Countdown to SDCC '26 (I)

All the Right Financial Moves (I hope)

A little over a decade ago, I made an effort to become more financially literate, which actually became an off-and-on passion. I mean this in the sense that, with finances, while it’s good to stay on top of things and occasionally fine tune, your best bet is to simply set things up correctly and then leave it alone and let it grow.

Recent changes in life have led me to a new flurry of financial moves that I thought I’d share, both on the personal and business fronts. (One of these included moving to a new phone carrier, Voiply, that I covered in a previous post.)

First off is the fact that my wife and I have needed to assume management finances of an elderly family member. In reviewing her brokerage account at Fidelity, I noticed that the dividends that paid out of her account sat in a cash sweep account at Fidelity that collected no interest, so I opened a high-yield online savings account where we could move that money until they needed it and moved most of her Fidelity and savings there. However, after some research, I then discovered that Fidelity has a reputable cash management account already that collects interest that is even slightly better than the high yield online banks!! And all it required was a simple flip of the switch (technically changing the “core” position of the account).

In fact, it led me to open an account of my own in my own Fidelity account. But I had an ulterior motive—it turns out that the account comes with a debit card that has NO foreign transaction fees and refunds all ATM charges! Since my wife and I may be traveling overseas soon, I thought it would be prudent to open an account in anticipation of that trip!

Fidelity’s Cash Management Account is not a checking or savings account—in fact, technically, it’s a brokerage account. But it has no connection to the markets, so doesn’t rise or fall in value, and always stays at one share equaling one dollar. In practice, it acts as a sort of hybrid checking and savings account. (It’s also not FDIC protected, but rather protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC)). But it earns interest at a high rate.

It’s a long story, but I actually have maintained two checking accounts for years—one for everyday expenses and the other mostly to pay bills, such as my mortgage, credit cards, utilities, phone and internet, streaming services, etc. The second everyday account I’ve kept mostly out of sentiment since it was a bank with a branch across the street that felt like a neighborhood bank because I had a safe deposit box there and the staff knew me. Over the past few years, however, they did away with their safe deposit boxes and then closed the branch. With that personal connection gone, I’ve decided that if the Fidelity CMA works out, I may close that second checking account and migrate to Fidelity for everyday expenses. (The only other advantage of that account is that transfers from my Chase account to Fidelity were instantaneous, not a wait of a day or so.)

On the business front, I also opened a new business banking account at a bank called Found. I’ve had a business checking account for years at a local community credit union, but it always low-key rankled me that it required a linked savings account with a minimum $100 balance, so basically I’ve always had $100 sitting there that I couldn’t access. The only drawback I found, however, is that my Amazon seller's account won't connect to it because of its nature as an online bank. This is almost a bit of a dealbreaker, but since neither account costs money, for now I'll hold on to both accounts to see if this issue gets worked out, and as a failsafe for now as I connect the new account to my existing other vendors that pay me like Square, PayPal, etc., to ensure nothing gets lost in the tracks.

See You at SDCC '26!

Calling Voiply

I’ve maintained our home landline* though we don’t use it much, bundled with our Spectrum internet service. Aside from still being linked to old legacy accounts like our grocery store’s and Shell card rewards program, I’ve also kept it partly for sentimental reasons since I’ve had the number since the 1990s. I half joke that the only people who really still call it are my mother-in-law and spammers.

I actually did nearly drop the line a few years back. When I called Spectrum to indicate I was thinking of canceling, they offered a two-year bundled monthly deal with my Internet that brought down the overall monthly cost to below $100, so I kept it.

The bundle deal recently expired at around the same time we learned that our homeowner’s association had recently entered into a contract with a new local high speed internet provider that, by the end of the year, would provide us new residential data service at a greatly reduced rate. Given that we would be eventually canceling our Spectrum service, I thought it might be an opportunity to also completely cut the cord with Spectrum and move to another—and, more importantly, cheaper—VOIP phone provider.

Above: Voiply adaptor

After some cursory research, I considered Vonage, Ooma and Voiply. Frankly, all offered comparable prices and features. That said, I subsequently discovered that Vonage (the only one of the services I’d heard of previously) had become more focused on business customers rather than residential; and while Ooma technically offered a “free” monthly plan (except for taxes), you had to purchase the equipment (ranging anywhere from $69.99–$99.99, depending on where you purchased it), whereas Voiply provided the equipment for free. While I recognize Ooma may offer the “cheapest” plan over the long haul, I liked the idea of no upfront start up cost. Ultimately, I went with the three-month renewable Voiply plan that came to approximately $8.95 per month and, if you pay annually, as low as $7.46 (with no contracts). Given that I was currently paying $30/month for my Spectrum line (and I know someone who pays $60/month with AT&T!), that was more than an acceptable savings!

And, of course, part of the onboarding process with Voiply was the option of porting my current home phone number. (It’s important not to cancel your service before the number is ported or you will lose it). A happy surprise was that I didn’t have to call Spectrum afterwards as I anticipated to separately cancel the service—when my number became active on Voiply, I received an email notice from Spectrum that my service agreement had been updated and the phone service removed!!

For the record, I placed my order and created my Voiply account on July 1—which included the order to port my number—and received the equipment on July 6. The number was ported and became active on Voiply on July 8.

Though I was aware of the features, one that surprised me was that the number automatically forwards to my mobile phone via the Voiply app!! I learned this in a very critical manner on the very day the line became active—I was out at a family event and someone called our home number to reach us, and I picked it up on my cell phone. Had the line not been activated and had I not installed the app, I would not have received what turned out to be an important phone call!

By the way, the service works very simply: there is a small separate “black box” that serves as a conduit between the router and the phone, connected to the router via a provided Internet cable and the phone via the regular phone line. Both the app and the online account allows you to manage many of the features (which also includes call forwarding, calling out from the number from your mobile device, and even being able to use text to a degree!)

Anyway, I’ve only just got it, but I’m already sold—if for no other reason than due to the great savings in price for the service.

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* "Landlines" are no longer truly the analog landlines of old—most are now digital-based or, more accurately, VOIP lines, or (Voice over Internet Protocol)   

Official SDCC Press Release

I've just posted the official press release about my exhibition appearance at this month's San Diego Comic-Con, scheduled July 23–28—my 29th show! 

I'll be debuting the 27th issue of my globetrotting action-adventure indie comic book series, Rob Hanes Adventures and a new trade paperback collection, Rob Hanes Adventures, Vol. 3. More to come in the lead up to the show! 

Celebrating Independence Day!

Found Footage: 1994 San Diego Comic-Con

I recently discovered that my brother had camcorder footage from the 1994 San Diego Comic-Con! Though I’ve attended the show since 1986, that was my second year as an exhibitor. It was also the 25th anniversary of the show, which feels like it was only yesterday. (Comic-Con celebrated its 50th in 2019.)

I learned (or rather was reminded) of its existence in some old notes. When I asked him about it, he told me that he had several unmarked tapes but was unable to play them since his camcorder had broken down years before. Fortunately, I still had a working camcorder in the same format and took it with me when I next visited him in Northern California. After I found the tape, I digitized it upon my return to Los Angeles.

The tape includes footage of my first appearance on a panel, about self-publishing, that included Don Simpson, Batton Lash, Jim Valentino, and myself. There is also clips of Adam West signing.

What also made the tape personally fun is that a bunch of my college buddies showed up in support. Several of them became Comic-Con regulars, including Terry Delegeane who worked at Bongo Comics for many years and Scott Brick who worked for a time as a writer for both the Comics Buyers Guide and Wizard, and has moderated panels at Comic-Con over the years (he’s since become an award-winning audiobook narrator and teacher).

Looking at the footage, since the show took place at the same location it’s been at since 1991, in the San Diego Convention Center, it doesn’t look much different than today and felt very familiar. Nevertheless, it was a nice time capsule, especially given how young I looked back then.

See the full gallery.