Knowing Your Money Is Safe
by Jean on October 14th, 2008
Hello everyone! I don’t know about you, but I’ve lost some sleep over the last few weeks watching the markets go on their wild ride. What a time! I have read news reports and listened carefully to the explanations of what is happening and why, and I have to confess: I’m just not smart enough to understand all of these exotic investments. Where did all the money really go?
The one thing I haven’t lost sleep over is my IRA account at ShoreBank. That money is still there earning interest and safely insured by the FDIC. And I completely understand where it’s invested. ShoreBank is a community development and conservation bank, so deposits in ShoreBank help to fund loans to real people in real neighborhoods. 
Let us take a closer look at one of the growing lines of business at ShoreBank: single family mortgages. We make affordable, fixed rate, 30 year mortgages to people who want to buy or refinance a house to live in. They want to pay us back and, for the most part, they do. We turn down borrowers when we think they do not have enough income to afford the house or the loan they want. We carefully check incomes and credit scores but also meet with every borrower to gain an understanding of how they handle their money. Do they pay their utility bills and rent on time? Do they have extra income like child support that we can document? If they had unexpected medical bills to pay and got a little behind on their bills, we look at how they handled that situation. This is what our founder Ron Grzywinski calls “good old fashioned banking.” It’s clear. It’s safe. It helps people, and I am really glad that my IRA is part of the deposit base that makes this lending possible.
My money is safely FDIC insured, earning interest and will be there when I need it. That is what I call a good deal!
Tags: community development, FDIC, financial crisis, green banking, IRA, ShoreBank, triple bottom line
