How Safe Is Your Money?

There are 76 banks on the troubled bank list. No big deal, after all we are FDIC insured right?

Well, I just discovered something about FDIC insured bank accounts that literally scared me! For years I have heard and read that bank deposits are FDIC insured up to $100,000.

Many people thought (including myself) that if they had multiple accounts at the same bank, such as the following:

• $100,000 in a Checking account
  
• $100,000 in a Savings account
  
• $100,000 in a Certificate of Deposit (CD)
  

They would have $300,000 worth of FDIC protection.

WRONG!

WRONG!

WRONG!

You are only protected up to $100,000 per bank per person!

What could you do? Well, you could move the money in excess of $100,000 to another bank since the limit is per bank.

Another option would be to add another person to the account, if you have someone you could trust.

A better solution is to find a bank that uses the Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service. Members of the registry distribute large accounts across multiple institutions in a way that is seamless to you, but spreads out the insurance risks.

You could have up to $30 million on deposit, with a single statement and interest rate, but be spread wide enough to be fully covered by the FDIC; in a fashion that is legal and approved by the FDIC.

Remember, it is not the policy of the Federal Reserve or the Federal Government to warn you ahead of time that a bank is about to fail. So please take measures to protect yourself.