# Where do people keep large amounts of cash? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2022, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104 "2022-02-08T13:00:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/41 "2022-02-08T23:23:45Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m envisioning something like this: Or like this - [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/viDL2W0HcJw/maxresdefault.jpg "Family Guy - Dive Into Gold Coins [HD]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viDL2W0HcJw&t=15) ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/42 "2022-02-08T23:34:56Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > What do people do with a super duper huge boatload of money that they want swift access to? Hookers and blow? ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/43 "2022-02-08T23:59:30Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > So does Musk. It’s worked out since he still owns 17% of Tesla, which is a $900B corporation. Though as far as I know, he still hasn’t bought a Hawaiian island like Ellison. My thought is that unlike Bezos or Ellison, we don’t see or hear Musk living high off the hog - rather he seems to be a compulsive workaholic, and does not live a terribly extravagant lifestyle. But any of those characters could presumably decide “I would like XXXXXXX” and simply call up their finance manager to make it happen, if it’s at all for sale. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/44 "2022-02-09T00:12:40Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Where do people keep large amounts of cash? I’m envisioning something like this: > [@Riemann](#): > > Or like this - Or like this: [![](https://static1.cbrimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/smaug-hobbit2.jpg) ](https://static1.cbrimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/smaug-hobbit2.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/45 "2022-02-09T00:20:29Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > FDIC limit is only 250K per account. Opening up 400 bank accounts doesn’t seem feasible. The FDIC limit is only on what is insured. The bank will let you put the full 100 million in if you want. Many corporations keep well over the $250k limit in any one institution. If have researched the bank and believe it to be well capitalized, there’s no reason unless you are just really paranoid, to limit your deposit to $250k. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/46 "2022-02-09T00:23:45Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > most buyers don’t need to wait on financing, they just whip out their American Express card. Most car dealerships limit the amount they will let you put on the Amex or other reward card for the car purchase. The last car I bought would only let me put $2,500 on the Amex. Because the merchant fee for Amex is so high, it’s not worth it for them to let you buy the whole car on Amex. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/47 "2022-02-09T00:26:48Z")
Open up a brokerage account at Fidelity or someplace, and deposit the money there. The protection is much higher than $250,000. If I’m reading it right, these are the protections at Fidelity in the event _Fidelity_ goes bankrupt or the money goes missing from your account. None of this is protection from fluctuations in the market - [SIPC](http://www.sipc.org/) $250,000 in cash waiting to be invested - SIPC $500,000 in securities (includes cash kept in a money market) - NFS $1 billion in securities - Excess of SIPS $1.9 million on cash waiting to be invested - Excess of SIPS $no limit on securities - FDIC up to $1.25 million (on another page) I understand the “excess of SIPS” as when you hit the $250,000 SIPS limit, you then go into the $1.9 million private insurance coverage. But I don’t quite know what the $1 billion and $no limit coverages mean. If the “total aggregate” $1 billion means for the whole company, then that seems absurdly low. Anyway, you can drop several millions in there, put a bunch in safe securities, and still get your cash money back if Fidelity itself goes under. > **[Trading FAQs: About Your Trading Account | Fidelity](https://www.fidelity.com/trading/faqs-about-account#faq_about12)** > > Learn about your Fidelity Brokerage Account. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/48 "2022-02-09T01:00:38Z")
You are entirely correct but if you are just parking cash until you figure out what to do with it, you don’t need margin so a cash account serves your purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/49 "2022-02-09T01:01:50Z")
I don’t think anybody here has asked @pkbites this relevant question yet: Need answer fast? ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/50 "2022-02-09T01:04:11Z")
I’m actually dealing with two problems right now in my volunteer and professional lives that basically boil down to banks not wanting to take large amounts of cash from depositors right now. It’s harder to park $100 million in the bank than it used to be, or for many smaller companies, even $100k. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/51 "2022-02-09T01:29:14Z")
It’s come up a couple of times, but here’s a good article about how the Reserve Fund broke the buck. It’s pretty good writing for USA Today. > **[Callaway: Lehman and the day the buck broke](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2013/09/11/callaway-money-funds-2008-financial-crisis-lehman/2800783/)** > > USA TODAY Editor Dave Callaway on the collapse of Lehman Bros. and the day the buck broke. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/52 "2022-02-09T01:37:24Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > FDIC limit is only 250K per account. $250k per account. If you’re married (example), you can have three FDIC-insured accounts at one bank: - Account under your name - Account under spouse’s name - Joint account So if you have a combo of ten banks and credit unions in your immediate area, you could $7.5 million in principal easy cash all FDIC insured and available. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/53 "2022-02-09T02:23:46Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > So investments and bonds are out. US bonds are among the safest possible investments around. If it ever gets to the point where the US defaults on them (and it is still an open legal question if the US even can default) you’d have worse issues to deal with than your play money. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/54 "2022-02-09T04:08:03Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > and it is still an open legal question if the US even can default Hmmm. [Public Debt Clause | U.S. Constitution Annotated | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute](https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-14/section-4/public-debt-clause) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/55 "2022-02-09T04:13:05Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > US bonds are among the safest possible investments around. Treasury bonds are safe in terms of credit risk, but they carry substantial interest rate risk. Treasury _bills_ (short term US government obligations) fit the OP’s criteria for massive liquidity and complete safety. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/56 "2022-02-09T04:48:07Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Most car dealerships limit the amount they will let you put on the Amex or other reward card for the car purchase. The last car I bought would only let me put $2,500 on the Amex. Because the merchant fee for Amex is so high, it’s not worth it for them to let you buy the whole car on Amex. I think my dealer let me put $2500 on Amex. However, I presume if you are a billionaire and want to buy that Rolls or Bentley on your Amex, the dealer will simply accept the card and it will cost 3% more - and if you have a billion or more, who cares about an extra $15,000? If you’re worried about bonds or banks failing, buy a huge amount of gold with your spare change and put it in a very solid secure place where it won’t be at risk, like that vault in the basement of the World Trade Center. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/57 "2022-02-09T04:52:34Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > that vault in the basement of the World Trade Center Don’t knock it. On September 12th (a) the gold was worth more (b) the vault was harder to break into ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/58 "2022-02-09T10:46:05Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > I suppose you don’t mean physical cash but a readily accessible liquid investment? Yes, our guy wants to be able to get his cash quickly no different than you or I going to the bank or ATM. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That said, I doubt I’d worry too much about money in excess of $250,000 at any of the three or four largest, **too-big-to-fail** banks. Where have I heard that term before? > [@RitterSport](#): > > for amounts above $250k, it’s safer than a bank account. > > To answer the OP, the answer really is a money market account for anyone who has a large cash position. Wait a minute, I have a money market account and recall the FDIC is still only 250K. So our lottery guy puts 50 mil into one isn’t he still taking a risk? > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Now I wonder what a guy like you is planning that you ask that kind of questions: 100 mil? Hmmm… seems out of character for a LEO. You are not looking for an accomplice, are you? 🥸 Heh. I’ll never tell while the sun is shining. Nah. Truth is tax time is coming up and I have these guys at work ask me all sorts of financial (and sometime goofy) questions because I have an accountant and a tax attorney due to a business I own. But as I stated in a previous thread I don’t pay them to answer other peoples questions. You guys are just as good (sometimes better) and it cost me nothing. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > [@pkbites](#): > > > > So investments and bonds are out. > > US bonds are among the safest possible investments around. > > But they’re still not as liquid as cash on hand. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/59 "2022-02-09T11:07:03Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > > [@Schnitte](#): > > > > I suppose you don’t mean physical cash but a readily accessible liquid investment? > > Yes, our guy wants to be able to get his cash quickly no different than you or I going to the bank or ATM. But you can’t get millions of dollars from an ATM, because it is not on hand. I doubt you could even get more than a couple of hundred grand from a bank branch with zero advance notice, much less hundreds of millions or truckloads of banknotes. You can get your loads of cash, but I assume it would take them a day or two get get it together for you, so you would have to call ahead (plus, unless it’s for mattress stuffing you don’t need that much cabbage, so who cares if it takes 24 hours to prepare a backpack full of bills) > [@RitterSport](#): > > Not a money market account, a money market fund. I have a Fidelity account and a chunk of that is in their Government money market fund. It’s not a checking account for all purposes, but I can write checks against it, or easily wire what I need into a regular checking account within a couple of hours. Right, you will have an ATM card and so on, it’s not like you don’t have access to your own funds. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104/60 "2022-02-09T11:09:30Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Wait a minute, I have a money market account and recall the FDIC is still only 250K. > So our lottery guy puts 50 mil into one isn’t he still taking a risk? Not a money market account, a money market fund. I have a Fidelity account and a chunk of that is in their Government money market fund. It’s not a checking account for all purposes, but I can write checks against it, or easily wire what I need into a regular checking account within a couple of hours. It’s not guaranteed to not lose money, it’s just really, really unlikely. **dalej42** mentions the reserved fund that “broke the buck” (lost money) and it shook the industry, since that just doesn’t happen with money market funds. Since then, there has been money market reform to make it even more unlikely, and the reserve fund was not a Government money market fund – it had invested in Lehman debt. Anyway, money market funds are where corporations keep their large cash reserves – you earn more than a savings or checking account and it’s probably safer for amounts over $250k. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-keep-large-amounts-of-cash/959104.md?page=4)