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Credit Unions

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Re: Credit Unions

#31

Post by latchkey »

kerkeslager wrote: post #15
latchkey wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a different organization entirely. Functionally it is declared the same in all the googling that I've done, but in practice, are they? I don't know, and personally, I don't really want to find out.

This post made me chuckle. It's basically: I don't know about it, therefore it's scary! But like, what do you know about the FDIC that you don't know about the NCUA? I suspect to most people they're both just opaque blobs of the US Federal government that insure deposits up to $250,000, and that's the limit of most people's understanding of either organization. If you're not confident in the NCUA, I'm not sure what e…

> I don't know about it, therefore it's scary!

What's wrong with that? Seriously, belittling someone because they don't know about something, so therefore they'd rather avoid it, doesn't seem right either.

I know about FDIC. I understand the rules. My bank has a great explainer on their website about the coverage. I don't know anything about NCUA and I don't care to learn, because I'm already protected at the bank that I'm at.

Re: Credit Unions

#32

Post by Waterluvian »

caboteria wrote: post #29

As anyone who was living in Rhode Island around 1990 can tell you, credit unions are no more or less safe than banks. It's more about ensuring proper oversight in either case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhode_Island_banking_crisis

I’m actually curious about your claim that they’re just as risky as banks. Is this true? Or are you just indicating that it’s at least possible for a credit union to go bad?

Re: Credit Unions

#33

Post by 1123581321 »

latchkey wrote: post #31
kerkeslager wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This post made me chuckle. It's basically: I don't know about it, therefore it's scary! But like, what do you know about the FDIC that you don't know about the NCUA? I suspect to most people they're both just opaque blobs of the US Federal government that insure deposits up to $250,000, and that's the limit of most people's understanding of either organization. If you're not confident in the NCUA, I'm not sure what e…

> I don't know about it, therefore it's scary! What's wrong with that? Seriously, belittling someone because they don't know about something, so therefore they'd rather avoid it, doesn't seem right either. I know about FDIC. I understand the rules. My bank has a great explainer on their website about the coverage. I don't know anything about NCUA and I don't care to learn, because I'm already protected at the bank th…

It’s wrong because you weren’t just trying to avoid it personally; you were trying to scare others away by confidently declaring a problem (“a big one”) while knowing you were ignorant about it.

Re: Credit Unions

#34

Post by downrightmike »

Waterluvian wrote: post #32
caboteria wrote: post #29

As anyone who was living in Rhode Island around 1990 can tell you, credit unions are no more or less safe than banks. It's more about ensuring proper oversight in either case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhode_Island_banking_crisis

I’m actually curious about your claim that they’re just as risky as banks. Is this true? Or are you just indicating that it’s at least possible for a credit union to go bad?

Of course they can go bad, they have insurance similar to FDIC. And just like small banks right now, they also have the problem on getting loans to make interest on. Mortgages have dried up. Refinancing is there too. Bigger banks have larger opportunities, so they may be safer with loans being down.

Re: Credit Unions

#35

Post by triyambakam »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #22
FormerBandmate wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can look up call reports to see how much exposure they have to long-dated treasuries. Most major credit unions have almost nothing, and they also don’t have nearly the amount of depositors above $250k so they’re not really vulnerable to bank runs

Thanks. Looks like you can find call report data for all credit unions here: https://ncua.gov/analysis/credit-union-corporate-call-report...

Can anyone clarify how to look at this data? There are a few different reports. What would I look for to see how healthy my credit union is?

Re: Credit Unions

#36

Post by blep_ »

Waterluvian wrote: post #32
caboteria wrote: post #29

As anyone who was living in Rhode Island around 1990 can tell you, credit unions are no more or less safe than banks. It's more about ensuring proper oversight in either case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhode_Island_banking_crisis

I’m actually curious about your claim that they’re just as risky as banks. Is this true? Or are you just indicating that it’s at least possible for a credit union to go bad?

I'd point the burden of proof the other way, tbh. I don't see any reason one would be riskier than the other.

Re: Credit Unions

#37

Post by Waterluvian »

downrightmike wrote: post #34
Waterluvian wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m actually curious about your claim that they’re just as risky as banks. Is this true? Or are you just indicating that it’s at least possible for a credit union to go bad?

Of course they can go bad, they have insurance similar to FDIC. And just like small banks right now, they also have the problem on getting loans to make interest on. Mortgages have dried up. Refinancing is there too. Bigger banks have larger opportunities, so they may be safer with loans being down.

That they can go bad is not in doubt. The comment provided an example of this.

Re: Credit Unions

#38

Post by Der_Einzige »

It appears to me that for the general person, credit unions are strictly superior to regular banks. My credit union has consistently offered me better rates, less BS, and less fees that any other banks.

The fact that they are non-profit cooperative institutions also makes them significantly more desirable from a political standpoint. Seems to be the "progressive" alternative to regular banking.

Re: Credit Unions

#39

Post by antisthenes »

caboteria wrote: post #29

As anyone who was living in Rhode Island around 1990 can tell you, credit unions are no more or less safe than banks. It's more about ensuring proper oversight in either case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhode_Island_banking_crisis

Only 300,000 depositors lost access. Considering the population of the United States as a whole, this seems like a pretty isolated and small incident, when you compare it something like the 2008 failure.

What makes you think this is sufficient evidence to claim that they are no more safe than banks?

Have there been other CU failures of note since 1990? (33 years ago)

Re: Credit Unions

#40

Post by nucleardog »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #38

It appears to me that for the general person, credit unions are strictly superior to regular banks. My credit union has consistently offered me better rates, less BS, and less fees that any other banks. The fact that they are non-profit cooperative institutions also makes them significantly more desirable from a political standpoint. Seems to be the "progressive" alternative to regular banking.

Mine does not offer better investment/loan rates, but they do definitely offer better services and lower fees.

My wife banks with one of the big banks--pretty much everything she tries to do is a hassle. Often that involves long hold times only to be told she needs to travel into town to a branch to get something done or resolved. That's, more than once, been the point where they just outright refuse to actually help her. She pays $20/mo+ for the privilege.

I never wait on hold. Everything I've needed to do I can do online or via phone/email. When my wife's bank steadfastly refused to allow her to send me a wire transfer, my CU was the one that was willing to discuss alternatives and help us figure out how to get the money moved. When I had bad credit but had repaired my financial situation, my CU was the one that was willing to extend me credit based on the personal assessment of a real human. I've paid them $0 in fees in the last decade or so.

My wife's been telling me to get a "real bank account" for years because my CU has been halfway across the country in one direction or another most of the time we've been together and has no local branches. She still can't seem to grasp that it's not a problem when your bank is actually staffed by actual people empowered to make stuff happen. Her "real" bank on the other hand...

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