I would echo everything Von says and add that in some cases a credit union might also be ok as opposed to a TBTF bank. The important thing is that it is run responsibly and not highly leveraged. Having three different accounts at $80k each in different type banking institutions would offer three different kinds of insurance as opposed to $240k in a single account in a single institution. A little more hassle but if one type institution had a bank holiday for a week and the ATM's shut down or more likely withdrawals limited the other type might be ok, at least for a while.

If a person has significant assets some diversity of where his money resides might also be helpful. For example credit unions use a different insurance than banks as does S&L's.

Having investments in two different brokerages/companies might offer some safety over having it all in one.

No one knows for sure how all of this specifically will shake out. Having a persons assets spread around at least means that if one industry gets in dire straits some of his other money might be ok or at least accessible.

I'm generally against diversity. I've always (till recent) been more of the attitude to pick what a person is good at and do a lot of it. Diversity kind of meant mediocrity to me. However, in times of uncertainty being mediocre might end up being pretty good compared to having most of ones assets in something that looses most of its value. Also at the stage of life I'm in (latter) keeping what I got has gained significance over building wealth. When I was 20 or 30 I needed to build and provide for a family. Now I have enough, as long as I can manage not to loose it all. So a persons stage in life can make a difference in how they look at things. If I was 20 or 30 and building a business and family, preserving wealth would not be my main focus. Building it would be. Even in times of turmoil, which can turn out to be times of opportunity.

I don't know if any of the above is good information. Who knows what will happen? But it is information that a person can think over in their own mind and decide if it fits their needs. By all means don't do anything I say. A person needs to gather information and make their own decision of what is important to them.

John