Only a fool sells that which he does not want others to have

When I lived in Virginia, I had an account at Wachovia bank. Today, CNN Money is reporting that Bank of America and Wachovia accidentally sold the account information for 676,000 people. I guess I'm probably one of them if I'm still in their database. I'm just one little bit of the valuable personal-information commodity in which banks trade nowadays.

The sad thing is that on CNN's web page for the story, they have a happy photo with a caption that reads: "CNN's Gerri Willis has 5 tips if you're worried about becoming the next victim of ID theft." Hey, thanks Gerri. But considering the story, what tip could have helped people avoid this?

Don't put your money in banks. Instead, keep all your money under your mattress at home. You won't accrue interest, but at least you can trust your cat not to go sell your current net worth to a Soprano.