Is My Money Safe

There are two organizations, both backed by the United States government, that insure your money at participating institutions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is for banks and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is for credit unions. These organizations both function as safety nets for your deposits.

While there are a few subtle differences between the two, they are extremely similar in the protection that they offer. Because of this protection, insured banks and credit unions and the covered accounts within them are one of the safest places that you can keep your money. In other words, it's completely safe to keep your money in a financial institution where it's insured and protected.

How Much of My Money is Protected?

Both the NCUA and FDIC insure up to $250,000 per account ownership type/account type and institution. What does that mean? It gets a little complicated depending on the account types but, essentially, it means that you have at least $250,000 of protection on your deposits.

How much coverage you have depends on what category your account falls into. If you have a savings account and a checking account, those are both in the single owner account category, so they would be insured for a total of $250,000. But if you had accounts of different types—say a checking account and an IRA—each account would be insured for $250,000, meaning you would have a total of $500,000 of protection.

Joint Accounts

The rules change a little when it comes to joint accounts. Joint accounts are protected for $250,000 per owner. So if you have a joint account with your spouse, it would be insured for a total of $500,000.

When it comes to what kinds of accounts are insured, almost everything that isn’t an investment would be protected. That includes checking, savings, trusts, CDs, and Money Market Accounts. Accounts that generally aren’t protected would be things like stocks, bonds or money market funds.

Protecting it All

If you have more than $250,000 that needs protecting, it’s going to require some strategizing. In order to get full protection for all of your funds, you’ll need to break them up into accounts that fit within the limits.

Georgia United is federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration. As always, your money is safe with us and insured by the NCUA up to $250,000 per member-owned account. Learn more about our savings and checking products or for questions regarding your account, please contact our Member Care Center at 888.493.4328.

Source: Banzai 

Content provided for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as legal advice on any subject matter.