Are credit unions any safer than banks?

[lonestarnot]

Just wondering.. :shrug:

[better tomorrow]

1. best place is under the mattress as far as I am concerned....

also, stash your solid coins.....especially the silver and gold ones. Think about it. How many state quarters have you gotten lately....or, do you do everything online anymore? I haven't handled a coin in a long, long time. Copper is up now......

[gravity]

12. That can get stolen

Putting your money under your mattress has its own risk too.

[John Q. Citizen]

2. Banks are federally insured up to $100,000. If you have more than that, split it up

between banks.

[DJ13]

3. Yes

They have the same type of insurance as the FDIC provides banks.

Same $100,000 total coverage for accounts.

Try Clark Howard .com for info.

He just did a report on this last week.

[lonestarnot]

4. Thanks DJ13.

Who's Clark Howard?

[DJ13]

He's a radio host that does a consumer show 5 days per week

He takes calls on consumer ripoffs, investments, insurance, and other stuff too.

He's been on the air for years.

[Muttocracy]

5. does financial show on the radio

may do other things, but my mom listens to him there.

[CountAllVotes]

6. you decide

here is the difference between the two:

http://www.affinityplus.org/member/cr_vs_bank.asp

Credit Unions: Are not-for-profit institutions

Banks: Are profit-oriented institutions

Credit Unions: Return profits to members in the form of lower loan rates, higher savings rates and free or low cost services.

Banks: Return profits to a small group of stockholders

Credit Unions: Democratically controlled by members

Banks: Controlled by stockholders and paid officials

Credit Unions are insured for $100,000.00 as well. In some cases, up to $250,000.00 for IRAs.

I definitely like them a lot. :)

[Hobarticus]

8. Bingo...

I use a credit union, my wife a bank.

Her bank has a PT Cruiser slathered up with vinyl logos, and every time we see it around town, I ask her if she's been allowed to drive the Cruiser yet. After all, she owns it, right?

[CountAllVotes]

9. yes, I believe they are safer myself

here is an interesting thread I found earlier on this same subject - credit union v. bank.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?p=1316556

What they say about loans and giving them out is true. The place I deal with doesn't give out loans without serious scrutiny. I in fact tried to obtain a home loan through them several years ago and they would only loan me less than 1/2 the amount than the V.A. would.

They don't take on risk the way banks do.

The money belongs to and goes to the members, not some for profit stock (in most cases I believe this is true, some credit unions are in fact different than others).

[Hobarticus]

13. No they don't...and that's not a bad thing

Getting my mortgage through my CU was like pulling teeth, and that was during the boom in real estate, when banks were throwing money out the window. That gave me reason to pause, and rethink what I was doing. I'm glad they did!

[AndyTiedye]

15. Sometimes There Are Other Reasons for a Credit Union to Deny Loans to Members

Back in the 80s, we tried to re-fi through our credit union. They said "no". Odd, since our credit was certainly good enough.
Turns out that credit union was being systematically looted by it's then-CEO, who is still at large, AFAIK.
That's why they had no money to lend to mere members.

Of course, the same thing was happening to S&Ls and banks in the 80's (and perhaps the 00's as well)

[lonestarnot]

16. Yeah, I knew those things, but were there credit unions around in

1929? How did they fair in the depression if so.

[Hobarticus]

18. FDIC didn't exist in the Depression...

FDIC came about because of the Depression. So it's not exactly accurate to compare the current or future economic situation, and the potential for great loss of liquid assets, to the Depression.

FDIC means your money is guaranteed. You won't get a phone call from either a bank or credit union, "sorry, times are tough, we had to keep your money". Actually CUs use a different federal agency, but the result is still the same.

Any institution in the Depression suffered. Using an institution's performance in the Depression is hardly the best benchmark to choose a financial institution in the 21st century. A lot has changed since then.

Any financial institution will struggle in rough times, but that has nothing to do with your deposits. That's because they're losing income on defaulted and delinquent loans, not because people are taking their cash out of the bank or CU. Your deposits are guaranteed.

If you put your money in a non-profit institution, like a credit union, that institution won't screw you over to maintain the bottom line of a for-profit institution, like a bank would. Because at the end of the day, a bank is a for-profit business, and they will do what they need to do to protect stockholders, investments, officers, etc.

If you think that your financial well-being is truly at the heart of your for-profit bank's business model, you're in for a rude awakening, despite what their marketing and PR says. Maybe not at my CU's either, but at least I know that no one's making money off my money. Only person who should be profiting from my money is ME.

It's a pretty easy choice, to me. You say you already know these things, but you don't seem sold, so I don't know what I can say to convince you. It's your call.

[demigoddess]

14. I agree, we have use credit unions for over 30 years,

financed land, cars, etc, and have had no problems. Never feel like they are gouging you. They are always looking for ways for you to save instead of how they can rip you off. Usually they pay higher interest rates on savings. At our credit union it is 100 thousand FDIC coverage, per account. That should be it, not per bank.

[Hobarticus]

7. Yes. They are non-profit...

...and likely won't cause you grief to meet their bottom line and investor's expectations.

No one should be profiting from your money. Go with a credit union.

On edit: not insured by FDIC, but your money is still insured.

[RainDog]

10. I think they're more conservative in their investments

maybe not all, tho. I use a credit union and have for decades. (decades? oh man I am sooo old... :/ I have to keep reminding myself.)

[CountAllVotes]

11. I've been using the same one since 1980

they have not failed me yet and have been there to help me when I needed it.

So, I've got a couple of decades of experience with the same place for almost 30 years now and they have made maybe one or two small errors in all of that time.

I pay nothing for check writing and $3.00 a box for checks. I have a great credit card that gives cash back and the end of every billing cycle. It is very convenient and has great on-line access as well as extra security measures in place. :thumbsup: I say!! :)

[fasttense]

17. I've been with the same credit union for 25 years.

They just lowered our interest rates on their credit card to 7.9% last month. When other companies are raising their interest rates, the credit union is lowering their interest for its members. You got to love them.

Not that I carry much of a balance, I like to keep it paid off. But it tells you the CU is not out to squeeze every dime from its members.