Our Banks, Our Savings: Top consumer takeaways with a financial expert

SALT LAKE CITY — Days after the failures of both Silicon Valley and Signature banks, what are your financial takeaways?

Dave and Dujanovic’s special programming dived into the fallout of the banking crisis:

 

Lessons learned

Shane Stewart, certified financial planner, joins Dave & Dujanovic for three lessons we should all learn — and action we can take — after the collapse of the two banks.

1. Knowledge

      2. Prehistoric brain

      3. Consistency

“I want to dive into the prehistoric brain a little bit more,” Dave said.

“When you hear something like a bank failed . . . you start thinking irrationally. It’s probably not going to happen that your bank is going to fail. But that’s the first place your brain goes. Your prehistoric brain tries to avoid the loss,” Stewart said.

“I want to dive back into knowledge,” Debbie said. “The one really important thing I learned this week is how FDIC insurance works. And that is if you have like a husband and wife, a married couple on the same account, they’re actually insured for up to $500,000.”

” I never knew that. . . . that was the knowledge, the bit of knowledge that I learned this week that I think goes a long way to feeling more secure with FDIC insurance,” she said.

“And not only per depositor but per institution,” Stewart said. ” . . . If you wanted to diversify that out a bit, you could use a couple of institutions if you wanted to.”

‘Don’t let fear rule’

Dave noted that the Dow Jones is always climbing but sometimes short-lasting, but severe drops happen.

“I look at it and I think if every time I saw a drop . . . and I sold off. . . . I would never make any money,” he said.

“That’s right. And you’re talking about those two principles of the prehistoric brain: being fearful and then not being consistent,” Stewart said. “So if you combine those two things, where you understand you have a prehistoric brain — give yourself a little break there — and then don’t be too reactionary, you’re more successful in investing, you’re more successful in any financial endeavor if you don’t let fear rule.”

A week of lessons in banking

Debbie said she has had an account at a credit union for years, but in light of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, she has thought about opening an account at a local bank.

“So if anything ever did happen. For example, if the Fed stepped in for some reason and had to shut things down, I would feel that sense of ease to know I had a second account.

“Maybe I don’t do a lot with it — just to pay bills with, for example, to access until the FDIC insurance kicked in. We’ve seen FDIC insurance kicks in. We found that out this week. Is that just making more problems for myself, more things to keep track of?” she asked.

“Not necessarily, as long as you don’t mind two different accounts. . . . That’s actually a practical application of the education that you’ve had this week. A bad application of that would be if you said, ‘You know Shane, I’m a little fearful so I took everything out. It’s under my mattress. Here’s my address,” he said.

“I did have that thought,” she replied.

“We do have that tendency to go get that money out, put it in jars and hide it somewhere. And that would be a bad option,” Stewart said.

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Can’t watch the special? Listen instead:

Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app, as well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.