steephie - if you have the option to denominate your savings account in pounds or francs, I would advise doing so. Also, Octavious that sort of thing just doesn't exist over in the States right now. Well, I haven't looked at rates in a while, so I could be wrong. I don't really keep any savings account besides what I need in my checking account. The rest goes to the stock market.
Also, regarding the question asked a little while ago, the banks absolutely should not have been allowed to fail. Yes, it would have hurt the rich, but they can weather it. It would have overwhelmingly hurt the average worker. That these banks have been allowed to grow too large is undeniable (imo). But they are quite literally too big to fail. What if Citibank had gone under? That's nearly $2 trillion in assets that bankruptcy courts would have to sift through and restructure. Meanwhile, since Citi would have been insolvent, it couldn't process the claims of its clients. That means Burger King (making it up, don't know who they use) couldn't take out the money needed to pay their workers. That means millions of Americans go without a paycheck in the middle of a recession. Pension funds would have had to suffer dramatic cuts on their already battered ledgers, meaning less money for those in retirement.
So yes, it keeps the rich safe. But a lot of the rich use private firms such as Blackrock, Lazard,etc. instead of the big shops. Those banks going under would have made the recession many times worse.