Weiss Ratings Inc. charges $14.99 for each report, and I ordered only the World Savings report. They don’t publish free reports, but give a short list of the best and worst banks and thrifts. They don’t rate credit unions.
Perhaps some of the bankers who come here can advise us where to find this information free of charge, or which banks are conservative lenders.
I want a bank which can weather a loss in its mortgage portfolio, so that means a small percentage of assets in mortgages, and that is not heavily invested in the bonds of the government sponsored enterprises, because they are at high systemic risk of default if housing values plummet. However, the money in the banks is FDIC insured, so even if they go under, there is only the inconvenience of having to wait for the government to reimburse you.
I’ve read of others who advise holding most of their assets in gold, either through stocks or in physical possession, but I’ve not been able to persuade myself of how useful that would be. If the economy collapses, can I pay for rent and groceries with gold bullion? And if things get that bad, would people even go to work and make sure we have our utilities, gas, and grocery services? It’s all too bizarre. And how could I be assured that gold won’t sink back to half its value next month (although it could keep going much higher), as it is so speculative and doesn’t seem to be attached to any fundamentals. I’ve not received a single response to any of these questions, so I think the gold bugs are just in love with gold, with its allure and glitter and mystique, but have not thought through what they would actually do with it if their much-awaited economic armageddon came to pass.
Thanks for your kind words. My kids are now really impressed with me.
