Our financial system is crumbling this week.

[docellis]

i wonder how long we can afford to stay in iraq

[Radbird]

Lawmakers steamed over ritzy AIG retreat after bailout

[greenback44]

i wonder how long we can afford to stay in iraq

There's that and what we would do if (pulling out of thin air) China invaded Taiwan tomorrow.

[KyCardinalFan]

I may call our financial advisor today, depending on the answers/assurances I get here. I just have a few questions that I never hear addressed.

I had heard a week or so ago (when this started) that if a bank fails it'd take a day or two for the FDIC to insure the accounts. First of all, is there a place where I can see the health of my bank? I never hear about a bank near closing, only after the fact. Should I keep a couple of day's cash tucked away just in case? We use check cards for most purchases, I rarely have cash on hand.

I'm not too worried about our retirement or our kids' 529s, since that's at least 10 years away, but is it possible to completely lose that money? Is there any minimum insurance for that like the FDIC? It does suck that the last 6-7 years of investing for college is gone though.

[Leroy]

What would the bank be KY?

In all of the other instances, I had read that certain banks were teetering about two weeks before it actually happened. I specifically remember IndyMac and Wachovia and Washington Mutual (WaMu). After IndyMac, I heard Citi was having difficulties, but they seem to have recovered. It seems what happens is that people read that their bank may be in trouble, pull their money, then the bank really is in trouble.

I haven't heard any rumblings about any other banks at this time.

There isn't any insurance on other investments I'm aware of, so yeah it could all go away.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Lawmakers steamed over ritzy AIG retreat after bailout

This is not going to help the average joe's perception of the bailout. I was pretty steemed when I saw it last night.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Why is the dow up with all the other global markets down? Just because of rate cuts?

Edit: I jinxed it. It went from up 104 to up 30 when I wrote this post.

[Popeye_Card]

Isn't it time for congress to get back to more important things, like questioning Roger Clemens about Jose Canseco's pool party?

[cardinalkarp]

Why is the dow up with all the other global markets down? Just because of rate cuts?

Give it time, it'll be tanking again by later today.

[Arthur Dent]

I had heard a week or so ago (when this started) that if a bank fails it'd take a day or two for the FDIC to insure the accounts. First of all, is there a place where I can see the health of my bank? I never hear about a bank near closing, only after the fact. Should I keep a couple of day's cash tucked away just in case? We use check cards for most purchases, I rarely have cash on hand.

When WaMu failed and was acquired by JPMorgan Chase, the ATMs and everything seemed to continue working without a hitch, and I talked to a couple people who had their debit cards, and they didn't seem to notice any disruption. It's possible that another bank failure could be more disruptive, but, in general, it seems to happen quite smoothly. It may not be a bad idea to have bit of cash just in case, but it's no good to start making big panic withdrawals. When that happens, it can actually cause bank failures. A major reason we have FDIC insurance is to prevent this.

I'm not too worried about our retirement or our kids' 529s, since that's at least 10 years away, but is it possible to completely lose that money? Is there any minimum insurance for that like the FDIC? It does suck that the last 6-7 years of investing for college is gone though.

Your broker should be insured through the FDIC equivalent SPIC, however this only covers you against the failure of the broker and not the value of the investments themselves, so if the stock market goes to zero, you can still loose all your money.