Personal Finance Institute

The 2022 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice finds that the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to affect the way U.S. consumers use and hold cash. The share of payments made in cash dropped sharply from 2019 to 2020 and then increased slightly in 2021, implying that cash use hit its lowest point in the first pandemic year. In contrast to cash use, consumers’ cash holdings remained elevated in 2021 when compared to 2019 and prior years, indicating that consumers continued to demand cash in the uncertain environment of the pandemic’s second year. These are some of the prominent findings from the most recent consumer survey conducted by Federal Reserve Financial Services.

Although Tesla drivers may not change their driving habits at night, this may not be the case for other drivers sharing the road.

Higher rates, quantitative tightening and $7 trillion in uninsured deposits have been pressuring vulnerable banks, JPMorgan said.

Lawmakers weigh a bump to the FDIC deposit insurance limit.

ABLE accounts offer much more than just a tax break.

How have investment returns for different portfolio allocations of stocks and bonds compared over the last 90 years?

Worksheet – Banking Related videos: The SVB collapse explained by an economist. Silicon Valley Bank failure (YouTube, Economics with Dr. A, March 11, 2023, 2:51 min.) and What is a bank run? (CNN, March, 2023, 1:59 min.) Summary: This worksheet could be used for in-class or homework practice. Stu...

From ski resort to last resort… Earlier this month Silicon Valley Bank hosted a “snow summit” for tech CFOs at the Deer Valley ski resort in...

Deposit insurance is as American as apple pie, and twice as unhealthy. John Foley makes the case for lowering the $250,000 U.S. limit, which he says could be less cruel than it sounds.

Deposit insurance is as American as apple pie, and twice as unhealthy. John Foley makes the case for lowering the $250,000 U.S. limit, which he says could be less cruel than it sounds.

This graphic charts over 560 U.S. bank failures since 2001, including the two most recent additions: Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate.

Banking regulators at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Reserve and Treasury Department swooped in to save depositors.

In a world where people buy funds that are tied to indexes, the people who determine what go into those indexes have become very powerful indeed.

More details have come out on what was going on late last week and over the weekend with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and the DC officials dealing with the fallout.  And as more information comes to light, we can more thoughtfully reflect on who might be to blame.  We also look at all of the investigations that have been announced as a result to hold the appropriate people accountable and address flaws in regulation/supervision.  Finally, we take a look at the other banks swept up in the frenzy.     The Feds to the Rescue   SVB’s situation was not news to the Federal Reserve last week. They had reportedly been concerned about the drop in value of the bank’s portfolio as interest rates increased. The FDIC was concerned about the customer base being so concentrated in the venture capital/tech start-up space. Both organizations were deeply into the situation Thursday.

It's only about 60 times higher than the average interest rates on savings accounts!  Answer: 20.4% Questions:  What has been the trend over the past two years with interest rates on credit cards? Does 20% seem high, low or just about right when it comes to paying interest on credit card debt? What is one strategy that you can use to avoid having credit card debt? Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

“Are you curious about how much money the FDIC holds in its Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF)? At the end of 2022, it had a balance of $128 billion. That's 1.27x the amount of insured deposits across the country.”

“Hey, if you're currently teaching micro (time for some game theory), macro (bank runs!) or even finance (maturity transformation!) you may want to add a bit about the Silicon Valley bank run. Lemme try to give you a quick couple of slides you can insert into class. #TeachEcon”

Skittish savers can protect their deposits in many different ways if they are uneasy about the safety of their money after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank.

Republicans are royally pissed off about asset management firms with social and environmental commitments. The firms really only care about the bottom line. In this new climate fight, we all lose.

Over the past few decades, Silicon Valley has become a hub for innovation, venture capital, and high-tech startups. Against this backdrop, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) emerged as a leading financial institution. Last week they were the target of a bank run.

Learn more about Bank Runs from my course videos https://youtu.be/f8y-HTU8ffYMy video on Hard Landings https://youtu.be/4yIFbJBRDIE Subscribe to my Newslette...

Expect SVB to remain in the headlines for days and weeks to come.

Banking regulators devised a plan Sunday to shore up deposits at Silicon Valley Bank, a critical step in stemming a feared panic.

Nearly 60% of all online retail purchases in the U.S. were done on Amazon last year, reflecting the company’s tightening grip on eCommerce sales.

It's only a number but an important one at that. Hint: The sum of the three numbers in the answer add up to 22.  Answer: 679 Questions: Why are credit scores important? What factors affect one's credit score? Why do you think Gen Z may have low credit scores relative to older generations?

Competition among peer-to-peer payment apps like Venmo, PayPal, Cash App and Zelle have been heating up for the past 10 years. The big banks tried to compete in the space when PayPal first came on the scene 25 years ago, but their business models failed. Now, Zelle, a seven-bank platform, is outpacing its rivals in average transaction value. But a rise in reported fraud activity recently got the attention of Congress, with allegations that the banks aren't supporting those affected customers.

Learn about your health insurance coverage options in Michigan - including ACA individual and family plans, small-group, short-term, Medicare and Medicaid.