The Mt. Gox Bitcoin fiasco this week was a financial wake up call.
I'm not going to discuss Bitcoin as monetary unit; I view it as a variation of Monopoly money that won't buy me a loaf of bread at the corner grocery. As an investment it falls into my "if you don't understand it, don't buy it" category. Until last week Bitcoin had no presence in my life other than a curiosity.
The wake up call came when I saw a photo of a man holding a sign: "Mt Gox - Where is Our Money?"
Where is our money? How many times have we heard that before?
Enron - where is our money?
Madoff - where is our money?
Stanford - where is our money?
Need I say more?
That sign -- "Where is Our Money? -- got me thinking about my money. Where is it? And -- more important -- how secure is it? I know WHERE it is... some in a bank and some in a well-respected brokerage. It's the brokerage money that has me concerned. Like a Mt Gox Bitcoin investor, I have no safety net, no insurance if the bottom falls out of the money market where I have my money stashed for safekeeping.
I decided it was time to secure my brokerage funds under the comforting blanket of the FDIC. I opened a savings account at my FDIC insured bank and will be transferring my brokerage funds.
Better safe than holding a sorry "where is my money?" sign and wondering what happened.
Penny Pincher
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