Although this story is a day old, it is worth posting. So many of the elderly do not trust banks or credit unions, so they keep all their cash hidden somewhere in their house.

My grandfather did the exact thing, and kept a large pickle jar hidden in his shed full of money. He lived on 40 acres, and while he was raising a family, times were real tough and he was used to doing without a lot of stuff. He wanted to make sure his children (all eight of them) were taken care of.

Right before he passed away, he told my father and my uncle where he had hidden the money. There were hundreds and twenties all bundled up. All my aunts and uncles sat down and counted it up. A total of $55,000.00 was in that jar. It was split 8 ways between my aunts and uncles.

Things have changed, and banks and credit unions are much safer now. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of elderly people that stash their money in their house.





Man says his life savings was stolen


By Nick Winkler
News 9


After nearly 76 years of work Alfred Wilson has only a few dollars left.

Wilson's a bit old-fashioned and doesn't care much for banks so he kept all his money in a safe in his cellar.

A contractor who had done some work for Wilson followed Wilson into the cellar to be paid.

Wilson paid the contractor but Wilson says the contractor came back with another man, cut the cellar lock, and stole his life's savings more than $60,000.

If you don't believe Wilson he's scribbled each of his deposits into his own bank book.

He was saving the money for his little sister. He wanted her to have it when he died.

Wilson's not married. He lives with his four dogs.

Wilson is a retired carpenter. His first job paid $1 a day.

Today he painted his name and phone number on the side of his pick-up an advertisement for his new career mowing lawns.

Wilson is no longer retired, he's blue, thanks to someone who has taken a lifetime of green.

Wilson is worried he will not be able to pay his car insurance or for medicine if he gets sick.

If you know someone hoarding most of their cash at home tell them banks are insured homes are not.

There was a country comedian (often an oxymoron) and banjo picker, named David "stringbean" Akman. String (as his friends called him) did not believe in banks. He lived in a small cabin I would call a shack in an acreage shared by Louis "Grandpa Jones" Jones. String would buy a new Cadillac every year, and other than that, he would hide his money behind his fireplace. When he was at the Opry or on the "Hee Haw" set rehearsing or in the wings ready to perform, he would pull this fat "Jed Clampitt" sized wad of cash out of the pocket of his overalls and flash it around.

One day, a man followed String and his wife home. The next day, Grandpa Jones found the body of Mrs. Akman near the drive of the house, face down. When he entered the house, he found String. They were both dead of gunshot wounds. Plus had been "hogtied." The money in Strings overalls was missing.

Two career criminals were later convicted of the crime.

Years later, when Grandpa leased the cabin to a man, the man saw flakes coming from near the fireplace that were not cinders. He saw what looked like money. When it was all found, it was estimated to be well over one million dollars. All the money had desintegrated over time and was worthless.

Although a true story, and the extreem of what could happen, String's behavior was quite dangerous. Many people are like him.

I write about what I think of as a hick. String's comedy act was quite that. Had he handled the money better, even just not flashing his wad of bills, he may not be alive today because he would be in his late 80's, but he would not have been the victim of a homicide with this M.O.

Banks are safer than you know. Bank it and live.