With recent bank failures at an all-time High it's probably a good time to really Evaluate your financial accounts now no Matter where you are in the financial Spectrum there are eight things that you Can do right now to protect your money From bank failures and really create a More stable future when the economy Takes a nosedive we're going to look at This from the perspective of practical Actions that you can take now the first Three points I'm going to outline really Assume that you have money in the banks Or maybe markets or retirement plans but The last four points are really simple Techniques that will work for anyone Regardless of your income to make sure That you're positioning yourself in the Best way possible to weather this coming Storm so let's start with the first Point Assess your assets Between the deepening Global recession Inflation and bank failures the age of Progress and Innovation is over for the Near future you really should take this Time to do what Savvy investors are Probably doing and that's to move to the Most conservative Investments that you Can find now might be a good time to Chat with your financial account manager If you have something like a 401k or a Retirement account to gain their Perspective and insight on this issue
Now when it comes to larger accounts Like your retirement plans you may want To create an additional portfolio with Different financial institutions you can Check the level of Deposit Insurance on Your bank accounts the FDIC insures you Up to a quarter million dollars per Account and if you have an account with A bank that exceeds that amount now Would be a good time to move the Additional income to other banks that Are FDI insured recognize the warning Signs of A bank's possible collapse Wherever you bank bank failures they Typically result from the compounding Effect of bad decisions over time and There are clear warning signs at this Moment if there there was a sudden run Of depositors withdrawing funds would You be able to transfer your money on Time even if you are happy with your Bank setting up another bank account Where you can transfer money over the Internet is really like diversifying Your portfolio Troubling signs some bank failures are Sudden and shocking but some pretty Clear signs of trouble proceed most There are signs you can look for before Your bank fails a big one is a sudden Plummet in their stock but by this time It may be too late and your assets could Be frozen still if you follow stocks at All you can see short sell orders rise
To extreme levels right before a bank is About to collapse investors will often Short sell the stock to make a profit on The way down and before it gets to that You can look for other signs if your Bank delay is releasing financial Information analysis there are closing Branches or plans to lay off many people They're trying to adjust their balance Sheets and operating costs quickly to Dive deep into the bank's Health you can Actually visit the federal financial Institutions examination Council website And examine uniform Bank performance Reports or ubprs it's a complicated Database but you may want to do a deep Dive if your assets are significant now Another troubling sign is to positors Migrations on the fdic's website you can See a year to year comparison of total Deposits for a bank and if those drop by Double-digit percentages it may indicate Your bank is struggling and folks with a Lot of money are beginning to exit and Finally if they start cutting services They once offered or suddenly hiking Their fees or interest rates it could Mean they are struggling when you have a Combination of one or more of these Troubling signs people might flee a bank And withdraw their money simply based on A fear of failure and that can add Pressure and accelerate against demise Consider a credit union
Credit Unions follow a distinct business Model that prioritizes their members Needs of regenerating profits for Shareholders they are also carefully Monitored by regulations and are insured And while they aren't immune to playing Correctly and fairly with your deposits And not overextending themselves the Higher regulations and lack of Simply Driving profits make them probably less Likely to mishandle your money but That's no guarantee Credit Unions they Also have a unique business model that Sets them apart from the banks they are Not-for-profit institutions which means They are owned and run by their members Rather than shareholders this approach Really allows Credit Unions to Prioritize the needs of their members Instead of generating profits for Shareholders and while there's no Guarantee your money will be safe here Compared to Conventional Banks it is Something worth researching more Build your Reserves You can look at this from two Perspectives the Practical and the Financial let's start with the Practical Items like food if you slowly build up a Three months food reserve one can one Bag of rice or one sack of flour at a Time you can at least put in the Reserves of crucial items that you would Need to survive if the economy
Absolutely tanks I'll link to a video on How you can do that in the comments Below because I often hear from people Who have made it through tough times by Actually eating what they had in their Pantry things that they had preserved And prepared for future emergencies they Actually spell on these during hard Times you can start by building what's There you can start with one bag or a Can at a time and as for your finances It's crucial to create a financial Buffer so that if you're in a difficult Financial position for example let's say A job loss you do actually have a Financial backup now I realize that it's Hard with all the constant Financial Pressures that we're facing at this time But it is doable when my wife and I we First got married we could barely pay The bills each month but we put together A plan plan and that's the important Keyword here plan that enabled us to get Out of debt and build a savings account And what we did is we took three steps To put a barrier between us and being Financially run if you followed Individuals like Dave Ramsey or other Financial Guru books you're probably Familiar with these three approaches Dave Ramsey's approach is step one save Up a thousand dollars into a savings Account now the reason behind this is it Makes dealing with problems easier to
Handle when they come up if you at least Have something in your savings step two Was to pay off our credit card debt in The approach that we use was a financial Snowball what we did is we started with Our smallest debt and then we paid it Off as quickly as possible then once we Paid that off I rolled that money that I Was paying into that first small debt Into the next smallest debt now I kept Repeating this approach and the amount Of money that we could commit to the Next debt it kept growing thus the Snowball analogy now the psychological Boost that I got from making progress Really encouraged me to move move fast On the remaining debts and it goes from Just being numbers that you look at to Really getting your emotions involved When you get your emotions involved and You experience gains it's easy to Continue motivating yourself and once we Actually got out of debt we freed up our Finances we went to step three which was To save up for three months savings Account and I know that may sound Impossible to go through these three Steps but look having a plan really made All the difference now the book that we Use is called Financial Peace it's by Dave Ramsey and again whether it's Susie Orman Dave Ramsey I don't care really Who who it is that the person's Unimportant the key is that you find a
Plan that you look at and say hey I can Do that and you work it Offload clutter Have you ever watched one of those Hoarding shows and wonder why people Find so much value in all those little Things the truth is that people who have Less tend to feel less burden and some Even happier if you're feeling uncertain About the future economic picture I Would encourage you to cash in that Change that you've been saving and apply That found money to something super Practical in your life do you have Multiple cars motorcycles boats mowers Or just whatever laying around or just You know that hey I don't need this item Why not offload them now if people are Actually still in the market for them Win hard Economic Times come to us all As the economy slides deeper into a Recession where more Banks fell the Dollar is going to lose value and fewer People will have the money to pay you What these things are worth in your eyes Or even anywhere near what you once paid For them they're also going to be Holding on to their money so they're Less likely to buy anything but Essential items I'll never forget Personally in 2009 when I bought my First home after the housing market Collapse we didn't have any furniture Any appliances when we bought our first
Home and we begin to shop on Craigslist It's you know whatever site you use in Your area to find deals or people are Buying and selling Craigslist was the One that we had in our area and what we Were able to do is we were able to find Items at extremely low prices because People were trying to make money in the Midst of a Down market and they couldn't Really ask for much when selling they Were just trying to offload and get cash Because they had other problems to deal With so if you're gonna offload Something now would be a good time to do So Learn to barter Bartering can really be a helpful Strategy in a financial crisis because It allows you to trade goods or services Without using money and this can help You meet your basic needs and can serve Your cash reserves it also enables you To build relationships with others in Your community and create really a sense Of mutual support and bartering it Really frees you somewhat from the money Loop of earnings spending and Taxation Can you help close or can you fix an Engine for someone in exchange for Something or some Services they can do For you and I may not feel comfortable Installing a light fixture on the Exterior of my home but an electrician Could cost me several hundred dollars if
I were to call them to come out and to Do this but maybe my neighbor needs his Lawn taken care of and maybe I just saw Him installing a light fixture on his House recently if that's the case it's Time to make a deal are you a decent Bread Baker and your neighbor has a Garden bulging with vegetables why not Propose a trade you are building a Network by doing this you're building a Community and functioning in a cashless Exchange where the dollar might be Losing value but anyways I would Encourage you to at least give it a try Build your community When the economy turns toward the worst You would expect things to get more Cutthroat and crime levels to rise and They do but something else also happens As well people typically in these times Come together and find strength in what They share when my kids were smaller we Would Mill share with another couple who Had small kids and in this way we could Give each other a day off once a week But we would also buy in bulk and save And we would just cook one big meal we Could eat for a few days it really Enabled us to save money over time and When someone I knew from an online group Was in the path of one of these recent Wildfires that impacted our area here Locally we allow them to come and move Their chickens into our backyard until
The threat of fire passed through their Area it was just in an area north of us Called Hemet and they had a large group Of chickens and you know they got to Hang out in our backyard in our cage for A while and we didn't charge them Anything but we got a lot of extra eggs To eat during that time while they were In my coup I've also been part of a Buying Boat Group where we are able to Save money by buying larger quantities Than we would do if we were just on our Own and we can actually divide it up It's kind of like Costco but you can do It with friends when you buy things Together in bulk from some of these Stores that sell in large quantities Have you ever considered buying part of A whole cow you can cow share a lot of People do this it's ways for consumers To purchase meat directly for from a Farmer or Rancher and often at a lower Cost than buying from a grocery store And you have more control over the Quality and you know the source of their Meat and from work friends to online Exchange groups to community pantries Churches social groups and schools or Wherever you may be involved you should View an economic downturn as really an Opportunity to cultivate a strong Community from these individuals that You build with As divided as communities seem these
Days there are more connected Individuals than you might think if you Start looking for them and making Connections the time to do that is now Grow your own I always Find a way to work this point into my Videos that Getting that ability to grow on your own Is so critical food is the most basic Currency on this planet it's always Going to retain its value and it's Always going to be in demand it's also One of the biggest expenses that we have Now that we rely upon Farmers Distributors Grocers or eating out an Average household spends an average of Three thousand dollars per year on Dining out and that was before prices Started climbing that's the low end Those nights that you don't want to cook Or lunch breaks quick meals between kids Rehearsals or sports events and coffee Stops they begin to add up quickly the Average American family spends over 15 000 annually on groceries factoring in This latest double-digit inflationary Cycle at the lowest when combined that's 18 000 per year reducing the amount you Spend over the Long Haul can easily be Achieved plus it significantly decreases Your dependency on corporate Farms that May fell as Banks go under and economies Bottom out it also reduces your
Dependency on grocery stores that Governments May Force to to cap prices At some point leading to them not Profiting and eventually not supplying Some foods they are businesses after all Not Charities one home built lettuce Tower could keep you in more salad Greens than you could possibly eat Sprouts and microgreens can provide you With fantastic nutrition even while Portion sizes on your plate are dropping Because of the economy and if you even Have a few feet of land or a deck with Sunlight you could grow kale potatoes Garlics onions or something else if you Have a backyard why not plant a fruit or A nut tree and while it may not yield Anything for a few years but given our Current trajectory how bad might be in a Few years even a 10 by 10 foot garden in Your backyard could feed you when times Are rough have you ever considered in Would your community allow you to raise Chickens rabbits or Quail some people With egg producing hens recently found Themselves with an income Source when There was an egg shortage this year and The food that you grow may not be enough To survive on but keeps your mind your Hands and your attention occupied you Develop a new skill you reduce your Dependence on an unreliable system and You might even end up with something That you can trade with and at the very
Least you will reclaim some of that 8 000 or more that you're currently paying Someone else that's going to allow you To focus your assets on other necessary Items now purposely in this video did Not go into alternative Investments Things like crypto gold real estate or Whatever it is that you feel would be a Great investment I don't get into that Because that's not practical advice for Most people instead what I'll do is I'll Link to two videos that we've recently Done that will provide you with more Actionable items the things that you can Do right now to protect yourself and Really create a stronger Financial Foundation to make it through this Recession the first video is about Building a three-month food supply and The other is about preparing for the Recession that we're currently at the Beginning of I would encourage you to Watch those videos or review this video Again and determine what you can do Today to secure a more stable future to Tomorrow the key is build a plan as Always stay safe out there
