Walk and Financial Tip: Banks in San Gabriel Valley

In the previous post, I mentioned Safe & Sound Rating from BankRate.com, so I decided to do some Safe and Sound research on banks in San Gabriel and Alhambra, including international banks. The rating is out of 5 stars (the more, the better).

• Bank of America (FDIC Insured; 3 stars - North Carolina)
• Bank of East Asia (USA), The (FDIC Insured; 2 stars)
• California Bank & Trust (FDIC Insured; 4 stars - California)
• Cathay Bank (FDIC Insured; 3 stars - California)
• CitiBank (FDIC Insured; 3 stars - Nevada)
• Citic Ka Wah Bank (Not Insured)
• East West Bank (FDIC Insured; 3 stars - California)
• Eastern International Bank (FDIC Insured; 4 stars - California)
• Far East National Bank (FDIC Insured; 4 stars - California)
• Omni Bank (FDIC Insured; 4 stars - California)
• Preferred Bank (FDIC Insured; 2 stars - California)
• Shanghai Commercial Bank (Not Insured)
• TomatoBank (FDIC Insured; 4 stars - California)
• United Commercial Bank (FDIC Insured; 2 stars - California)
• Wachovia (FDIC Insured; 2 stars - North Carolina)
  
• Washington Mutual (FDIC Insured; 1 stars - Nevada)
• Wells Fargo (FDIC Insured; 4 stars - South Dakota)
• Wing Lung Bank (Not Insured)

As you can see, WaMu and Wachovia do not look too good here.... Maybe it is time to stop saying Woo Hoo?

Financial Tip: Safe & Sound Bank

If you haven't heard it by now, IndyMac Bank has been closed by Office of Thrift Supervision. On their website, www.indymacbank.com, you will see the FDIC information. If you are one of the unlucky people who still have some money in IndyMac, you will be glad to hear that IndyMac is FDIC insured. FDIC will go through the list of customers, and return the insured money. The insurance is limited to $100,000 per person per bank: checking accounts, saving accounts, and CDs (Certificates of Deposit).

For those who keep up with economy news, the closing of IndyMac on Friday is not a surprise. Their shares headed southward since mid-2007, and dipped below $1.00 for many weeks now. For many savvy investors and knowledgeable customers, they probably transfer their money from IndyMac to another bank already. But for most IndyMac customers, the shutdown is a wake up call. Who would have figure that a well known bank would close down? Well, they just did. Now you know. Let this be a lesson. Nothing is fool-proof.

You might wonder, how do you find out if your bank would go belly up like IndyMac? You could keep up with the daily news about your bank on Yahoo! Finance. It is probably the safest bet. However, it can be difficult to understand the news if you can not understand all the jargons.

Luckily, there is an easier way to determine how well your bank is doing. Just simply look for the Safe & Sound rating for your bank from Bankrate.com. If your bank has three stars or more, then it is not going to go belly up any time soon. But if your bank has a star or two, consider transferring part of your money to a more secure bank. However, if you decided to stay with bank, keep your deposit below $100,000 for FDIC insured accounts, and move out uninsured investments.


* BankRate.com - Safe & Sound rating
* Yahoo! Finance