the bank

So, I went with a friend to open a bank account today. He had never had one and really his only knowledge of them stemmed back to a time when the president allowed the economy to get so bad that anything anyone put in the bank, they wound up losing. All your savings, lost.

Reminds me of the Peruvian who spent years and years in the US working to provide for his family. After more than 10 years, he traveled with cash. Cash in hand of thousands and thousands of dollars. He was stopped in an airport in Florida. The money was taken from him and he was charged on suspicion of drug trafficking or mafia connections of sorts. Everything he had saved, lost on his way home.

Or the couple here in Lima who saved and saved and saved their money in order to retire and have provisions. The money was all stored in a small box in the headboard of their bed. Thousands and thousands of soles. Everything they would live off of in their golden years. Gone in an afternoon.

I cannot speak to the wisdom of traveling with that much cash or saving that much cash in a box when I know the reality of the fear of saving in a bank that Peruvians have. It is sad, to be truthful. They are fearful of what them may lose and their security revolves around what they can hold onto.

So at the bank today, the papers were signed. The account was opened. And then I began to hear the story of how him mom had lost everything when he was a child. She had saved her money in a bank account and one day, because of the spiraling economy, she had nothing left.

The president who was in power at that time has returned to lead Peru. Personally, I know he is doing great things trying to advance Peru. But, because of others fears, there are still doubts in my mind. If you run the risk of losing it all, is it better to save your money in a box rather than the bank?