Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 7
Albaby from a different post:
As I mentioned upthread, if you're looking for the federal government to start doing more than it was doing before, you've come to the wrong Administration. The conservative legal project is to put a harness on federal administrative power, and DOGE and the Administration are going to slash agencies' resources to the bone. This is not an era when the federal government is going to meaningfully take on new regulatory efforts.This is a huge problem. Individuals like Dope either ignore, or are ignorant of, the seriously negative issues the administration’s idiots are creating with cuts that are made without understanding what federal employees actually do. Or maybe they just don’t care.
Below is a link to a story today by NPR regarding the harm they are causing to the FDIC. This is scary stuff.
Ms. Wolf and I keep our 3-5 year of emergency funds in banks EXACTLY because of the FDIC. We’re actually thinking of withdrawing the bulk of the funds because of the morons currently in charge.
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/27/nx-s1-5307239/fdic-...
No. of Recommendations: 3
AW-
This article sparked an hour long conversation between my wife and me earlier in the day.
Where will we keep cash for short term needs?
A good conversation for everyone to have about now.
If you remember the financial crunch of the aughts, and how close we came to destroying the ability of people to access their money, and how close we came to wiping out banks in general, it’s a good conversation to have.
There are a number of possible solutions that folks can employ- none of them perfect, all of them with potential downsides.
No. of Recommendations: 5
Ms. Wolf and I keep our 3-5 year of emergency funds in banks EXACTLY because of the FDIC. We’re actually thinking of withdrawing the bulk of the funds because of the morons currently in charge.
Is that necessary? While the FDIC's staffing cuts definitely increase the possibility of any given bank possibly failing, the $250K of government-backed insurance is far less dependable on the amount or quality of staffing. Whatever your 3-5 year emergency fund amount is, you should be able to place it in a manageable enough number of separate FDIC-insured banks, keeping your deposits below the insurable limit and diversifying a bit against the irritation of a possible bank failure.
No. of Recommendations: 3
We had a discussion about this on TMF (I actually went back there to talk about it). While albaby is correct that the insurance is still in-place, that isn't guaranteed to continue. The Felon may cancel the program entirely. I believe it was part of the New Deal, so it's legislation. It will be difficult to kill it directly. I suspect he'll just deprive it of funds.
No. of Recommendations: 4
Where can you hide ??
I have supposedly derisked stock market risk significantly, but that was/is a flight
to T-notes and Cd's. Do not want to have large sums in/on person.
Feels like the Trump walls are closing in, not really any safe place to hide.
Have not taken SS yet, not at FR just yet, but seriously been considering getting the
check flowing before the idiots fire everybody in the SS Admin.
No. of Recommendations: 9
I suspect he'll just deprive it of funds.
Here’s the thing, which clearly demonstrates how ignorant, evil, and stupid Trump/Musk are. The FDIC doesn’t cost the government a red cent. NOT ONE PENNY. The FDIC is entirely funded by banks.
For my friend, albaby: the funds are split among local banks and all accounts are below $250k.
The current administration doesn’t like any regulations, even if they keep people healthy, bodily and financially.
Why? They just want to loot the place.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Where can you hide ??
The thread at TMF didn't really come to a satisfactory conclusion. Basically, if you have the resources, you can open an account somewhere else (e.g. Switzerland). I did try to google that, but they don't really have branches in Phoenix (UBS). They seem to have financial services here (I think two offices in the city). When I think of that, I think of the slew of financial service companies out there (advisers/managers). I should probably call one of the offices to see if they can help me. I just want an account that will not be subject the the US economy crashing, and runs on banks.
No. of Recommendations: 3
Just tossing my random (and potentially questionable - so question them!) thoughts.
So the FDIC functions to protect depositors if a bank fails. And we basically have two tranches of banks in the US - Too Big to Fail, and all the rest.
How do the TBTF banks function? By charging a lot of fees and interest - then raking those profits to the C suite. How do they make more money? Getting more depositors and borrowers to charge more fees and interest. How do they get more depositors and borrowers? Scooping up smaller banks. Whose C-suites are most in tune with the current administration? The TBTF banks.
So - odd as it seems - the TBTF banks might be the safer place with no FDIC.
Am I crazy here??
--Peter
PS - Or just go with a Credit Union. They're not part of the FDIC, they are regulated by the NCUA. Basically the same function, but a different agency - and one that might be under the radar of the morons in the current administration.
No. of Recommendations: 1
I suspect they'll go after NCUA and SIPC, if they go after FDIC. They'd probably get less push-back, I would think, since the banks are a more powerful lobby (and it's actually a benefit if they can advertise "FDIC"). Or maybe the banks hate it anyway? Not really sure.
Moving your cash off-shore to a secure bank (like a Swiss bank that has existed for a couple hundred years) might be your best bet, if you can make it work.
No. of Recommendations: 2
FDOC I don't worry about, but I'm watching medicare closely. My incompetent bedridden sister is likely to be dependent on medicare shortly, just as it is taken away.
No. of Recommendations: 1
<<My incompetent bedridden sister is likely to be dependent on medicare shortly, just as it is taken away.
>>
Do you mean Medicaid? That's the one most immediately under the gun.
