What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder.
On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news.
Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉
That was fast.
Okay, so the U.S. has become a fascist state. Raiding the Treasury records. Retaliatory firings in the DOJ. Setting up Guantanamo Bay concentration camp for immigrants. Tariffs against allies. And dismantling banking safeguards.
I missed a bunch. Last week was a lot for me personally, so I couldn't keep up with everything. (See yesterday's post.)
If I had more mental bandwidth, this would be a different post, but today I'm just going to ask a "what if?" that seems like more a matter of time than anything else.
What if they dismantle the FDIC? Would you trust your money in the bank?
Seriously, would you? I'm wondering if I should start stashing cash in my mattress. No, seriously.
So much is handled digitally these days that it would be really impossible not to have money in the bank or on a credit card of some kind.
ReplyDeleteI learned a long time ago to spread the wealth. I worked for AIG during the bailout. I owned about $3,000 in common stock, purchased through an employee program. As a result if the bailout and a reverse stock split, I now own two shares of stock, each valued at about $73.
ReplyDeleteBut here’s the good news. None of my 401(k) or pension funds were invested in AIG stock. As much as I thought “AIG is too big to fail” I also wanted to ensure 5hat I didn’t lose everything…
So it’s a good idea to spread your money around. There’d have to be a catastrophic failure of the entire economy to completely wipe you out, and if that happened, the FDIC would be useless anyhow.
I wouldn't trust it, but what choice would I have? I guess I could cash my SS check instead of direct deposit. But, paying bills would be harder. Years and years ago we used to pay them by money order, so there is that. It would be very inconvenient. But, no, I wouldn't trust the banks. (I use a credit union, not FDIC insured, NCAU. Not sure if they are after them too.) My grandmother kept money in baby food jars. Unfortunately, she buried some (not a lot of money!) and lids rusted, rotting the money. Other cash was under her rug, found when my mother and uncle rolled it up. She'd lived through bank failures before.
ReplyDeleteI saw a documentary years ago about a place where they take cash that's been damaged (badly), and try to identify how much was there. And then they reimburse the people for the money that they can identify. Apparently, it's some sort of law that if they can figure it out, they have to replace it. It's too bad you likely threw it out. You could have recooped the loss.
DeleteYeah, they threw it out. I think you can have 51% and exchange it. That's how it used to be. I think my mother and uncle were just tired of sorting through so much stuff. Not horded stuff, just stuff saved because that's what one did then. Like her stash of home canned green beans, no longer fit to eat. She herself would boil them grey, which wouldn't have helped if they were bad.
DeleteI've always believed in credit unions from the time that I became eligible to join one. (Years ago, they were a lot harder to qualify for membership than now). If they dismantled FDIC, or the similar organization that protects credit union depositors, I don't think I would move my money but the mattress idea might be a lot more attractive.
ReplyDeleteI thought of something. We would go the way of whatever the weed businesses do. The legal ones, like in my state. Since it's not legal federally, they cannot use banks for their business. I wonder what they do with the cash? Even the customers have to pay cash (there are ATMs in the stores). When I worked they paid cash, piles of it sometimes, for bulk soil.
ReplyDeleteHell, if I know what to trust these days. Problem is, if you don't trust the banking system anymore, where would you put your money, buried in the back yard in a can? If it went under, everyone would know that people were keeping money at home and you would not be safe then for sure. I really don't know, in all my years I am here to tell you this is the worst I have ever seen it. I wondered myself if SS and Medicare would be there when I was my time to sign up. I made it to sign up, its still there, but will it always be?
ReplyDeleteIndia has an insurance scheme for bank deposits without which the deposits may go into the ruling party's electoral bonds at any time.
ReplyDelete