Beside banks, where to keep cash?

[pls share]

today something unkind come to my mind... if cash are placed inside a bank, are they always safe? how do we know they are safe? for emergency back up plans in case of bank collapse...
My question is beside placing the deposit into a bank, are there other places to safe-keep the cash, besides home, home safe-box..?? is there really another safe reliable place to keep?

your suggestions are appreciated.

[Blaze]

Your account is backed up to a certain limit by the government of the relevant country.

Which country are you investing in?

[pls share]

i am in singapore, but looks like the bank only offer insurance protection upto $30K? I don't wish to be at the mercy of others' misfortune,

any ideas what other people are doing to their cash? keep all inside one bank account, or disperse all over the world to reduce risks. or are there real people who store cash at home?

[dark-defender]

Careful , maybe he is casing you to see if you have major cash stored at home. He probably already scammed your accounts and knows your address. :-)

Seriously though - unless you earned the money 'tax free' (ahem) why would you ever store cash at home!

If you have major loot then set up a biz in the Caymans or take it to Zurich to finance your secret volcano lair where you and your evil henchmen can scheme to bring down the world.

[Bankingcrisis]

Dark defender does not get it at all. Banks here are heavily exposed to real estate... and for some of them to go bust is certainly not totally out of question. If you have cash in a bank, yes you are at risk. One way is to buy securities, you will hold the title and it is safer. Much safer than having deposit with your bank where you have full credit exposure.

[fareastjunebug]

Putting cash or gold (for the really worried individual) in a security deposit box would seem a better option than storing cash at home.

[same-here]

I was just about to post a similar thread. We have been saving for years and everything we have is in one bank (albeit, a large, global bank). We have about S$1.8 million in cash. I'm really worried  about this as this is our nest egg to go back into the UK housing market in the next 18 months. The bank we use is as my husband says - one of the safest/ if that collapses they all will, but this doesn't make me feel any better. I read recently that this bank's (HSBC) individual companies are only liable for themselves and if one goes bottom up the holding co. won't bail others out.

Was thinking of putting some money into gold, keep some cash and other option?

[money bags]

I reckon money in a Singapore bank, especially DBS, is probably as safe as it gets.  I can't imagine the SG gov letting DBS go under and they have huge reserves to cover any eventuality.  The problem is that whilst it is there, it is losing value, as inflation is currently around 7% and deposit rates around 1%.

To PP - I wouldn't like to be that exposed to HSBC.  Why not spread it around a bit?  Now would be a good time to convert SGD back to GBP and benefit from low sterling exchange rate and high sterling interest.

[THE Valerio Viccei]

Sure, I can help you safekeep ALL your cash, ive got a great network of PPL to invest out you cash for the BEST returns, trust me..

[...............]

I keep my cash in a biscuit tin under my bed. All 88 dollars worth.

[to moneybags]

good point about DBS.  If Singapore is prepared to prop up dodgy banks overseas, I can't possibly imagine them not standing  behaind DBS

As to the deposit rates being 1%, thats simply a function of the currency SGD, not of DBS.  SGD deposits in overseas banks such as HSBC would also be at around 1%

If you prefer a foreign currency such as GBP, or AUD, and don't mind the fx risk, then I'd imagine DBS would be able to offer comparable rates to HSBC...

[SWF]

Dark defender does not get it at all. Banks here are heavily exposed to real estate... and for some of them to go bust is certainly not totally out of question. If you have cash in a bank, yes you are at risk. One way is to buy securities, you will hold the title and it is safer. Much safer than having deposit with your bank where you have full credit exposure.

Local banks may be heavily exposed to real estate, but have you done your due diligence to see who are substantial backers of local banks?  Yep the same people who are currently backing Citi, ML, UBS, and Barclays!  They will never ever let local banks go bust.  All their liquid billions were kept in store waiting for a rainy day like that.

That shows how much you know.  It is all manipulated. Temasek and GIC are 2 of the biggest big boys you ever played with, and set to get even bigger with their influence on 4 of the world's biggest banks.

[To SWF]

You are applying the ''bank is too big to fail doctrine''? then you have not dig out from history box,the biggest bank collapse --> Barings bank .
its a different cause of death, and nobody knows until its too late. Its always good to make contingency plans in case of the unfortunate events.

Dark defender does not get it at all. Banks here are heavily exposed to real estate... and for some of them to go bust is certainly not totally out of question. If you have cash in a bank, yes you are at risk. One way is to buy securities, you will hold the title and it is safer. Much safer than having deposit with your bank where you have full credit exposure.

Local banks may be heavily exposed to real estate, but have you done your due diligence to see who are substantial backers of local banks?  Yep the same people who are currently backing Citi, ML, UBS, and Barclays!  They will never ever let local banks go bust.  All their liquid billions were kept in store waiting for a rainy day like that.

That shows how much you know.  It is all manipulated. Temasek and GIC are 2 of the biggest big boys you ever played with, and set to get even bigger with their influence on 4 of the world's biggest banks.

[temasek blvd]

he's not saying that the banks are too big to fall.
he's saying that the 3 big local banks are backed by big brother temasek
who has enough money to buy out the US treasury.

[SWF power]

he's not saying that the banks are too big to fall.
he's saying that the 3 big local banks are backed by big brother temasek
who has enough money to buy out the US treasury.

If all land and buildings in the USA were for sale, Temasek and GIC combined can virtually buy out half of the USA, and the better half at that.