What bank deposits are insured in the U.S.?

Question

What kind of bank deposits in the U.S. are insured against banks going under? What do I need to look out for to make sure my money is safe?

Answer 1

The FDIC insures deposits up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, for each ownership category. The ownership categories are:

• Single Accounts
• Certain Retirement Accounts
• Joint Accounts
• Revocable Trust Accounts
• Irrevocable Trust Accounts
• Accounts Employee Benefit Plan Accounts
• Corporation/Partnership/Unincorporated Association Accounts
• Government Accounts

You and a spouse could collectively have $750,000 of insured deposits at a single bank if you each had a single account, and a joint account together.

Answer 2

Currently the FDIC insures deposits up to $250,000 per person per bank. The following products are covered if your bank is FDIC insured.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Deposit_Insurance_Corporation#FDIC-insured_products

Answer 3

Bank and most Credit Union deposit accounts (including CDs) are guaranteed by the Federal government by the FDIC and NCUA, respectively.

Some state-chartered credit unions use private insurance, you'll want to be careful about storing lots of money in those institutions.