5 Warning Signs Your Bank Could Be In Trouble

If you've known us for any length of time, you know that our mission has never been to scare you, and we're not going to change that now. BUT (uh oh - here comes a "but!")...it IS our job to alert you to potential trouble.

We are telling you, without reservation, that there is more trouble ahead in our banking system, and we don't want you to lose any money.

As you may know, 13 federally insured banks have failed so far this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which ensures qualified deposits of more than 8,000 banks and thrifts in the U.S., listed 117 banks and thrifts it considered to be in trouble at the end of the second quarter. That's up from 90 in the first quarter and the largest number of at-risk banks since 2003.

If you've followed the financial news at all, you know just how bad the situation is. With the horrible mess in the housing and credit markets, bank profits fell an astounding 86% in the second quarter.

Even the head of the FDIC, Sheila Bair, said recently that there is more trouble ahead and that the number of banks on the watch list continues to grow. The good news (we can use some good news, can't we?) is that, according to Bair, 98% of banks have enough capital to survive the crisis.

Honestly, we're not surprised. We've said all along the sub-prime crisis was a lot worse than everybody was saying. And now, as we've seen, it's a very short jump for Wall Street problems to reach us here on Main Street!

Watch for Those Warning Signs

Even though the odds are that your bank will be fine, you owe it to yourself to take action now. Today, we want to share some tell-tale signs that your bank could be in serious trouble. We know you don't have time to pore through the bank's financial statements (boring!), so here are five warning signs to look for:

1. Has your bank announced any big employee cutbacks and/or layoffs?
2. Are you receiving unusually generous offers to keep your business or to entice you to do more business with the bank?
3. What about interest rates on savings accounts and CDs? If they're outlandishly high and far above current market rates, look out.
4. Has the bank stopped accepting new loan applications?
5. Is the bank cutting the dividend it pays to shareholders?

Next: What to do if You Spot Trouble