FDIC Insurance Limits to Know

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an agency of the U.S. government that protects bank depositors against loss of their insured deposits if an FDIC-insurance bank or association fails. It’s important to know how your FDIC-insured funds are protected…

There are several aspects that determine your FDIC coverage. Namely the type of account, balance, and ownership category.
 
Account Types Covered
The FDIC only insures certain accounts. These primarily include checking and savings accounts, money market funds, and CD’s, as well as prepaid cards.
 
Examples of account types NOT covered would be stocks, bonds, mutual funds, virtual currency, life insurance policies, annuities, safe deposit boxes & contents, and treasury bills/bonds/notes (these are backed by the faith & credit of the U.S. government). Essentially, standard investments (that can go up or down in value) aren’t covered.
 
Click here for the FDIC webpage showing more detail on the types of deposit products covered by FDIC insurance.
 
FDIC Balance Limits
Deposits are insured up to at least $250,000 per depositor, per FDIC-insured bank, per ownership category. This means deposits held in different ownership categories are considered to be separately insured, even if held at the same bank, meaning the $250,000 limit can be exceeded.
 
What are Ownership Categories?
Ownership categories generally means the manner in which you hold your funds, such as single accounts versus joint accounts, or trust accounts, business accounts, etc. Different ownership categories carry different coverage limits. i.e. - single accounts carry the $250,000 maximum, whereas joint accounts have a $500,000 max.
 
Checking to See if Accounts Covered
You can use the following link to get detailed information about your specific accounts & corresponding funds, in regard to FDIC insurance coverage – click here.
 
It hasn’t been long since we’ve seen a bank failure. It pays to understand your rights and coverages so you can protect yourself in advance.