I Would Make a Run On My Bank, Except...

[specimenfred1984]

When I total all the money that I and all of my neighbors have in the bank it's only about $500. I guess the banks around here won't be seeing any "run" anytime soon.

[sandnsea]

1. My daughter and I discussed it

We are going to make sure we have enough cash to get through a few days. But we both bank at small local banks, which are rated good at bankrate.com. I wish I knew how to check beyond that.

[Cleita]

2. My bank Washington Mutual is still operating and they are going under

from what I hear. Since the most they get in my account at any time is the sum of my monthly income and since it's covered by the FDIC I guess I will leave my money there until there is a resolution. I actually took out the majority of my saving from them back in January. A little nagging voice told me to do so. I don't know whether the institution I put that money into is any better but they don't seem to be one of the institutions yet that is ready to fall.

[stillcool]

3. I just made a run to my bank..

earlier. Had to deposit some money to write out some bills. I hope I can make another run soon.

[crispini]

4. My money is in Bank of America, a.k.a. The Bank That Ate The World.

So I guess I'm not worried. Ha.

[RebelOne]

8. I'm a Bank of America customer also and I'm not worried.

In fact, made a $10,000 deposit on Friday. That was money I pulled out of a 401K. I was losing money on that every quarter. So, while I still had something left, I decided it would be safer in my savings account.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

5. This is a really silly topic.

Your FDIC insured bank deposits are fine.

People say, what if the FDIC doesn't have enough money? In that extreme circumstance then more money will be borrowed or printed.

More borrowing or increasing the money supply are not good for the dollar, but those effects are felt by all dollars, even if stuffed in a mattress.

Anyone who talks about potential insolvency of insured bank deposits is a malicious trouble-maker. It is a profoundly anti-social behavior.

[Horse with no Name]

6. The FDIC insured deposits are fine

I guess. Until they aren't.
Not anti-social...but true.
If the entire banking industry fell on it's ass tomorrow...do you really think that the FDIC would still be solvent?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

10. Yes, they would remain solvent.

The FDIC will always be solvent because in the last extreme the US has the option of just printing money. Congress would just authorize whatever it took to cover all deposits.

That would be terrible, but not as bad as the alternative.

Dollars would be worth less real money, but that would affect all of our dollars, so there would be no special down-side to those with money in failed banks.

If you have $80,000 in a bank you will get 800 $100 dollar bills. (What those bills buy in goods and services is a separate question.)

[specimenfred1984]

14. Yep, silly little worries about 30 straight years of pure corruption

Yep, I'm the anti-social one, LOL!

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

15. WTF are you even talking about? Your OP is about taking money out of banks.

You ideas about 30 years of corruption are quite irrelevant to the practical question discussed in the OP.

I'm an old-fashioned non-psychic type... I respond to what people type.

Anyone withdrawing funds under $100,000 from an FDIC insured account out of fear of bank failures is like someone with small kids having loaded hand-guns in every room for home protection.

You are 100 times likelier to loss your money through fire or theft outside a bank that global financial collapse in a bank account.

That's a flat fact that is independent of broader questions like causes of financial crises, levels of corruption, etc..

You might as well be talking about all the people whose lives are supposedly saved by not wearing seat-belts and being thrown clear of fiery crashes.

(And doing so would be anti-social behavior)

[specimenfred1984]

16. Weeeeeeeeeee, I'm talking about the financial markets in the U.S.A.!

You're yapping about guns in houses and fire and theft and screaming "irrelevant". Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[European Socialist]

7. Not much reason to unless you have over 100 grand--and if FDIC

fails the USA will be controlled by armed thugs and money won't be worth much anyway.

[SweetieD]

9. "FDIC fund has about $50 billion to "insure" about $1 trillion in assets at the nation's financial

institutions"

Just like any insurer, the FDIC would not have enough money to insure losess in the case of a total collapse.

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/56994/Top-Economist-Americans-Should-Worry-About-Bank-Deposits-if-Congress-Doesn%27t-Act?tickers=LEH,MER,BAC,AIG,WM,%5EDJI,%5EGSPC

[lurky]

11. True, but the gov't would HAVE to bail them out.

If bank balances disappear, then payroll and accounts payable checks will stop being paid, and the entire economy will screech to a halt. Not to mention the screaming mobs of people trying to get their money out of the bank. Instant Great Depression. Paulson has no choice but to print more money.

[Jack Rabbit]

12. Unless you are dealing with an investment bank, don't panic

Very few of us deal with investment banks.

This is one for real people behind the artificial persons to sweat out.

[arcadian]

13. What's the point in taking it out of the bank?

When it's out it won't be worth the paper it's printed on. Shades of Weimar.