Better hide your money under the mattress or in a Mason Jar buried in the backyard.:worried:
By Jen Haley
CNN
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Bad news about the banking industry may have you wondering about the safety of your hard earned cash at your own bank.
In the past year there have been four bank failures.
And the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and banking industry experts foresee many bank failures down the road.
"Regulators are bracing for 100-200 bank failures over the next 12-24 months," says Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with the financial services firm, the Stanford Group.
Expected loan losses, the deteriorating housing market and the credit squeeze are blamed for the drop in bank profits.
The problem areas will be concentrated in the Rust Belt, in places like Ohio and Michigan and other states like California, Florida and Georgia.
The number of institutions categorized as "problem" institutions by the FDIC has also grown from 50 at the end of 2006 to 76 at the end of last year.
But to put that in perspective -- by the end of 1992 -- at the tail end of the banking crisis -- there were 1,063 banks on that "trouble" list says David Barr of the FDIC.
Financial Security Watch
Gerri Willis answers your financial questions Today on
Banking experts say there is one thing that will save your money if your bank goes under. That's FDIC insurance. "It's the gold standard," says banking consultant Bert Ely. "The FDIC has ample resources. It's never been an issue," he says.
The FDIC insures deposits in banks and thrift institutions. The federal agency was created during the Great Depression in response to thousands of bank failures. The FDIC maintains that not one depositor has lost a single cent of insured funds since 1934 as a result of a bank failure
Experts say you shouldn't panic.
"The banking industry comes into this in a very sound condition," says Ely.
Seiberg agrees. "This is not a repeat of the S&L debacle of the late '80s and early '90s. Banks are entering this credit cycle with better capital and better earnings. Many more of them can weather the storms ahead," he says.
And there could be a silver lining. Banks looking for cash may offer some of the best short-term CD rates. "It's a cheap way for banks to make money," says Greg McBride of Bankrate.com. [more]
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/02/27/bank.safety/index.html