Since there's a lot of bank craziness going on right now, I thought it might be helpful to put together a "Deposit Insurance 101" kind of post. Different types of accounts are protected in different kinds of ways.

Types of Deposit Insurance:

- FDIC Insurance. FDIC insurance covers the deposits accounts of member commerical banks, as well as savings and loans. All FDIC-insurance is per bank, not per account. So the combined total of all covered accounts at a given bank count towards the limits. Member institutions guarantee covered accounts up to $100,000 per depositor for most covered accounts. IRAs are covered separately up to $150,000 per depositor.

What about joint accounts? Each 'ownership' is insured separately. Joint account ownership is counted separately from individual ownership, as long as both account holders have full access to withdraw funds. Each owner is considered to be insured for half of the value of the account.

So an individual person with no joint accounts can be insured for up to $250,000 per bank - up to $100,000 in standard deposit accounts and $150,000 in an IRA. A couple with a joint account as well as individuals accounts could be insured for up to $350,000 per person: $100,000 in individually held accounts, $150,000 in an IRA, and $100,000 each in joint accounts.

NCUA Insurance - This is an identical pool of depositor insurance that covers credit unions. Limits are the same.

Covered and Uncovered Accounts:

The following types of accounts are covered by FDIC / NCUA insurance:
- savings accounts
- checking accounts
- NOW accounts
- Money Market Deposit Accounts **PLEASE NOTE - NOT the same as a Money Market Fund, which is a Mutual Fund
- Certificates of Deposit

The following types of accounts ARE NOT covered by FDIC / NCUA insurance *even if* purchased through a commercial bank, savings & loan, or credit union:
- MONEY MARKET MUTUAL FUNDS
- Any other kind of mutual fund
- stocks
- bonds
- US Treasury securities
- Contents of Safe Deposit Boxes
- Insurance and Annuities

*PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE NOTE* that a Money Market Deposit Account and a Money Market Fund are two different things and only the MMDA is coverd by deposit insurance. If you hold a Money Market account through your bank, I strongly encourage you to double check and determine which kind of account you own.

Is there any protection for stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and money market funds?

The Securites Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) covers brokerage accounts in the event that a broker/deal fails and/or brokerage malfeasance occurs. However, please note that this *IS NOT* a version of the FDIC or NCUA.

When a brokerage fails, SIPC returns cash and assets held to their owners. In the case of malfeasance (illegal commingling of funds, fraud, theft, etc.), SIPC will cover up to $500,000 in brokerage assets.

SIPC does not insure the *value* of a given share of stock, only the existence of the share of stock. If a stock, mutual fund, money market, or bond loses value and/or defaults, that is NOT covered by SIPC. When it comes to investing, you pays your money, you takes your chances.

So I can lose out on a Money Market Account?

Easy answer: Maybe.

Long answer: If you have a money market account through a bank or credit union, check with them to see if it insured (an MMDA) or uninsured (a mutual fund). If it is an uninsured money market mutual fund, it *might* be covered. According to this NY Time article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/busin ... oneys.html the Treasury department is setting up a voluntary form of coverage that money market funds can choose to opt into. I haven't seen any other details on it, so I would take it with a grain of salt and confirm with the mutual fund itself.

I really hope this was helpful to people. There's really no reason to engage in a bank rush. At the same time, it is important to understand which part of your portfolio is insured and what isn't.

Please note that I compiled this information myself, using the FDIC and NCUA websites, the NY Times website, and my own understanding gathered through a couple of years of auditing and a couple of courses on finance and banking in business school. I double-checked most of it against wikipedia in order to get independent verification and make sure my numbers were current. I don't mind if you share this, but I'd appreciate a link back if you do.

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Hope is the new black.

I think the real question here is when I looked at the thread I read "Is My Monkey Safe?"

All signs are pointing to no. No it definitely is not safe.

The only monkeys that are not safe are from fundamentally perverted human beings who decide to chop theirs off to become something nature didn't intend!

I watched this McDonald's commercial where the burger was worth more than the dollar..... subsequently, I bought 233,000 double cheeseburgers.

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you should take all your money out of the bank and put it under your mattress for safe keeping

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Jake Rivers - Senex Legio
Get off my Lawn alliance

But if his money is hamburgers now, how will he keep it odor free? Also if he goes to sit on his bed won't all the ketchup shoot all over the place and look like a scene from Kill Bill?

My savings account is listed as a "high performance mma" account, so I'm safe.

Still tossing around the suitcase idea, though.

It's my retirement investments I'm concerned about, not so much my standard bank accounts.

I moved all my assets out of funds a year and a half ago. Waiting to see which banks survive the next 18 months and will probably dump some of it into their stock when it's on the upswing.

Sarissa Candyangel

Stuffed under your mattress in the interim?

Securities, but I'm making a better ROI on Ebay currently. :\

Sarissa Candyangel

Yeah, I don't have the time or patience for Ebay.

In a coin jar for me!

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"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
My Website: http://www.anthonyhays.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

All the accounts with my bank are FDIC insured. I also get money for referring a friend that opens an account, who also gets money for opening an account by being referred.

I also see another category of account ownership listed with my bank called 'trust'. I gather these are accounts set aside for inheritance.

Thanks for the info bearne.

It looks like certain retirement accounts are insured up to $250,000. Some good info in this link: http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/Deposits/in ... ship4.html

Even if you're money is FDIC insured in your 401k up to 250k, that doesn't stop the shitty investments that they are in from tanking.

Only means your money is safe if the company tanks.

I think my 401k is down like 11% so far this year.

I'm sure many other retirement accounts for people are worse.

Just find a safe bank.

The tops right now that people talk about are Wells Fargo, Us Bank, and PNC for the most part.

Everyone is having at least SOME problems, but the aforementioned are the best overall, and US Bank is capitalized 3:1.

The other top banks that you hear about like Citi, Bank of America, and stuff are normally solid, but have taken on big risks with their aquisitions of the bad banks.

Wells Fargo would float between the two categories depending on if their buyout of Wachovia goes through or not.

Speaking of that, holy hell that could be a big lawsuit haha.

Bah. The past 3 weeks the SEC can kiss my ass. =/

FDIC has applied to increase its coverage limit to $250,000 per account. I don't know how that's going. Other people manage my money until I'm 35.