This is indeed mind boggling from a European perspective. Visa/Mastercard and banks just taking 1.5% of everyone's money because fast and free bank transfers for reasonable amounts don't exist.
People in the US pay all their bills with physical checks and debit cards, which is even more absurd considering that the US banks and credit card companies, last time I checked, still don't require proper 2-factor authentication for online payments or require PIN for in-person payments. Any time I make payments online in Europe, I have to use 2-factor auth and an e-PIN; it adds a whopping 5 seconds to the payment process.
Only large transfers in my country have a fee. I bought a flat a few years ago and sending a 6-figure sum (USD equivalent) to the escrow account only cost me $15 in transfer fees and it arrived a few hours later, though a person from the bank did call to confirm as a security precaution.
I've been dealing with sciatic nerve issues for the last 2-3 years. Currently I'm in my 17th year of being in IT (sitting 10 hours a day).
I had to go to a physiotherapist to heal my sciatic nerves when they blew up for the first time. It was so bad, I needed injections at the hospital just to not be in pain and took rather strong pain killers for a week.
A combination of the following has drastically changed my back health in the last 2 years.
* Basic weight lifting/strength training 2x per week focusing on shoulders/back/chest. Just 20-30 minutes. Nothing extreme.
* Switching from sitting in a chair, sitting on a yoga ball, laying on a yoga mat on the floor, and standing desk every hour. According to my physiotherapist, any one position for long periods of time is bad and present their own issues; the key is not staying in one position for more than 1-2 hours at a time.
People in the US pay all their bills with physical checks and debit cards, which is even more absurd considering that the US banks and credit card companies, last time I checked, still don't require proper 2-factor authentication for online payments or require PIN for in-person payments. Any time I make payments online in Europe, I have to use 2-factor auth and an e-PIN; it adds a whopping 5 seconds to the payment process.
Only large transfers in my country have a fee. I bought a flat a few years ago and sending a 6-figure sum (USD equivalent) to the escrow account only cost me $15 in transfer fees and it arrived a few hours later, though a person from the bank did call to confirm as a security precaution.