I sometimes wonder if I'm the only one who just wants a bank to be a bank.
I've been with the same relatively small regional bank for 30 years. I have a checking account, savings account and that's it. They've been stable this entire time, and I've never worried my money was going to disappear.
As another sign of being an old man, I'm old enough to remember the phrase "as safe as money in the bank". You see, when I was a kid, the banks had been operating under decades of strong regulation by the FDIC and other agencies, and were widely considered to be a safe place to put your money.
Not that the banking sector hasn't seen its share of problems in that time. From the S&L crisis, to the home mortgage lending fraud that lead to the big crash. But in all that time, with just a little effort, you could put at least some of your money in a regular local bank, and expect it to be there tomorrow.
Bank local! If you want to speculatively invest, that's fine. But keep some money in a local bank so that you can pay your bills next month.
I've been with the same relatively small regional bank for 30 years. I have a checking account, savings account and that's it. They've been stable this entire time, and I've never worried my money was going to disappear.
As another sign of being an old man, I'm old enough to remember the phrase "as safe as money in the bank". You see, when I was a kid, the banks had been operating under decades of strong regulation by the FDIC and other agencies, and were widely considered to be a safe place to put your money.
Not that the banking sector hasn't seen its share of problems in that time. From the S&L crisis, to the home mortgage lending fraud that lead to the big crash. But in all that time, with just a little effort, you could put at least some of your money in a regular local bank, and expect it to be there tomorrow.
Bank local! If you want to speculatively invest, that's fine. But keep some money in a local bank so that you can pay your bills next month.