The only thing we know for certain about the future is that it is uncertain. This does not deter our interest in preparing for the future but rather only increases it. It is, of course, impossible to be prepared for all potential future events. If we have the appropriate information and tools, however, we can make predictions that help guide these preparations. This talk looks at these issues from the perspective of the FDIC’s use of bank failure predictions. We compare different types of statistical approaches for predicting failures with an eye towards obtaining the best failure predictions for a deposit insurer.