The phrase “tired cliches” is in itself a tired cliche and also a redundancy.
But many cliches were once bright ideas that became dented and tarnished with overuse.
I couldn’t get cliches out of my head recently as I kept thinking about another Snohomish County bank going down.
North County Bank was the third major bank in the county to be seized by government regulators this year because it was “critically undercapitalized.”
That’s government speak for saying it couldn’t attract enough money to handle its bad loans and remain safe.
Like City Bank of Lynnwood and Frontier Bank of Everett before it, Arlington’s North County Bank was whacked by an overreliance on real estate.
It loaned too much money to homebuilders and to people preparing raw land for home building.
Just three or four years ago, the idea that homebuilding would be a bad investment was unthinkable. The government was pushing homeownership as good for us and good for America, and it made loans readily available at a low price.
Snohomish County was booming and prices kept rising.
It seemed that builders couldn’t work fast enough and there was genuine concern that the county might quickly run out of much of its land that was easily developable and in the appropriate areas designated for growth.
Brad Williamson, director of the division of banks of the state’s Department of Institutions, noted that Snohomish County’s banks have paid the price for heavy involvement in the area’s real estate development.
“As the real estate market tumbled, North County’s borrowers struggled,” he said. “They tried to recapitalize, but they were not able to attract enough money to remain viable. It was exactly the same story (as City Bank and Frontier) played out on a smaller scale.”
And that’s where the cliches come in.
If we learn one thing from the collapse of three once-fine banks in the county, it’s “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
A cliche?
Certainly, but it’s still fine advice.
Risking anything — your money, your energy, or your time — on what amounts to a single roll of the dice is gambling, not safe investing.
Don’t be left with no leg to stand on.
A tired phrase now, but such idioms have value.
They’re especially important in times like these where many have seen their retirement savings diminish or their home values fall just as their expenses increase.
The tendency is to look for a quick fix for those problems, to make the one decision or action that makes everything go away.
Don’t do it.
I know it’s another cliche, but you need to hedge your bets.
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com
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