Do you have some money hidden in case of a financial meltdown?

Question

It is possible that the money in our bank will be gone tommorrow. If there is a crash in the financial markets it is possible that the loss will be so large that the government will not be able to bail out the banks.

I wonder if it is a good idea to have a load of money under the mattress. How much do you have under the mattress in case of trouble?

Answer 1

I have cash in my safe but not in case of a financial meltdown, I have it in case another fire roars through the county again.  We've had 2 major fires in San Diego county and both times there were power outtages, banks were closed and access to money difficult.  I think you should always have some cash on hand in case of an emergency of any sort just as a personal safety net.

Answer 2

I think that the global economy has become so interdependant and monolithic, that if a scenario like the one you described occured, society would collapse and money would have no value anyway, so I don't really see the pint of hiding it under your mattrress, no.

Answer 3

The country has been through financial crises and survived it just fine, but you may be too young to remember the Savings & Loan crisis in the early 80's.  The government bailed out the banks.  The FDIC ensures that amounts less than $100K will be covered, so most of us don't have to worry about our money disappearing.  

But your question does make me realize that our savings account is looking poopy and we need to bolster it in case of an emergency.

Answer 4

Here’s the thing: if you keep your accounts below $100,000 (200,000 for a joint account), the federal government insures that money in the event of a bank collapse.  It’s called the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation www.fdic.gov/

If you’re talking about the entire government collapsing, you’d better have your hidden fund in something other than cash because without government backing US tender would be just paper & metal, not actually worth anything.

So the answer to your question is no, unless you're stockpiling precious metal or diamonds or something like that.

Answer 5

I think despite how bad it becomes, our federal government has set up checks to keep a black tuesday event from occurring again. Rather than hide money under the mattress, I think the best way to ensure you see return on investments and savings is to diversify across markets and different types of investments.

-Paige