allow several options for a 2K authentication (passcode). The most practical and solid option here is to have both a cellphone and another email address listed as 'options'. The email address is almost a never-fail method - in case one is occasionally let down by cellphone reception. (and it sounds like this is the way you should go)
Passwords: Another subject, but also one with some practical solutions. a) You have to have them written down and recorded - somewhere! This idea that we're always going to remember Aunt Mary's birthday - and then use it for 20 different accounts ... That's the person that the IT guys want to beat with a rubber hose! So b) Either use a password manager, which actually does a lot of the work for you - while saving you from mistakes, and the 'same password for 20 different sites' habit. And/or c) Manufacture your own password file/list - a plain old Excel spreadsheet works just fine - then lock that with a password, that can be as elemental and simple as you wish - and save it to 3 or 4 different places, including your phone (for when you're away from home), your computer, and maybe also a thumb drive, and your cloud storage account.
(and appreciate your frustration - but we really do not want to make it easier to get in to all these accounts .. and particularly those involving finances!)
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