INDYMAC BANK VS. YOUR MATTRESS

When I heard that Indymac Bank went under, I felt another horrible pain in my stomach. Not like a punch to the stomach pain, but more like "The Twin Towers are falling" kind of pain.

People ran for their money. The police were called to do crowd control. It's wasn't a pretty pictures. I thought this kind of thing only happened to Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life." I didn't think I would see this in my lifetime.

It reminds me of when people swore that pensions and 401k's were protected and there was nothing your employer could do to take, lose or destroy them. Well, we now know that isn't true.

Now they are telling us that the Federal Gov't has everything under control. Yeah, like gas prices.

What if everyone panicked and took their money from their bank? There isn't enough to go around and cover all of us. Especially since the USA's money is continuously being given to other countries. (that's another blog post on it's own)

So what to do? Do I trust that the Federal Gov't has us covered? Do I pull my money out of the bank and stick it in my mattress? Do I go to Bank of America thinking they are never going to go under?

What's worth more, the security that your money is with you and no one can take it or getting that stupid little interest payment that really never makes a difference.

Where is the safest place for my money? All of my business accounts are with Washington Mutual, but they are hurting more than Chase or B of A.

Once again, this is due to greed. The banks gave too many loans and now are paying for it, which in turn makes us pay for it. Let's not forget the stupid average American that took out a fluctuating loan. (stupid Americans is another post)

Here is my decision. I am going to withdraw all of my funds from business and personal leaving only enough to pay the monthly bills. Anything above that is going to stay with me for awhile. I have seen the public do some strange things. I don't believe we are protected financially, especially since the American dollar is so weak. I will make another educated decision once Real Estate recovers and the banks are more stable.

Keep one last thing in mind. The Federal Gov't only insures each person up to $100,000 and each joint account up to $200,000. That does NOT mean per account for each person. It means per bank. So if you have five accounts with $100,000 then only one of those accounts are insured. You could lose the rest. That is the FDIC guarantee.

My parents are smart. They have spread their money around so that no bank has more than $200,000 in it.

There you have it. I don't believe all banks are going under, but I do believe this isn't over, yet.