Trust the banks or hide the cash in the garden?

W

ww3

Guest
Mod - Please feel free to move as not sure where to post but to me it is an "investment" of my life savings and not deposit related etc.

I need your advice please - I am really stressed and I know there must be others out there thinking the same thing. I have worked hard for savings for many years and now I fear that the gov guarantee means, well I don't trust it.

Cash deposits savings are everything I have.

No property, no gold, no shares etc etc. Just cash in irish banks.

I dont want to buy property as I cant afford it. I want to have some cash in the event that the banks do not deliver on guarantee or my savings are turned to a new irish punt.

I think hiding cash in the house is just as risky as a bank so what about somewhere in the garden?

What do you think of seperating cash in euro(german notes x)/dollar/sterling/singa dollar/swiss franc and sealing it in a plastic bag put it in a biscut tin and making sure to remember where I put it? Or what about storing in a swiss bank safe(maybe this is a worse idea but anyone with any genueine suggestions please tell).

Are there seal proof waterproof boxes/safes to hide in the ground?

I feel this site is the only place where I am likely to get a sensible answer so please do not post unless you have genuine advice and not having a laugh at my knee jerk reactionary thinking. I am a regular reader and find this site a great resource, so please, please help!!!!!

I will not be putting all my money here but just over half my life savings, but I feel it would help me sleep at night. I do not care about interest rates as keeping the capital 100% safe is my ONLY concern until this euro/world banking crisis calms down.
 
No matter how risky you consider the banks are they are far safer then hiding it in your house.
 
I feel I need to have cold/hard cash at the moment. I know there is some risk so I suppose I am looking at "the best way of doing a risky thing"... i know crime into homes increases in a recession but there must be unwritten rules of "best practice"... or a list of "do nots"
 
Oh and I'm thinking more near the house rather than inside the house?
 
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Are there seal proof waterproof boxes/safes to hide in the ground?
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Yes. Argos sells such safes. Get a fireproof one and bolt it to the floor in an inconspicuous place.
Mightn't be a bad idea to hide a few euros in grocery tins (awkward for a burglar to check all the tins) Try to get 'X' euros as well.
I've minimised my cash by paying any spare cash straight off the mortgage. My emergency fund is well hidden.

No matter how risky you consider the banks are they are far safer then hiding it in your house.
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Hmmm... You have a lot of confidence in the government! I'd rather take my chances with the local crooks or house flood/fire etc.
 
leghorn said:
Hmmm... You have a lot of confidence in the government! I'd rather take my chances with the local crooks or house flood/fire etc.
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It's not that I have any faith in the government.

I just can't think of many scenarios where the government has been let go bankrupt by Europe/IMF and the paper euro still has value.
 
Thanks for your replies. I'll check out Argos. As for hyper inflation... my understanding this will not happen overnight and as soon as this reverse comes about I can then invest in some hard commodities/use some cash before it loses real value? Also having some currencies like sterling/yen, sing dollar/ us dollar I would have thought would offer some diversity here unless a global simulatenous hyperinflation overnight???

As to a scenario.. it is one "likely" scenario that has me thinking about all this... the really scary one where Ireland is kicked out of the euro and the irish euro notes are worth less than the german and french ones. Crazy thinking maybe, but so was thinking about any risky banks in this country less than a year ago!
 
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The reality of life is there is no 100% safe place to put your money, we've seen the value of shares and property collapse in Ireland, the same could happen gold, a bank could go bust and the Govt not have the cash to bail them out, the dog could dig up your biscuit tin and chew your money to pieces etc etc.

If you are really nervous then split your money between banks backed by different govt schemes, eg AIB backed by Ireland, Ulster Bank is 70% owned by the British Govt, NIB is back by the Danish Govt, Rabobank under whatever scheme the Dutch have etc

As for hyperinflation, if it happens, no matter where you've put your money, it'll be worthless anyway so why worry about it
 
Thanks mpsox I agree nothing is 100% safe I just want to maximise whatever choices I have and minimise exposure/risk as much as possible.

I'm fearful of those individual accounts, while being non-irish banks will still be "irish resident based euro value" and return to me an "irish euro equivalent amount" in the unlikely but highly possible event we leave europe (don't wish to start a thread on this possibility, this is just my opinion).

I understand Northern Rock is a safer bet than most, do they accept sterling amounts or even dollar amounts to irish residents via their dublin branch or would they guarantee germany marked euro notes?

Maybe I need to start a new thread on this but would silver be a good hyperinflation hedge?






Mpsox said:
The reality of life is there is no 100% safe place to put your money, we've seen the value of shares and property collapse in Ireland, the same could happen gold, a bank could go bust and the Govt not have the cash to bail them out, the dog could dig up your biscuit tin and chew your money to pieces etc etc.

If you are really nervous then split your money between banks backed by different govt schemes, eg AIB backed by Ireland, Ulster Bank is 70% owned by the British Govt, NIB is back by the Danish Govt, Rabobank under whatever scheme the Dutch have etc

As for hyperinflation, if it happens, no matter where you've put your money, it'll be worthless anyway so why worry about it
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ww3 said:
As to a scenario.. it is one "likely" scenario that has me thinking about all this... the really scary one where Ireland is kicked out of the euro and the irish euro notes are worth less than the german and french ones. Crazy thinking maybe, but so was thinking about any risky banks in this country less than a year ago!
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Great point there WW3. If someone had talked a year ago about banks going bust they would have been called crazy. Who knows what great news the banks or government will have for us tomorrow such as more money being tranferred to bigger banks in the past prior to audits to conceal loans or debts. If some more banks collapse, the government may have 2 options honour the guarantee and collapse too or ignore the guarantee.
However I think I will risk it with Anglo for a year fixed making 4% after DIRT in times of deflation rather than hide money. Both ideas seem very risky though by the sound of it. Good luck WW3 with your plans. Don't forget where you hid it and have some builders find a stash of cash in 2070! You have really made me think!
 
I haven't got around to burying cash or gold bars yet, but I certainly have thought about it in the last few months. Nothing is strange these days. If you decide against the buriel, why not have your money in many different institutions, post office, British bank, German bank etc. If the whole lot go burst then probably the money in itself will be worthless. We'll be back to bartering.
 
Be careful with the garden because of the risk of increased flooding from the USSR's weather machines the ozone layer global warming climate change credit crunch insert latest reason society will end here.
 
jhegarty said:
If the euro become worthless then the euro becomes worthless. Doesn't matter what bank it's from.
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Are you sure about this? Can anyone else confirm? What I mean is the definition of the "euro" is not as clear as I previously thought.

Another post on this site mentioned the fact that different countries have different markings on the euro note. Germany has an "x". I know if the euro collapses then end of...but the possiblitiy in theory at least that at some point in time only german and perhaps french marked euro notes continue to be recognised as "current euro market value" until such time that other countries convert their devalued euro notes to their new currencies. I know I am yet again talking worst case scenario and showing symptoms of "crazy paranoia" but with the past few months I think anything is now possible.

Does anyone know how to convert irish euro notes to german/berlin issued/printed euro notes without having a german bank account? Don't think Irish banks do it. And if not how do I set up a german bank account from here?
 
ww3 said:
Are you sure about this? Can anyone else confirm? What I mean is the definition of the "euro" is not as clear as I previously thought.

Another post on this site mentioned the fact that different countries have different markings on the euro note. Germany has an "x". I know if the euro collapses then end of...
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Please read this:
http://blogs.ft.com/maverecon/2008/11/eurosceptics-remedial-education-class-1/
before continuing

Maybe I can make this clear [...] by referring to the example of [...] the US dollar. Even among the small pile of US dollar bills I keep at home for travel purposes, I have bills issued by most of the Federal Reserve Districts of the US. I have a one dollar bill from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Illinois (with a capital G in the center of the rosette to the left of George Washington’s portrait), one from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Virginia (with an E), one from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (with a C), one from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Georgia (with an F),one from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York (with a B), one from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Ohio (with a D) and one from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (with an A). I even have one from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, California (with an L).
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ww3 said:
Are you sure about this? Can anyone else confirm? What I mean is the definition of the "euro" is not as clear as I previously thought.

Another post on this site mentioned the fact that different countries have different markings on the euro note. Germany has an "x". I know if the euro collapses then end of...but the possiblitiy in theory at least that at some point in time only german and perhaps french marked euro notes continue to be recognised as "current euro market value" until such time that other countries convert their devalued euro notes to their new currencies. I know I am yet again talking worst case scenario and showing symptoms of "crazy paranoia" but with the past few months I think anything is now possible.

Does anyone know how to convert irish euro notes to german/berlin issued/printed euro notes without having a german bank account? Don't think Irish banks do it. And if not how do I set up a german bank account from here?
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A euro is a euro. There is no difference between an a euro issues in Ireland and one issued in Germany. It's the whole point of a common currency.


If there was an truth to this "german euro" stuff then there we be currency trading and specultation in the different euros.
 
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