I started a thread a few days ago with the link I will put in this thread, too, because of the topic.

And before you read any further, make sure that you see that I am telling you right here that I am certainly not a professional financial advisor of any kind. I just put information on here so you can look into it further if you want to.

I know that there are probably some who have moved retirement accounts into banks for insured CD's. IRA's are now insured for more than $100,000 and have been for a couple of years. $250,000 for IRA's now, since 2006, I think. But they have to be in certain bank deposits themselves. Sometimes banks have other kinds of investments for sale through them. Things that are not FDIC insured but happen to be sold by somebody at a desk in the bank. Make sure you get what you are doing if you are just after FDIC insurance with a bank.

There are also ways to title and own bank accounts in one bank to capture more coverage by the FDIC. This calculator will tell you all that.

I have heard that people are moving accounts from bigger banks to local banks. There is a lot of stuff going on out there right now. We have to try to understand exactly what we are doing, if we are doing anything, and why. Not so easy, huh. This is all so awful.

So anyway, I am putting the link to the calculator here. It is straight from the FDIC site. Suze Orman has been talking about this on television everywhere for the past couple of days.

Those local brick and mortar banks that do not have stockholders often shelve most of their loans in house. Those banks did not get caught up in the "stated assets" applications and the "drive-by appraisals" that some lenders were using.

Those obscene lenders were actually hiring people to quite simply drive by and take a picture of the house to prove only that there was a house on the property. And the stated assets stuff -- the applicant could say whatever and get by with it. The lender was after the huge upfront fees and the return on the sale of the mortgage out the back door. The lender made the quick buck and that's all it was ever about. No concern for the future of the real estate market -- or for the future of the nation. And through it all, the hogs in DC were wallowing in the slop from their favorite lobbyists.

The concern I have though for the brick and mortar banks that did it right is what happens if this monster devours everything in its path. Jobs will go fast. People without jobs cannot make mortgage payments forever. No matter how well-qualified for the loan and how careful they have been. How safe will brick and mortar local banks be if this does not find some control somewhere.

And how in the hell did this continue and continue. I knew. I saw it. I can bring up threads where I have ranted for months. But I will spare you that.

And besides, we all knew and so did they. This was not capitalism. And now this is like living in some hellish, futuristic, science fiction movie.

And about this link -- we have met the FDIC and it is us, but for whatever it is worth, you may want to run some numbers with this:

http://www.fdic.gov/edie/index.html

Boomer