Banking, finance, and taxes

Confidence In Banks Plummets

As the largest banks in the United States prepare “living wills” for the government in the event that any of them should become financially nonviable, Americans continue to lose their trust in banks. According to a new poll by Gallup:

These bleak perceptions of the nation’s banks are consistent with ongoing banking issues worldwide, including the continuing crisis in Europe, particularly regarding European banks. It is also consistent with the major J.P. Morgan trading loss and Moody’s recent downgrade of large global banks, including some banks in the United States.

As a result:

Americans’ confidence in U.S. banks is now at a record-low 21%, down slightly from 23% in the past two years and one percentage point below the 22% found in 2009. The percentage of Americans saying they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in U.S. banks is now about half the pre-recession level of 41%, recorded in June 2007.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Are You Ahead, or Behind on Retirement? (sponsor)

If you’re one of the over 4 Million Americans  set to retire this year, you may want to pay attention. Many people have worked their whole lives preparing to retire without ever knowing the answer to the most important question: are you ahead, or behind on your retirement goals?

Don’t make the same mistake. It’s an easy question to answer. A quick conversation with a financial advisor can help you unpack your savings, spending, and goals for your money. With SmartAsset’s free tool, you can connect with vetted financial advisors in minutes.

Why wait? Click here to get started today!

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.