Normally I wouldn’t use this forum to vent, but given the situation and the vent, it seemed appropriate. Here’s the thing, people. Lay off the panic button!

Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty to be concerned with. I’m not happy about this $700 billion bailout that we’re having to finance as taxpayers. Personally, I think a little of this should come from the assets of the ‘fat cats’ who got rich off this and are now floundering around trying to explain their actions. But, there’s not much I can do about the bailout, it HAS to happen. The alternative is far worse.

However, before we get into the bailout in great detail, here’s what I think needs to happen immediately. The top executives need to pony up some of the dough they earned off the faulty loans to cover some of this mess, they need to place a capped income level on executive positions, the yahoos responsible for poor decision making need to be let go and sent on their merry way WITHOUT a severance package, and there needs to be some serious inquiries into fraud by the FBI. By the way, why is that any other position in an organization that a person is fired from they get the boot and told good luck in the unemployment line, but an executive gets a referral and a severance package?

“Gee, you’ve done a piss poor job in our company, but we like you Peter. Here’s a reference and $1,000,000 to keep your mouth shut about what goes on here. Now pack your $hit and leave.”

And thus, to me, it appears that such an action is more of a bribe.

So make no mistake, I’m on the taxpayers’ side. However, there is nothing I can do about it. I can’t make the problem go away and getting mad at me won’t help. I am there to help you make the best decisions based on the problems in the economy right now, but I’m not there for you to yell at.

Why am I bringing this up, you ask? Because, since Lehman and Merrill Lynch went down, we’ve had people pouring into the credit union concerned about their accounts. That’s fine, I’m glad to see people getting a little more proactive. They need to structure their accounts accordingly so that they’re protected. They need to have a plan of action for worst case scenario. Those things I’m there to help with. But, it goes back to financial education. Most folks know enough to get them in trouble and that’s it.

Case in point. I had a member walk in the other day panicking, and he wanted to pull his $150,000 dollars. He said our credit union was next, he just knew it. First of all, we’re no where near about to fall under, in fact, we’re considering expansion plans. So, I don’t know where he got this from, but I suspect he made it up and them made himself believe it. Anyway, he comes in freaking out.

We go to an office and talk and I ask him why he thinks we’re going under. He says, “Cause all you f$%#ing banks are going under. You’re taking my hard earned money and pissing it down the drain.” I asked him if he’d checked our rating with Bankrate.com or with Dunn and Bradstreet because according to them we’re fine. I asked if he’d checked the last quarterly report that is public record showing we had all of our numbers in the positive…we MADE money. I asked if he’d really considered what it was that was bothering him.

He thought about it a minute and asked if he could really check our rating at Bankrate.com. I said yes, though Dunn and Bradstreet is a little more reliable. He thought about it, then shook his head and said it didn’t matter, he couldn’t be tricked, we were going down and we weren’t taking his money with him. Honestly, I was trying not to laugh at this point. Not being mean or anything, but he was SO serious. It was comical.

I explained that I’d be happy to close his accounts but where did he think his money would be safer? He said…get this…buried in his backyard. I was floored. I looked at him a moment, waiting for a serious response, only to realize that he was completely serious. He actually wanted me to give him $150,000 in cash to bury in his backyard. Absolutely not!

First of all, I can’t give that much in cash at any one time…there are limits and rules, something like that would have to be prearranged. Secondly, how is the backyard any safer than the credit union? At least in the credit union, he’s earning interest and he gets his money back if we do go belly up. In the backyard, if a dog digs it up and someone takes it, that money is gone. No insurance and no getting it back. Think the police will take you seriously when you call to say you had $150,000 buried in your backyard and it’s suddenly missing? Be realistic.

But here’s where we start to get to the heart of the problem. He’s concerned about our insurance. He confidently tells me he heard our insurance was drying up and we wouldn’t be able to pay anyone anything. Realizing what his concern truly was, I was able to help educate him. So, I got some literature that showed we were insured with the NCUA and not FDIC, and then explained the difference and that the FDIC was still insuring people’s money, they’re just having to seek alternative funding. We talked about styling and how to protect all of his money and then I was able to convince him to stay with us and restyle a secondary account so that his additional $50,000 was covered.

But, this has been my week. Restructuring accounts, helping people decide where to move money we just can’t make work in the insurance matrix, and educating them on the whole situation right now. People start panicking and it only makes things worse.

As I mentioned, the bailout is necessary. You can agree or not, but the repercussions of not doing so could be far worse. First of all, a collapse in the financial industry would be have devastating affects across the country, not to mention the world. We’d be looking at a massive and protracted recession that could lead to a depression the likes of which we haven’t seen since The Great Depression. Secondly, the number of jobs lost would be overwhelming and would devastate our statistics. There are approximately 8.2 million people in the financial industry, and I’m not talking just on Wall Street. There’s the tellers, the personal bankers – like me – secretaries, guards, and so on. Those taxpayers would be out of a job, and with that many people looking to enter the workforce, there’d be a lot more competition and a lot more people living off of social programs that eat at taxpayer dollars. That in turn will take away from other programs such as an energy or healthcare.

While the idea of us forking over $700 billion to bailout those who are greedy and selfish doesn’t sit well with me, I know that not doing so will be devastating to me, my industry, and this country at large. Something must be done; however, I think there should be some safeguards in place so this doesn’t happen again. As I said before, what’s done is done. There’s no sense wasting energy on it because we can’t change it. However, we can choose to make personal changes that protect our investments and assets so that the affects of the economy do not deter us from our goals. Instead of focusing on all the negative going on, perhaps people should be focusing their energies on how they can improve their own situation so they don’t lose money in the process.

Just my two cents on it all. So, what are your thoughts? I know this is a bit of a rant. I’m planning on doing a more sophisticated post on the bailout, but this was sort of off the cuff just because I’ve been hearing it all week. Are you one that’s on the panic button? Or are you more worried about how you can protect yourself rather than what the government is doing?

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