Local financial professionals give advice amid banking crisis

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Local financial professionals offer advice following the second-largest failure of a financial institution in United States History.

The collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank has prompted many citizens to panic and make hasty decisions with their finances. Many people have resorted to pulling money from stocks and putting it into real estate as a quick fix.

Alex Astin is a financial advisor at Burns Estate Planning & Wealth Advisors. He said that despite instability arising within the banking system there is currently no major need for concern and the vast majority of people currently face no risk.

“One way you can protect yourself by limiting exposure to banks at one certain point it makes sense to do business with multiple banks because you ensured up to $250,000 FDIC insurance,” Astin said. “So, if you have less than $250,000 in a bank and you’re the only person on that account then you should be ok.”

However, if you have more than $250,000 then preventative measures, like diversification, should be taken.

“Put money into CDs, you have stocks, you have bonds, you have some alternative assets things like structures notes and cash. sometimes cash is king,” said the advisor.

But most importantly Astin said don’t panic because that is when irrational decisions are made.

“If there is instability which we’re seeing right now usually government will step in and fix those issues,” he said. “But if we start to see that and things still start to fail, risks start to spread, banks start to fail the government no longer has the ability to step in and do that then at that point i think you can sound the alarm.”

If you are concerned about your finances reach out to a professional to get case-specific advice, because what may work for someone else might not work for you.

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