicked!
Leigh you're right, I will update the post to be specific on what devices are impacted.
- The service is available on most iPhones from the iPhone 14 onward
- It's also available on many Samsung Galaxy phones, the Z Flip and Z Fold 3, and the Google Pixel 9s
The concern I have is Apple did not publish their support, the release notes I saw for 18.3 had no mention of the Starlink support, they were not detailed in the Apple Support docs.
To your point that may be because this is a partnership between Starlink and T-Mobile and Apple wants to stay out of it.
Here is the official support docs for the 18.3 update: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/ios-ipados-release-notes/ios-ipados-18_2-release-notes
This article makes me feel a little better, but I still haven’t updated my phone to 18.3. I have trust issues LOL. The article also tells you how to disable Starlink if/when your phone updates to allow the connectivity.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/no-apple-didnt-partner-with-spacex-to-put-starlink-on-iphones/
Thank you!! I’m on your side, I just have to remind myself of facts sometimes so I don’t spiral 🥴🥴🥴
Currently on iPhone if you have tMobile, you can activate it or not.
If it gets to the point where you "have" to activate, then we'd have to go back to using a non-enable flip phone
Agreed! Apple didn’t say anything about it. I saw a TikTok about the update and how to turn it off as you mentioned. It was also mentioned that we as consumers should write to Apple support and write letting them know we refuse to update due to start-link, in the hopes that T-Mobile will rethink and not use star-link at all due to boycotting which has shown them many people can just drop them and they would loose tons of money.
I guess Starlink isn't on Android?
I have an android and was just offered beta testing on it with t mobile.
Call TMobile and complain about Starlink.
Apple didn’t ask me to opt out or in! I have iPhone and iCloud email.
Do you know how we can opt of it on our phones?
According to my understanding is you are only going to see the network if you are enrolled in the t-mobile beta program. Source is here: https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/16/24322447/t-mobile-starlink-spacex-beta-registration-open
I'm not very tech savvy. I have a 13 with the latest update and T-Mobile. What do I do/not do to stay safe?
From what I understand, only iPhone 14 or newer have the hardware to even connect to satellites and for any who do have the satellite capability, you have to opt in.
Thank you!
Reality check - Elon Musk role/hate - it’s part of the ruse/con - the “DOGE tax cuts were predetermined in P2025 planning - They couldn’t say this was all planning before the election - it had to be identified as “waste, fraud & abuse” to sell it to the maggots - Musk was told he was to pretend he was a genius that uncovered it all overnight - Musk was told he would be venerated as a genius - but everyone that gets involved with trump ends up bankrupt & indicted - its all part of the con - the hate is directed towards Musk - Musk isn’t so smart huh - bahahaha
Agree. Musk is not a smart dude and those of us from Silicon Valley have known that for the last decade. I'm planning to write another post here shortly about how Wall Street took over Big Tech and now our products and leaders have lost credibility. A correction is long overdue to get these vulture investors out of our industry.
I’m an older woman with the will but not the skills to understand and execute all these maneuvers. I would hire someone to help, but who can you trust? What I can do is have cash on hand, so I’ll do that, at least. Thank you.
Cash is a good place to start, and if you've lived before the digital-age then I also think you're better equipped to weather what's coming. Soon the younger folks will be asking you to show them how to write a letter, calculate a total and balance a check book. :)
TTYTT, I miss the pre-Internet days, even though it enabled me to telecommute many years before it was common. I have two tech-savvy daughters in their 30s, so perhaps I can ask them for help. But yeah, I have a number of old-timey skills that may come in handy.
Yup, me too. Thinking the same thing, cash on hand. Just bought a safe, husband is bolting to the cement floor as we speak. Funny went to our local bank last week and they were not able to give us all the money we requested to manually withdraw, they wanted to know what for, just say for future use, don’t explain in detail. Said come back next week, which we plan on doing. This is not comfortable for us but feel it is doable. Update complete on my phone, it was auto update 18.3.1, turned off future updates, too late? Maybe, next step bank accounts, CC making sure I have enabled MFA where I haven’t already and downloading a bunch of personal records on a stick. I have most important docs printed and in a safe. Interesting about the flip phone, have to look into. I am pretty savvy using my iPad and phone but the inter workings never interested in, still not understanding entirely but will try my best.
Pulling out a lot of cash is a sign of being under the influence of a scammer. Just be patient and follow their rules, would be my advice, and you should be fine. @Lexi is the author here and much smarter than me, so can correct me on this.
Not a lot of cash, just 3 months operating, so if grid blacks out during Musks’s implementing his controls over our data, I can pay my bills and eat. That’s all. Believe me it is not comfortable but helps me feel a bit in control over Me. Besides, the bank I use was not surprised and understood, in light of the fact I was not the first person to ask these questions. I also asked them how much cash could I withdraw if they went offline. I can get a maximum of $5,000 based on previous day’s deposits. Being prepared is smart not under influence of scammer.
Isn’t it important to keep your withdrawals under $10K? That’s the amount that is automatically reported to the govt. as suspicious.
You are correct, that 10,000+ may raise a red flag to the bank. Ours is a small, regional bank we have been with for 40 years. We had an in depth discussion before our withdrawal.
Good information. Thanks for sharing. I think it is a good idea, regardless of the circumstances.
Some neighborhood banks keep very small amounts of cash in case of robbery. If you go in and ask for a certain amount they will tell you which day the cash is available. You don't need a reason to ask for cash.
You’ve already got the update with the connection to Starlink and Apple Intelligence if you have a newer phone (at least 15), and you don’t want to stop updates because then you will miss essential security updates. All you need to do is read up on the update before installing it. That is what I have always done.
Scary to think we are living in a dystopian novel. Thank you for the advice. Damn scary days ahead.
They are very different. Wise works like a bank, including interest payments and allows you to create “buckets” of money in various currencies, with a low exchange rate and minimal fees and a debit card (usable in Apple Pay). It makes sending money across banks (& counties) very very easy. I’ve had an account for ~ 3 years and use it for international travel and payments.
Thank you for sharing! Am so glad Wise exists.
This makes my brain hurt. How go I use this to pay my bills?
Direct debits can be set up to pay bills, or you can schedule and send payments directly to another person or organization.
Are you speaking of automatic payments?
I’ve been seeing a number of posts about moving banking from large banks to small banks or credit unions. It’s extremely frustrating to have this framed as one of the central approaches to financial safety because it’s not possible for the vast majority of people. Most credit unions won’t allow just anyone to join and small banks are almost nonexistent, particularly if you live in a city, like the majority of the population.
Where I live, this is actually an impossible task. Large banks are all that exist but for a handful of credit unions that require specific union memberships or are tied to specific neighborhood residencies. Would be great to have some other Plan B floated in these cybersecurity posts.
Yes good point and I wrote a follow up on offline banking but I also recently learned about the Wise platform to send money overseas.
https://open.substack.com/pub/landfamilyhome/p/insulate-your-household-from-doge?r=50mm70&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
I signed up for Wise today as I have a brother that lives in Germany so am hoping to send some funds to him for safekeeping. I'll post with steps on how to do that if I'm successful in moving funds. My financial planner recommended moving some money overseas.
In the near term, having enough cash on hand to get through a month in the case that your bank is "offline" isn't a bad idea even if this is all overkill and everything will go "perfectly" like the new order has promised.
This is interesting! Yes would love a post about the overseas transfer. Something I’ll ask my financial planner about as well. Thank you for responding!
what if you don’t know anyone overseas? what’s the best course to keeping what’s mine safe and still within reach if needed?
I signed up with Alliant Credit Union - did everything online, and only qualified because I made a $5 donation to their organization. I’m still setting everything up, so we’ll see how it goes.
I have been saying this very thing since it all started. This is exactly what Elon is up to. Control of the resources of govt and the population of the country
That appears to be his end goal, I have many reservations about whether he will be even partially successful. Musk is comically out of his league with trying to fast track a refactor of enterprise systems. Regardless, his efforts will cause a lot of headaches and suffering so we should prepare a contingency plan for how to outlast the DOGE phase.
Vital. Thank you. Skynet is here, just not self-aware. Yet.
This is extremely helpful information. I have been looking for something just like this post. Thank you!!!
What about elders who are in nursing homes and have those automatic payments and require funds from Medicaid to access life saving treatments - dialysis for example?
Sadly, in my honest opinion, I believe one of the goals is to let a lot of people die. Musk calls anyone who is disabled or otherwise reliant on systems such as social security “parasites”. The “make America healthy again is thinly veiled eugenics.”
I do not have a good answer short of trying to gather necessary meds for a few months supply and making room in your home.
To get through this we will need to be local communities helping one another. What do you do or have that is valuable to others? Brush up on those skills. For the vulnerable we will have to do the best we can to care for them.
I agree- my mother is in long term care has paid taxes her whole life -along with the other residents many of whom are veterans, I saw the parasite comment- reminds me of the quote the” only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” -
My question is also concerning Social Security payments, as they do not offer paying by check. Also, several services I use require auto-pay. How do we navigate this? I have a very small business - most ppl pay with credit/debit cards. This is just so overwhelming for me. I'm 68, so I know how to live off-line too, but that option has slowly been eroded. For example, some banks now charge you to go in person & make transactions. I'm assuming I'll end up destitute in this new order. It's hard to have any hope.
Hang on to hope! What I anticipate happening is this will be a "death by a thousand cuts" deterioration of infrastructure and federally subsidized services.
Those hit hardest will be blindsided by outages. By having line of sight into potential interruptions you'll have a better chance to be nimble and respond.
I wrote a piece about looking at your household systems using a cyber defense methodology: identify "single points of failure" and start making incremental changes to stand up back ups: https://open.substack.com/pub/landfamilyhome/p/the-importance-of-backing-up?r=50mm70&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
I am most pessimistic about social security payments but it's too early to predict what DOGE has planned.
Switching banks is a hassle, I did that last week when I switched from BOA to a regional bank. But it's worth the trouble for peace of mind. Here is the post on it: https://open.substack.com/pub/landfamilyhome/p/insulate-your-household-from-doge?r=50mm70&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
It's easy to be overwhelmed, I am trying to do 1 thing a day. DOGE is moving fast and breaking things but if you do 1 thing a day my hope is we can stay one step ahead of them.
One major thing we have going for federal government is its size. It's going to be a slow burn to dismantle and there will be a lot of false starts and resets along the way. Focus on your immediate surroundings and try to tune out the rest. Hopefully it'll be months before you see material impact to your environment.
Hang on to hope and celebrate daily wins with incremental acts of resistance, we are in this together!
Then we will all be in it together on here. 😊We got you💙💙💙💙
🙏🏼💙
Our family moved from Hannover to West Berlin [1960] not long before
“the Wall” was erected . I understand better than most what it means to be the focal point of resistance against then
USSR , now Russia under Putin .
We stand with You in your struggle for freedom!
SLAVA UKRAINI !!
If using WISE, watch transactions and charges closely and realize it is not an insured bank account (which may not be of value re DOGE). I caution re WISE because they were recently in trouble with the CFPB and fined heavily.
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-wise-to-pay-25-million-for-illegal-remittance-practices/#:~:text=The%20CFPB%20found%20the%20company,the%20timeframe%20required%20by%20law.
I was wondering if your amazing accessment is being considered in the highest levels of anti DOGE movements. Wherever & whomever they are. Are they aware of the end game? I can't believe we are in this moment.
I suspect they are aware, since I've seen multiple posts about the dangerous Neo-reactionary movement that Musk is part of, but we run the risk of over-indexing on the political dynamics in play.
The legal system needs to be used to the fullest extent to buttress against DOGE insurgence, but we need to also disarm their change mechanism: cloud-enabled technology.
This is where I'm hoping to help. I helped build the virtual world, and I will now assist with an off ramp for those that are willing.
If we reach critical mass with resistance across the political landscape, consumer boycotts and cloud data removal we will be impossible to govern through a centralized technology model. I hope it is all enough.
Thank you for the kind words and helping get the word out!
I hope there are more like you willing to shut this down. Forever grateful 🙏