What are safest banks now in U.S.? Will the big banks go bust?

Question

With the ever changing financial woes getting deeper each day, since the Great Britain run of one their banks, I have begin to worry about my own meager life long savings in one of the larger banks in U.S. Should I pull it out and place it overseas in a big bank there, even though they have no insurance regarding their deposits of over $5,000 per account.

Answer 1

Any bank that is FDIC insured is safe.

Answer 2

Unless you have more than $100,000, there shouldn't be a problem as I don't see in the short term any major bank failures.

Presuming you have more than the $100,000 limit you're probably also not in too much danger at a large bank because the government can't really allow the big banks - Citicorp, Chase, B of A, Wachovia etc. - to fail, it would cause a run on a lot of other banks.

If you're really worried, one of the safest banks in the country, by a number of people, is the Farmers & Merchant's Bank of Long Beach California. Doesn't do risky transactions - last time I checked, probably fifteen years ago, they didn't even have interest bearing checking accounts - and carries far more liquidity than is required by law.

Answer 3

Consider the size of the US economy and the international financial institutions in place watching over the world economy. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) has, in recent times, become the "bailout" organization for the world. It has already bailed out Mexico and Taiwan from financial crisis.

Aside from that, the FED's primary responsibility has also become to control inflation at all costs. To do this, domestic financial institutions cannot afford to fail. In both my academic and professional careers, I have learned the federal government quite simply won't let another run on the banks occur such as in the 1930's.

Answer 4

Any bank in the USA that is backed by the Federal Reserve is insured by the FDIC at $100,000 per depositer.

Answer 5

The only "banks" going out of business in the US are the shady mortgage lenders that should never have gone into business anyway. In a regular US "big bank" your money is very safe.