Banks are terrified you will take out your money on or before the rollover and their message to you is "Dont worry, we are Y2k ready!".

I dont think most people are actually afraid about banks compliancy, rather its EVERYTHING ELSE going on that makes people want to have cash money in hand. Banks keep thinking if they repeatedly yell that they are "ready" we will not take money out, but they dont seem to "GET IT" that people have a thousand other reasons to want to have money on hand, least of which is banks compliancy.

Face it, banks open AFTER you are at work, close BEFORE you get home from work and are terribly slow if you come in during your lunch break when you dont have any time to waste. Banks close for Holidays that almost everyone else have to work during. Banks will close if any kind of major storm is coming and they can close if any situation like power loss or water loss makes them unpleasant places to work in. Banks can limit your withdrawals, refuse any transaction THEY dont like and charge you unreasonable fees for the simplest of tasks. Banks change their rules at whim and tell you AFTER THE FACT by sending you a unreadable piece of legal mumbo-jumbo with your monthly statement.

So now banks are afraid that their little fractional house of cards might crumble and they desperately try to hammer you that they are "ready" but they dont understand people are really afraid of other things and just want their money back, just in case.

For these reasons I am sure banks WILL CLOSE suddenly and on dates they never before closed on. Limits will be put in place and people will be refused cash as much as possible. Banks are terrified because they just dont "get it" and are handling it all wrong.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), November 19, 1999

Answers

I agree with you hamster.

But let me just say that I have a LOT of money, much of it in greenbacks.

I have a LOT of MREs and canned goods, some water, quite a bit of gold, a solar system (although not quite big enough to run the whole house in complete comfort), and I'm armed.

I have a bugout shelter (although it is dangerously close to a country-style convenience store) in case I run out of options or water, and some stored gas.

I still have more money though. I am for all intents and purposes out of the stock market, but what do I do with the remaining cash?

I feel quite fortunate and know that my 16-month-old son will survive anything short of an infomagic scenario.

The point of my saying all this is that I HAVE to leave some of my money in the bank. I withdrew my greenbacks very slowly over time and now I can leave the rest there in case other people need it or panic. I don't really feel like I owe the banking system, but I do hope that my little contribution to stability will help to counteract a LOT of last-minute idiocy.

If other people are as well endowed as I am, I would encourage them to do the same.

BTW, I expect a 7, but am trying to prepare for a 9 with at least a fighting chance in a 10. I frequently wear tinfoil. My gold is all physical, but so is my Remington 870.

Good luck if I don't see you.

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), November 19, 1999.

Hey Hamster's baaaack!! Long time, no see, how ya been little buddy? Good post, you made a lot of good points, and I agree with you completely. Most of the big banks are so busy trying to take care of their own systems, that they have very little control over what is going on externally, with all of the other organizations they deal with. I know some people at banks and they pretty much assume that all other businesses are going to be as ready as they are... bad assumption. Even if people don't withdraw their cash, external factors beyond their control are going to have a major influence in bringing them down. That is the part they "don't get."

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), November 19, 1999.

went into my bank the other day and the whole place smelled like popcorn! A smiling bankperson came over to me and handed me a bag of freshly popped popcorn with a Y2K brochure stapled to the bag!

-- farmer (hillsidefarm@drbs.com), November 19, 1999.

farmer -- are they suggesting you stockpile popcorn? :-)

-- A (A@AisA.com), November 19, 1999.

umm- no- but I DID mention to the teller that if they couldn't even get the pens in the bank to work, how in the hell was I supposed to believe they could get their computers fixed??

-- farmer (hillsidefarm@drbs.com), November 19, 1999.

I'm pretty well prepped and, yes, have money in the bank and will at rollover. Might lose it, too, but so it goes. Have food and water and water filters. Getting fishing pole and just planted onions and cauliflower. I have a lot of seeds. If everything goes down, I might hang on. If it doesn't, I can write you a check.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), November 19, 1999.

Finding out that nothere is "well-endowed" is a bit more than I care to know...

hamster, your analysis is dead on. I'm gonna go to my bank next week, withdraw all of my savings (as I've planned to do for many months), act very goofy, ramble about the Y2k movie I just saw, and relish watching them squirm and stammer.

-- counting (down@the.days.now), November 19, 1999.

hamster:

Things must be very different where you live. Where I live, merchants are more than happen to take checks and credit cards, even during hours that banks are closed. Isn't that amazing?!

As for the "thousand other reasons" to have big wads of cash on hand, name one. What are these "other things"? If you expect checks and credit cards to stop being honored, even if banks are compliant, maybe you can propose some reason for this? Any reason? I'm NOT saying you shouldn't withdraw cash if you want to. It's your money. I'm simply asking you to propose so much as a SINGLE REASON for doing so. Banking hours are clearly irrelevant, and that's all you mention. Are you feeling OK?

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), November 24, 1999.