This is not to encourage people to make financial decisions they are not ready to make (disclaimer over).

I'm wondering why people, including a lot of my GI associates, are still banking with full account use. I have been on what is called a skeletal banking system (imposed by myself), to enable the cashing of checks. Payments are done by money order. In order to cash checks, I still have to have an "active" account, but Less than $50.00 is maintained in the accounts at all times. In the event of out-of-state checks from clients or credit card transactions, the funds are withdrawn within 24 hours of posting to the account.

Most people I have talked with plan to do something "later". What are the reasons for delaying action in financial actions and planning? With the threat of "know your neighbor" being put into place, and slow, but steady decline in confidence in the banking system, why are't more people taking action now? Is it just too much trouble to pay bills without the checkbook? Are folks waiting for a run to begin? Is the 3% interest to much to loose? Are folks waiting with hope that the banking system will "prove beyond a shadow of a doubt" that they can trust the system? What has determined your target date for financial changes, if any?

Mr. Kennedy

-- Mr._Kennedy (Mr_Kennedy@motivatedseller.com), February 06, 1999

Answers

Unfortunately, even many of those who "get it" regarding y2k are procrastinating, afraid to make a commitment to save themselves. I see this every day on the real estate page of my website. I have over 40 excellent y2k-secure properties for sale on the site, from $15,000 to $375,000, with many people inquiring about them each day. You'd be surprised how many people wait a week or more to contact the owners, saying they've been really busy or will do it in a couple of days or something to that effect. They know we face an unavoidable deadline on this and yet they're just diddling around.

I don't expect people to rush out and buy a rural property overnight, sight unseen, but I do expect them to take 10 minutes to make a call or send an e-mail to find out a little about a piece of property that they have asked me about. I think the reason so many don't follow through is that actually talking to a real property owner is getting too close to having to make a decision they just don't want to make.

-- cody varian (cody@y2ksurvive.com), February 06, 1999.

While I still have a checking account, my balance is usually $200 or less. When I deposit my paycheck twice a month, I put in only enough to pay the bills. The remainder I get as cash back, and it goes into the safe for the future purchase of supplies. Using money orders is just such a pain, and as I only have a coupla hundred in the bank, I'm not overly worried about it. My bank is a small one in a very rural area (town of less than 1,000) and I'm several miles from the town itself.

-- Vic (Roadrunner@compliant.com), February 06, 1999.

because peoplr are afraid to have a lot of cash on hand. every day in the paper, I read abot three or four burglaries in my town. the paper takes great glee in going into detail what was ripped off in these breakins. its always a lot of CASH, as well as firearms or expensive powertools. I do have a 700 hundred pound gunsafe, but am still uncomfortable about putting a lot of cash in it.

-- ed (edrider007@aol.com), February 06, 1999.

We usually look to keeping our funds "safe" and inaccessable from other people when we use the bank. The same principle has to be applied when keeping funds at home. It is not convenient to get in the car and drive to town to get cash, nor is it convenient to need cash when no ATM's or banks are open/operational.

Keeping cash/gold/valuables at home should be addressed in the same manner. It should not be obvious or convenient to get to. Creativity in this type of security measure is the key.

Example: children's toys on high shelves (the one's they are tired of) There are 100's of examples of "techniques", but will not list them. They wouldn't be such great ideas then.

The best approach is to NOT use the obvious, known burglary target areas: freezer, undie drawer, mattress, behind paintings, cookie jar....even safes. A safe is perhaps the MOST unsafe. If you do have a safe, keep love letters and grandmas treasured recipes in it.

Rule of thumb: make it as inconvenient as possible. If it is "not too much trouble" for you to access your valuables, it is not too much trouble for them to be stolen.

Real good one (actual case:) - Upper scale home broken into in very populated subdivision in Raleigh,NC. Small amount of "change" cash, gun, low cost jewelry stolen. The burglar missed: $8,000+ dollars, about $4,000 jewelry (the good stuff). Owner had devised a wooden newspaper bundler - (the wood frame box where you neatly stack newspapers with strings prepositioned under the "stack" till full and ready to tie and bundle) It was never used for that. The bottom half of the layers concealed the above mentioned funds and items. It was sitting in full view in the living room, whereas 3 other rooms were trashed in the OBVIOUS BURGLAR TARGETS.

It's not convenient nor high tech to go to this amount of planning and to actually USE the devised plan, but it pays off.

-- Mr. K (hard@it.org), February 06, 1999.

we also have a lot of FIRES, which the paper takes great glee in reporting on. if your cash is not in a safe, your susceptible to losing it in a FIRE. I have thought about hiding it in the manner described above, however I keep coming to what about a FIRE?

-- ed (edrider007@aol.com), February 06, 1999.

If you own your own home, there are measures you can take to "bury" a fireproof safe that is not in conventionally burglar targeted areas. There are fireproof FLAT safes that would be good in say, the bathroom cabinet under a false cabinet floor.

Consider using junk. If you have your own land, think Fred Sanford for a day. This is not attractive, but that is the point. Get a rusty old water heater from the junk yard. The older and rustier, the better. Lock it in your basement, garage, attic, etc. Fashion a trap door in it. Voila. Very nice place for a safe.

The "Junk" approach can be used for apartment dwellers that have a corner of a bedroom or outside secured utility shed to use to set the "junk" item.

-- Mr. Kennedy (still@work.org), February 06, 1999.

I'm seeing signs here that the local banks are experiencing a cash crunch already. Last Thursday a local bank was running a spot on the radio advertising five and a half percent interest on a six month CD. My old bank (I'm closed out) is now restricting withdrawals to under two thousand dollars without a days notice in advance.

-- Nikoli Krushev (doomsday@y2000.com), February 06, 1999.

restricting withdrawals to under two thousand dollars without a days notice in advance.

-- Nikoli

Nikoli, there are 2 banks that have adopted this same policy within the county I am in over the past 4 weeks. Anyone elses bank? Call them monday to see if there is a limit to how much cash you can draw out and if you have to notify them in advance.

-- Mr. K (here@home.org), February 06, 1999.

Two things:

First, many people keep money in banks because they do not expect their banks to fail or have serious problems that cannot be rectified fairly quickly. I am one of those people. I do not say this without having doe some research on my bank's Y2K activities both from their public statements and from private statements made to me by friends and associates inside that bank.

Second, for those worried about fire, don't count on a fireproof safe alone to protect any flamable objects inside it. If the safe is exposed to direct, intense fire for more than a few minutes the temperature inside the safe starts to rise. Eventually, paper contents in the safe start to smolder and then burn. The safe survives but the contents are still destroyed.

-- Paul Neuhardt (neuhardt@ultranet.com), February 06, 1999.

i ALSO KEEP REMEBERING THE MOVIE in cold blood. THE ROBBERS HAD HEARD A rumour that the fmily had a safe filled with cash. they didnt. it was just a RUMOUR! they were all blown away, because of a RUMOUR! THIS IS WHY THE "GET IT'S" PROCRASTINATE! VERY VALID REASONS FOR NOT TAKING YOUR BUX OUT OF THE BANK!

-- ed (edrider007@aol.com), February 07, 1999.

If you are basing your decisions on MOVIES, I feel sorry for you.

Two you need to rewatch: Terminator and Terminator 2

-- Mr. Kennedy (hard@work.org), February 08, 1999.

everyone has to make his/her own bed on this issue.

-- me (justme@aol.com), February 08, 1999.

Speaking of Y2K oriented movies: "The Trigger Effect" is a must-see. It will really impress upon you the importance of cash (or barter items) when your electronic money is inaccessible.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), February 08, 1999.