My IRA transfer is complete and my credit card is back in action, thanks to a dedicated, patient, kind man at my credit union.  It all happened yesterday and today I feel ten years younger and anxiety-free.

 

I wrote a letter of praise to this man’s manager, which I am publishing here (without their names or the identification of my financial institution) so you can get the best sense of what occured and why I’m over the moon and beyond Antares today:

 

(I also republished it here so I don’t need to reinvent the wheel because I took time to craft it yesterday and am far less patient  doing rewrites or paraphrasing!)

 

Dear Mr. T.,

I am writing this email to let you know how beyond impressed I was this morning (and afternoon!) when I sought live video help at ____ all the way from Costa Rica. 

I’ve been a member of ____ for more than ten years and have never had as satisfying an experience as I enjoyed this morning, although I have had a number of memorable and satisfying experiences at ____ in the P______ branch.

I was assigned to S.M., who was calm, kind, patient, and collaborative to the max.  Being here in Costa Rica at the moment, I knew that trying to unilaterally set up a Traditional IRA from here would be a fool’s errand, especially for me.  Because when it comes to unique, out-of-the-ordinary, non-automatic financial matters, I feel like a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs!!!  I let him know that, and that I had been dreading doing it, but I was down to fewer than 30 days before the Traditional IRA balance that I had withdrawn from another agency had to be re-invested in an IRA within 60 days, so I bit the bullet and called, with my heart beating like I had entered a marathon or a hungry lion’s den (at first).

From the moment Mr. M. greeted me, I could feel my blood pressure returning to normal and my heart rate settling down. I let him know what I needed and he took every step of the route for me, explaining what he was doing and encouraging me to refresh the bank’s interface regularly so I could watch and confirm for myself, in real time, what was happening. 

The entire process (numerous document signings via DocuSign, Mr. M’s document processing, etc.) took several hours. There were a couple of computer crashes and one false start (entirely my fault!), and Mr. M. handled it all with compassion, care and utmost professionalism.  He also researched and got my credit card approved to start working again after he got the Traditional IRA documents squared away and documented before we signed off and I asked him who his manager is so I could write this email to you.  

S. is a miracle worker with a heart of gold and the patience of Job.  He loves being a ____ employee. (I know, because I’m nosy and asked!)  I hope that’s because you’re treating him like the champ he is.  

5 stars! (If there are more to give than 5 stars to give, double the maximum number where S. M. is concerned!)

You have a real gem there.

And yes, you can use this accolade publicly or privately in any way you see fit!

Kristine M Smith

That gives you the details.  If every customer service person were as wonderful as this man is, people needing help would find life far much more delightful than we usually do. He has been there for nine years and he was as kind and patient a fellow as you will ever find.

 

He’s Latino; I’ve discovered here in Costa Rica that Latin cultures are raised to be exactly the way this fellow is. Not for a moment did I feel as if I was a burden in any way to him, or that my needs weren’t as imperative as his own under similar circumstances. I felt seen, heard, understood and truly appreciated for entrusting his employer with my financial affairs. He was a total pleasure!

 

At the end, I felt hesitant to ask him about the credit card, as he had been helping me for hours already and it was past his lunch time (I figured) by over 90 minutes. I offered to call him back on another day, or to have him transfer me to the credit card unit so I could inquire, but he very kindly stated that he wanted to make sure everything was buttoned up for me 100%, so he took an additional 15 or 20 minutes to call and confer with the credit card unit in Seattle and ask me the questions they needed to have answered to make sure the charges to it were all legitimate. What a champ. (I don’t have an international calling plan here, so the 800 number didn’t work when I tried calling it.)

 

So today I feel footloose and fancy free again after months of battling like a madperson to get my IRA moved and my Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) put into my checking account.  Both of those happened yesterday and I will automatically be sent my RMD every March 5th, in case I owe any taxes in April.  If I don’t, it can go into my liquid savings and boost that each year as my personal birthday present.  (I’m having 12% taken out in taxes from the RMD, which is my tax bracket.) I have over $3K in liquid savings again (plenty for an emergency cushion in CR, barring a catastrophic injury or illness!) following yesterday’s video event, and my one credit card balance ($438.00) is paid off as well.

 

And I still have $400 in checking until the end of this month!  So, I feel like King Midas (for ME, a perpetual poverty-level human being for the past several years following the advent of AI, which took my writing business away)!!!  I feel ten years younger and light on my heels!

 

In Other News…

 

Took the bus to Grecia yesterday morning to get half the money (in colones) that I need to pay the June rent, to buy groceries, and to have a Plato Ejecuvito at Cafe Delicias before getting on the SI-bound bus and heading home. It has been ages since I stopped at Cafe Delicias (which is very close to Subway), so I figured it was time to give them my business again. I love supporting local tico businesses. (Subway is locally-owed, too, of course, a franchise.)

 

One of these days I’m going to stop at the Papa John’s and get a Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza; haven’t done that yet.  I’ll need to translate it, which will go something like “una pizza mediana con tocino canadiense y piña, por favor.”  (I will look it up beforehand to be sure I get it right but I think that’s very close!)

 

I do a lot of Spanish translation in my head these days, and then check to be sure I’m not screwing it up too badly. So far, I’m doing pretty darned good.  Good thing, since I’ve been studying like a maniac for nearly a year now!

 

I still don’t “listen” fast enough (native speakers speak so fast, I can’t tell when one word ends and another begins!) or fluently enough pronunciation-wise to catch everyday conversations.  My brain still has trouble hearing “Maude-ee-sown” and recognizing “Madison,” for example.). I pronouce Spanish words properly whenever I speak (99.99% of the time), but my brain doesn’t yet interpret Spanish pronunciation naturally, if that makes sense.

 

When I got back from Grecia, my key fob was reconfigured to the new gate code by Gabriel. So, now I can let vehicles in through the gate from my front porch or kitchen whenever I need to. (Which will be infrequent, but it’s handy to have for when Adilio brings me home from now on, if I ever decide to have groceries delivered, etc.)

 

I may wander down to three corners (San Isidro proper) this morning for the fist time in weeks and get something at the panaderia. I have a hankering for chocolate cake. And walking down and back up the hill would be good for me.

 

(I’ve been walking on the back patio recently to protect my knee, but it feels good again, so I should take it out for a walk and see how it does in the real world going up and down slight grades!  It was fine in Grecia yesterday, but I dawdled and took it very easy.)

 

Yeah, I’ll probably do that. I’m feeling intrepid today!

 

Have a delightful day!