The present foreclosure crisis is causing many seniors to recall vividly memories of the Great Depression.
Marcelle Uptain has vivid memories of growing up during the days of the Great Depression. Her response to the present foreclosure crisis is simple – she plans to take the money out of the banks and stash it away in a hidden corner in her home. It needed all the persuasion of her son to prevent her from following up her plans. Marcelle confided that she has a small box made of steel that has a lock to it. She said “I was thinking about taking my checking account out and putting it in there.” Marcelle is 83 today and lives in a senior center in Alabama.
There are many like Marcelle who are associating the foreclosure crisis of today with the Great Depression of yesterday. Many are taking the money out of the banks, hunting around for discounts and sending out dire warnings to the next generation about darker days just lurking around the corner.
Nonagenarian George Eckhoff thinks that the latest foreclosure related crisis would be worse than what happened when he was young because of the escalation of food prices. Today he lives in his assisted-living apartment in Seattle but he vividly remembers the bread queues and the long lines in front of the banks. He commented that he did not know how this generation would cope with the crisis since the cost of food is increasing rapidly.
Although no precise figures have been noted, the banks say that more seniors are taking out their money. The sale of safes has gone up by as much as 50% according SentrySafe – the topmost safe manufacturer in the country.
During the time of the Great Depression the federal government did not back the bank deposits. This led to the panic withdrawals. Those who came late saw that their savings had vanished. Today the federal government guarantees the individual bank accounts up to $250,000. But seniors are unwilling to rely anymore on such assurances.
Robert Binstock of Case Western Reserve University who is a professor dealing with the problems of aging and health in the society, said that if one has lived through the days of the Great Depression there is ingrained in the psyche that it is going to happen again. Horrendous memories come back of bank failures and they still think that it is safer to hide the money in an old teapot than keeping it in the bank.
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