May 6th, 2009 
NCN I have just gotten off of the phone after the better part of an hour. I can’t be sure, but I think I’ve fixed a problem, that until today, I never knew existed.
The background -
I have a Roth IRA. My wife has a Roth IRA. One of my goals for 2009, is to fully-fund both Roth IRAs. We have a joint checking account. From time to time, I will send a payment (deposit) from our checking account to the brokerage where we have our Roth IRAs. Clear enough? Good.
The problem -
Last week, I logged in to my checking account, and initiated two payments (deposits), one for my Roth, one for my wife’s Roth.
Today, when checking on the status of said payments, I was shocked to find that the deposit intended for my wife’s Roth IRA was rejected.
Apparently, when my bank sends a payment to another company, the only name on the payment check is my name, even though the checking account is a joint account. Well, when the brokerage received the payment, and noticed that my wife’s name was not on the check, they rejected the check, because they do not accept third-party payments.
The solution -
I called my brokerage, and they suggested that I send a copy of a recent bank statement, along with my wife’s name and account information, showing that she is, indeed, a joint holder of the checking account. This sounded like a lot of work, and I’m just not in the mood for a lot of work.
I then called my bank, pressed zero fifty times, talked to a very nice CSR, and had him add my wife’s name to all future online bill payment checks. Problem, hopefully, solved.
I also canceled the payment to the brokerage, the one for my wife’s Roth IRA. Once the money, which has already been deducted from my checking account, is safely back in the account, I’ll initiate another payment. Hopefully, this one will have my wife’s name on it, and all will go smoothly.
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