Uh? Did you read it? 5 is a great rating. 1 is a poor rating. Most banks fall on 3-4. Yours had a 2.
"Bankrate.com evaluates the financial condition of institutions and assigns a 1-to-5 rating with five stars representing the highest rating. Institutions with satisfactory performance will generally receive a rating of three or better stars with the majority of banks falling into the three- to four-star range. An institution with an "NR" rating may be too new to rate. The "NR" is not any indication of financial strength or weakness. The Safe & Sound Rating is believed to be reliable but the information is not guaranteed. In addition, events since the information was collected may have altered an institution's financial condition."
Quoted from their site.
yeah, I read that. That text doesn't jive with the chart they provide further down. 1's the best, 5's the worst. If you don't believe me look up IndyMac, it's a 5. My bank, USAA, is a 2. Not perfect, but I'm comfortable with it.
"moving your money" is what causes banks to fail. unless you have more than $100,000 per account or more than $250,000 in a retirement account your money is insured by the FDIC.
It's your money, do with it what you wish. I'm just sharing a resource people can use to see how their banking institution of choice stacks up. If you sleep all warm and cozy knowing that the FDIC "has your back", then you are free to not check out your bank's rating.
EDIT: Furthermore, while the FDIC may be able to able to handle the failure of an individual bank, a more widespread failure wouldn't be within their power to rectify. Not without printing more money and further devaluing the dollar, at least... By how much is anyone's guess, but the dollar will be worth less than it's worth today, that's for sure. Printing money does and will destroy the purchasing power of the dollar. Maybe it will come to that and maybe it won't, but if you're even the least bit concerned the least you can do is try to pick an institution that's not on the brink of failure.
Lastly, he who panics first panics best. Get out in front of the crowd, panic early.
