Yikes, are you all watching the news?? Over $100,000 not insured, and bank paying only 50 cents on the dollar. Scary stuff...
IndyMac Bank seized by federal regulators - Los Angeles Times

Anyone that has over $100K in any one bank is not using their head. It's just common sense. My grandfather had over $100K in IndyMac and pulled it all out 2 days before they went under (thank goodness for him). I feel for the people who are going to lose their money but maybe it's a good wakeup call for all the rest of us that we need to be careful with our money and not trust the bank will stay in business for the long haul. Is it a pain to bank at numerous banks....sure. But in these kinds of cases, it's so worth it.

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

This is a link to a good site to check on how "safe and sound" your bank or credit union is.
Take your time and read what the ratings mean. There is a difference between "safe and sound CAEL rating" and the "star rating"

Bankrate.com -- Safe & Sound (tm): Bankrate's free rating system for banks, thrifts, credit unions


Another page you can click on the "slick by rating" button. Click on the "1 star" (which means "Lowest rated") you can check each state. Some states have 20+ banks that MIGHT be in trouble.
By the way ..IndyMac Bank was listed as a "1 star".

Bankrate.com's Safe & Sound (tm) Bank, Thrift and Credit Unions rating feature

I am a Market Watch addict. They are all trying to figure out the next to go or which will be deemed too big to be allowed to fail. There are something like 90 on the FDIC list. Many are speculating that there might be a much as one closing every other week for the rest of the year. its very interesting and very scarey.

I heard the guy on the news tonight say that having more than $100,000 in one bank was like driving without a seat belt on.

My grandfather's bank is listed as a 2 on the site, but he have been jockeying money around for months now. That is what really started worrying me, if the banker is worried we should all be worried. It does take some time to add names to accounts especially since some of the family are far away, so it's not as fast and easy as it should be sometimes.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

I hate to admit how uneducated I am about the whole thing, I assumed the insurance would take over, and never in a billion years realized it capped out at $100,000. I will have to remember this for the future

The funny thing is, I'll bet all of us have seen that big FDIC sticker on the door. On it, it says "up to $100,000" or something like that. I guess we never really took into account what it actually meant. Now, we (general we) will, tho.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

QUESTION:

Is the $100,000 per each account? Like if you have CD's or money markets all in the same bank and you have $50,000 in one account, $10,000 in another, $60,000 in one -- is each one insured for $100,000? I'm thinking about my MIL. This is the way hers is set up -- different amounts in different CDs and money markets. They're in the same bank but different accounts.

I have no idea, but, here is a link. I recommend we all educate ourselves on this. I know I am going to read this later today.

FDIC: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Thanks for the link. I'm going to go read it right now. This worries me, especially about my MIL.

Edited: From what I read -- Your total amount in one bank (even if it's in different accounts) is insured only to $100,000 if in one name only. If you and another individual are listed jointly on the accounts, EACH person is insured to $100,000. I didn't know this.

OP, thanks for opening this thread!

Up to $100K in EACH BANK in each name is correct. The problems come in is say you have 80K in an account and you are also on an account for say your elderly parent to help with bill paying, etc. If the 2nd account you are on is over $20K, you are only insured up to the $100K. I you have $100K in each account, you will not get $200K in insurance, only $100K. This is the way it's been explained to me by my banker. My name is on my parents account, my brothers account and my accounts.So, we have to make sure all the money is protected

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

I hope I get to the point one day where I will have to worry about having more than $100,000 in a bank!

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Mary

well, sometimes people save their whole lives, or maybe have a nest egg from an accident settlement that is supposed to be there for future expenses, medical or other, or the sale of a home. So I dont think 100,000 is not a whole lot of money like it was at one time. If we sold our house, and banked the money and rented we might have a bundle sitting there. This isnt something that only affects the rich. It might even be affecting people who have no means to earn more money to live, where I am reasonably healthy and could work anywhere to make some money

I was just quoting what I read on the link and I think we said basically the same thing. Each person on the account(s) will get only up to $100,000 no matter how many accounts you have in that bank, whether it's in your name or whether your name is on, like you said, an elderly parent's account. DH is on his mom's accounts but we bank at a different bank entirely from her. But from what I'm reading on that site, my MIL needs to spread her money around to other banks.

Yes, that's what my mom has had to do.

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

My bank rates 4 stars and a 2. What does that mean? (I have less then $1,000 in it so I am NOT worried, just wondering.)

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Calling a illegal alien an "undocumented immigrant" is like calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist."

I think I am going to buy some krugerrands with my savings. probably safer that way

That's exactly what I was thinking...LOL!

So with the bank problems :

I have a credit card with Washington Mutual. According to what I hear, they are in trouble. What happens with my credit card if their problem gets too bad? Would another credit lender buy it out at a discounted rate to WAMU??

I owe around $2200 on the card.

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"Yesterday my life was duller, now everything's technicolor!"

both of my banks that I'm using are rated the safest...which makes me feel very good...

As far as I know, if WAMU goes under (although I don't think it will), and you still owe the $2200, it will go down as a loss and effect your credit rating for the next seven years. If you need to use your credit rating for anything outside of getting another credit card, you can write to the people that you are dealing with and explain the situation to them, and that you can't get it taken off your rating because there is no one to contact about that....

We were going to pay off DH's credit card before mine. We owe approx. the same balance on both cards. His is with Chase.

Would paying off the WAMU card or Chase card be best right now? We have worked DAM* hard to obtain the credit rating we have right now. If WAMU folds and I end up in collections, I will not be a happy camper.

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"Yesterday my life was duller, now everything's technicolor!"

Take this for what it is: information from someone you don't know LOL

If you OWE a bank money, it's not a big deal. Another bank will buy out their owed debt. For example, I have two family members whose mortgages were thru indymac. Just becuase indymac went under doesn't mean they don't owe it. It will get transferred (or sold) to another bank to take over. Same with credit cards. Someone will want that money owed and will buy the accounts for pennies on the dollar. I pay off my balances monthly but this thread prompted me to call my accountant and I was basically told what I said here. Money owed to a downed bank isn't the problem, it's money earned or kept with them (due to you). Of coarse, checking with your accountant/financial adviser would be best. To ease your mind you could try transferring your balance to another bank's card?

Ah, remembered another example. I used to have a NextCard thru Amazon Visa. One day...no more NextCard. Chase bought the credit card side and my card transferred to my new Chase card

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

That is what I thought too. But everything had me thinking that perhaps I was wrong.

I know our cards have already transferred a few times since we received them.

As has our mortgage.

Thanks!

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"Yesterday my life was duller, now everything's technicolor!"

I heard on the news tonite that some time in the 80's there were 500+ banks on the "in trouble" list. I really don't think people should get overly worried. That is what leads to knee jerk reactions, and makes banks go bankrupt.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

My problem with the government bailing out these banks is...we're the ones paying for it. When all the shareholders were receiving dividend checks and board members were getting 6 to 7 figure bonuses it was all hunky-dory. Now they are in trouble and we have to bail them out?

I understand why it has to be done, it just totally irritates me.

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Mary

DH feels the same way. All these people getting help with the mortgages they were too stupid to stay away from. We were smart, we could have bought a 0 down and a variable- interest only for the first 5 years- rate house but I knew we couldn't afford it later. All these people that were stupid enough to do it should have to sleep in the bed they made. I understand why the governemnt meeds to step in but I think all us that were smart enough to avoid the hype should get rewarded instead of those that got caught up in it getting bailed out.

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Calling a illegal alien an "undocumented immigrant" is like calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist."

I was thinking about this thread when I ran across this on the cnn site. Great Article explaining what the FDIC covers and what it doesn't.


Ask the Expert - Money Magazine What is and isn’t protected from bank failure

Thanks for the link - it really is good information!

Can anyone help me determine if my money is safe with ING? I tried the BankRate.com link and it is hard to navigate in order to find a particular bank. Thanks!

It's FDIC insured if that is your concern.

ING DIRECT USA - Frequently Asked Questions

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Ana
The Republicans have been putting lipstick on a pig for 8 years. Is a pitbull wearing lipstick an attempt to keep us from noticing the pig?