Bailout or no bailout, your money as long as you have $250,000 or less in insured accounts at any one bank is safe.Yanking your money out does nothing other than feed the insecurity. Consider the case of the now-defunct IndyMac Bank, whose customers sweltered in long lines outside branches last summer as word spread that regulators had shut down the once highflying institution.
The scene -- folks fanning themselves in the July heat, some even bringing along beach chairs for the wait -- made great images for the media.
But the whole waiting-in-line thing was supremely pointless.
The vast majority of IndyMac depositors were fully insured and didn't lose a dime. Customers could still use ATMs, debit cards and checks to access their money over that weekend as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sorted out the failed bank's business. By Monday, customers could resume all other transactions, including transferring their accounts to another bank if they wanted.
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