Americans are hoarding money in checking accounts

I was doing well. Then my job was sent to Mexico. Still trying to recover almost 3 years later. But I doubt that the $116 I have in my checking account affects the economy very much. If it does, then it is not worth a damn anyway.

a reply to: seasonal

Curiously you say you wouldn't keep money in the bank, what if you had say 20 grand, no debt, and wanted that money as a buffer in case tines get tough.

What would you do with that 20 g ?

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

Depends on what you think is going to happen. And every thing is paid off right (house, car, student loan and credit card)?

Total crash and people going walking... I would want Food-lead, steel and a water supply.

2-5 serious downturn. 10% gold 10% (junk) silver food-lead tillable acres.

But at some point we all need to realize there is only so much we can plan for. At some point we need to live for today, as hard as that may be for some of us (me).

Sounds to me people are being responsible. You want to keep a minimum of three month's of your expenses in the bank. It's rule number one for financial responsibility. You don't invest in anything until you have that 3 months of bills in the bank. I keep 6 months and the rest is in investments.

a reply to: seasonal

I'm not talking about a shtf situation, I mean now teetering on the edge like we are.

Let's say no debt, your make a decent income and your renting. So your future is not secure but your comfortable,what would you realistically do with that money?

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: dreamingawake

Seems that a number of people can't afford to retire.

But the baby boomers who have had arguably the best job prospects of any generation with the best pay and benefits should be able to retire. Sad state of affairs if even the boomers can't retire.

I know quite a few of us Boomer hippies who are happily retired and doing as we please. But I can also point to six personal friends who are about the same age, early sixties, (I'm 63) who had planned to be retired but lost about a third of their investments in the crash. They've only just barely caught up to where they were ten years ago. The ones hit hardest are the ones who waited until late in life to have kids and are having a struggle getting them through school without debt. Those of us who had kids early got them through school before it cost a King's ransom so we had a bit more to throw at the retirement fund.

We lost a tiny amount in the crash because we work with a local bank, people I've known all my life. We were investing in the markets and made quite a tidy sum. But when we saw the crash heading in, on the advice of our banker financial advisor, we moved the bulk the assets out of the digital world.

While this article may well be propaganda, I do think it smells fishy when having money in a checking account is suddenly hoarding money. I don't even have tv but I've seen a show on tv featuring hoarders. It just gives a bad connotation to a completely commonsense behavior. Be an ant or be a grasshopper. Grasshoppers don't hoard.

Part of the confusion may be due to what banks call checking accounts. Our bank offers half a dozen different types of accounts called checking accounts. Some of them are very restricted as far as number of withdrawals, minimum balance, etc. but they pay interest and keep the money available in an emergency situation.
It is somewhat like as escrow account. Regular contributions to the account to pay out for emergencies or the bills that come once a year, taxes, insurance, unexpected repairs... Am I being a hoarder because I put some money aside each month because I know that one day the 25 year-old heating/air system is going to need to be replaced?

"Americans are hoarding money in checking accounts"

"Americans are (saving) money in checking accounts" is more like it. Money in the bank Safe ?? ever heard of fractional banking ?

You need so much money to effectively invest right now no one can afford it except the wealthy

a reply to: seasonal

With the historically low interest rates for the past decade there is no such thing as a 'savings account', you might as well put it on your kitchen table and hope it splits by mitosis, you would make more money that way than leaving it in a savings account.

In order for our economy to work there has to be a lot of spending hence lower capital gains taxes and 401ksand on and on

Po folks just want to hang on to what they have.

a reply to: Liquesence

Beautiful!!! Crazy how 1 lil word can throw a totally different tone on a sentence!
Nice catch!

I'm curious... How much of that 10,000,000,000,000 is 'minimum balance'????
Most banks offer 'less' fees if you keep more $$$ in there.

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

Make sure your LL owns the property-you will get thrown out if he looses the property if thing go bad.

3 good rifles-7.62x39 or 5.56mm a 22LR and a 9mm carbine
9mm Glock
Lots of ammo for the weapons and training if needed
$1000-2000 junk silver
10% gold
3-6 months food and water

Keep $5000 for emergency "walk around cash".
Normal investments you are comfortable with for the rest. If things go bad it very well could be worth squat.

a reply to: seasonal

I have all that but the gold , silver, and 5000. But I know how to forage for greens and mushrooms for food.

Ummm...It's kind of hard to call it "hoarding" if it's in a bank account really...

If the money is in a bank account, the bank is in possession of it to do as it pleases, kinda like giving it to a hooker to hold for you to keep from being robbed by her pimp.

a reply to: seasonal
Not this American. My cash stays with me or it is converted to bullion. Cash and bullion is my game. Ditched bank accounts three years ago.

It has been an uphill battle to convince my wife, but I almost have her ready to ditch them. Same with the parents. My bro is fully immersed in the digital world though, I will never be able to convince him to ditch the banks. Anything that helps keep him from communicating with other humans outside a screen is always a plus for him.

Introverted people who are shy are whats going to destroy our society as they gladly adopt cashless agenda.

a reply to: seasonal

I can't help but wonder how many lemmings are going to run out and dig up their mason jars a cash, or leave their mattress a little flatter to haul it all to the bank in order to just like everyone else?

Well - I'll tell ya - I still don't believe this is correct information you're peddling here.

A friend of mine who works at the local bank? She's not really supposed to say - but when I asked her about this? She doubled back and asked me 'Where did you hear this crap?' - I told her it was an article I read. Her response was 'Fake news if I ever heard it'.

Just saying.

peace

a reply to: silo13

Earlier reply.

Ya just did some basic math, and if 100million people had 10trillion, that is $100,000 per. Something is not exactly adding up. This must be a story to encourage people into giving their $$$ to banks.

I doubt that anyone will go and put money that they don't have in a bank.

Another writer of news being an outrageous drama producing A$$. Seriously Americans stopped watching the news, reading Yahoo, MSN, or AOL. The writers are so far out in lalaland and not working for their real stories which require effort and money to obtain. I know, my mother was a book writer full of nonsense and drama BS. Save your money you will need it in life.