money in your savings account
By bubblyapple
@bubblyapple (2653)
Philippines
October 4, 2008 5:43pm CST
Since the news are always about the financial crisis here in the United States, I can't help but feel agitated too. I don't have a lot of money in the bank or any financial institution, but whatever amount that is there, it is hard-earned money. So, I guess, they can't blame us if we start pulling out our money from their institutions. Especially now that they can't guarantee that they would be able to handle this mess. I was thinking about doing this when I an article from TIME magazine (9/29/08) caught my attention. They were talking about the effects of this financial mess. Someone asked if it is time to pull out money from the bank. And the answer they gave is sensible enough and I might wait for a month or two more before taking another step.
Here is how the article answered the question: IS IT TIME TO PULL MY MONEY OUT OF THE BANK AND PUT IT UNDER THE MATTRESS?
No. But it may be time to make sure you don't have more thatn $100,000 in any one bank (well, I don't have that much in any bank! LOL). The FDIC insures that amount should your bank fail- plus $250,000 for retirement accounts that hold bank products like CDs.
I know, as of this time, my hard-earned money is still safe. It hasn't reach $100,000 yet. LOL. So I am still covered by the FDIC insurance.
3 people like this
8 responses
@mariab (88)
• United States
5 Oct 08
I have to admit, I'm one of the people who panicked and pulled my money out of WaMu when I heard they were putting themselves up for sale. It wasn't even much, but it was my money. I actually regret it now, but only because nothing happened - business as usual at Wamu. I could have kept it in there and it would be earning 4% now, but as I pulled it out and put it into an orange account, I lost about 1 week of interest and it's only earning 3% at orange. I may put it all back in, but we'll see...
It's just that the image of all those INDYMAC customers made me panicky - I can't afford to stake out my bank or wait weeks before I get a check from FDIC.
1 person likes this
@bubblyapple (2653)
• Philippines
5 Oct 08
well, as i've said media escalates everything and makes us panic more than necessary...but it's not a fault, after all, we all want to protect the money that WE earned....
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
4 Oct 08
Boy, wouldn't it be nice to have $100,000 in the bank!! Not me. I do keep my money in the bank. My son has been saying for years that he doens't trust banks and would rather keep his money in the house in his safe. The problem is thatyou have to have an income in the bank to show that you actually have money when you go to buy a house. I think I will wait it out. If we all keep our money in the house, just think of all the burglaries.
@bubblyapple (2653)
• Philippines
5 Oct 08
yeah, when you buy a house or anything major, they want your banking history and credit history and all those things....so even if you don't trust banks, you just have to have money in the bank so you'll have documents to show....
@CinderInMySoul (4717)
• United States
5 Oct 08
so far (knock on wood) my bank, Chase, has been fine. thankfully. when those big ones WaMu etc., started going down we immediatly started to worry that ours would be next. and what we should do if it happened.
then FINALLY someone on the news mentioned the FDIC insurance thing and the cap amount..which, of course, we have nowhere near the 1000,000 lol! the only thing we are a bit worried about right now is my fathers 401k. we know nothing about stocks, or diversifying or any of that stuff. we just get the statement each year and know that its his retirement.
but then they started talking about whether or not to pull the money from the fund..and i STILL dont know if we should be doing something with that money or not!
@bubblyapple (2653)
• Philippines
5 Oct 08
yeah, i guess, ordinary citizens like us, need not worry about it much since we are not near to the 100,000usd cap....but still if (and ony if) our bank is affected and finally close, it is a hassle on our part doing the paperwork necessary to do a claim.....
@glords (2614)
• United States
5 Oct 08
The crisis has been caused by an epidemic of fear. The reason the banks are crumbling is because too many people are pulling their money out. Banks can't run if they don't have any investors. Therefore I would say no, don't pull your money out, it is only going to hurt the economy worse. After saying that I agree you should not have more than 100,000 per account. Otherwise you may loose money due to other people removing their money too fast. You can do the responsible thing for the economy but you can't rely on others to the same... obviously ... since fear has already created this huge problem.
@msmargo (361)
• United States
5 Oct 08
you are totally right about the fear element. my so has totally been a conspiratory believer for years (911 is an inside job), that Bush will call a bank holiday and cancel the elections, and really believes that at any moment now all of the banks are going to go belly up, we won't be able to go to the grocery store, gas station, etc. He pulled all of his substantial inheritance out of his bank and put it in a safe in our house, and you guessed it... we were robbed. He would still have his $ if he left it in the bank. The sad part about this story is that he badgered me into to taking my $ out of the bank and it was stolen also. I am so embarrassed that I have told no one. He is now after me to sell my stocks. I am going to hang tuff on this one. I now longer trust his judgment.
@bwaybaby (903)
• United States
4 Oct 08
I only have a couple hundred dollars in savings, as I am a broke college student. If for some reason Bank of America goes under, I should be fine.
If you have less than $100,000, then you are covered and there's no real reason to take all of your money out. And the banks aren't completely failing right now. Many companies are being bought out by other banks.
1 person likes this
@bubblyapple (2653)
• Philippines
4 Oct 08
yeah, you're right. sometimes though, because of extensive media coverage, even if you yourself, don't want to panic, the media makes you do so! LOL
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
5 Oct 08
If your money is insured, you do not have to worry. If it is over that $100,000 in one bank, take the amount over and open up another bank account and put the money in that. Taking your money out will only ensure that the bank goes under and the bank has to use the money of those who remain to cover loans and transactions, so they in turn loose their money as well.
We have a similar situation in Canada where we can only have so much money insured, but I doubt anyone has the whole amount, so we need not have to worry.
