As of: March 15, 2024, 7:52 a.m
By: Josef Ametsbichler
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The fear of thieves and fraudsters doesn't deter everyone.
Some people store large amounts of cash at home.
(Symbolic image) © Sascha Steinach/imago
The professional carer Maria König experiences a shocking moment when unlocking a wall safe.
It is becoming increasingly rare for people to keep large amounts of cash at home.
District
– She still remembers the moment when Maria König opened the wall safe.
“Thank God I had four witnesses with me,” says the professional carer today about the house clearance in a rural district community a few years ago.
Around 400,000 euros in cash lay behind the steel hatch, which was hidden behind a picture.
Neither the police nor the bank wanted to come, she remembers.
That's why König personally carried the money that didn't belong to her in jute sacks to the nearest branch.
Tragic story behind the discovery of money: The owners have nothing of the wealth
There is a tragic story behind the discovery of the money, she says.
To anonymize those affected, just this much: For two generations, the family cleared all the money from their checking account every month.
Out of distrust of the banks, the system.
When no one finally showed up at the usual monthly withdrawal date, the bank employees raised the alarm - the remaining owner of the money was lying dying in the apartment.
A will was found through which the entire sum went to a social institution.
The owner family had nothing of the accumulated wealth throughout their lives.
“The generation of sock or drawer savers is almost extinct,” says Ebersberg career supervisor Maria König.
© Michael Acker
“The money stays with me here – no one takes it away from me,” is how career counselor König summarizes the basic idea why people hoard cash at home.
As a court-appointed professional guardian, she looks after the affairs of people who are no longer able to do so themselves;
be it because of their age, an illness or a disability.
This often includes regulating your financial life.
It is a strictly monitored profession with deep insight into private financial circumstances - and König (58), who is said to be highly professional and has a lot of experience as a carer, is one of the few contacts who can talk about the topic with serious distance.
People often hoard cash at home - fraudsters take advantage of this
The 400,000 euros that that family left in their wall safe was the most drastic case, says König.
But 20,000 to 50,000 euros in cash at home: “That happens quite often.” Even if the number of cash discoveries has decreased over the past ten years.
Not least because of this, the witnesses when it comes to clearing out an apartment with potential valuables, because cash means temptation - or at least suspicion.
Cases of grandchild fraud or shock calls repeatedly make headlines because the perpetrators grab five or even six-figure bundles of bogus money from surprised seniors.
Often it is people around 90 who have large amounts of cash at home, says König.
It had already become common practice in the post-war generation to put money in the bank - which she attributes to the higher level of education and better, more varied investment advice: "The generation of socks or drawer savers is almost extinct." The farmer's widow with the bundles of money under the mattress only exist sporadically.
Digitalization overwhelms seniors: flight to cash
If you listen to the career counselor's descriptions, hoarding cash seems to often occur among people who are left behind by the digitalization of finance.
Having trouble even leaving the house;
let alone reach your bank branch in the increasingly thinning branch network.
Those who are overwhelmed by endless telephone queues - and even more so fail to enter a 22-digit IBAN account number on a smartphone screen.
Not to mention Paypal, Push-TAN and NFC transfer.
Things that seem obvious to younger people, but represent high hurdles for old or disabled people with motor and cognitive limitations.
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The money is then more or less well hidden in the apartment and is sometimes forgotten - for example due to dementia or a generation change.
As a result, when clearing out a household, every single book on the shelf has to be leafed through.
“I have to take these apartments apart down to the wallpaper,” says professional carer König when she has to do something about moving into the home.
(By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Ebersberg newsletter.)
New concern or clientele unable to open an account
As mentioned, there are hardly any old-school cash hoarders left, estimates Maria König.
“But there is a large group of people who do not have the opportunity to open a checking account,” she says.
Be it asylum seekers with shaky residence status, homeless people or people with such bad credit that they are systematically rejected by banks despite their actual obligation to provide benefits.
Then the only thing left is cash – and usually not much.
She also identified another group of cash.
Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, but especially last year, the phenomenon has resurfaced among younger people in their care cases due to the crisis.
Because of Russia's conflict with the West, there is a growing fear of attacks on digital infrastructure, which is why some people are increasing their cash holdings.
King says: “This concern is new.”
The topic of cash in the Ebersberg district
Cash on the decline: When it comes to larger sums, customers forego banknotes and coins
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