A trusted source, someone who shall remain anonymous lest I kill his business by letting people know he’s connected to me, sent me an email after reading yesterday’s post on banking woes.  His email did not lighten my mood:

A little info on FDIC. They have about $1.28 on reserve for every $100 they
insure. The last time they went broke was in 1992 during the S&L crisis
which was R/E related (mostly commercial). Tax payers bailed out the system.
Banks now pay higher fees into the system (but still not enough) and is a
significant reason for lower CD rates and higher loan rates. Cycles tend to
repeat. R/E’s cycle is about 12 to15 years. Scary isn’t it.

Scary enough that I’m thinking about stuffing my mattress.  It’s kind of lumpy anyway, so what’s the harm?