When you’re trying to make sure that your money is safe, you might be in for more of a battle than you think. Everyone has heard horror stores of people losing money that’s stored in a bank, but is it really lost money?
Thanks to FDIC insurance, you’re actually in better shape than you think. Did you know that since 1933, no depositor has lost any of their insured deposits? That’s due to the FDIC — the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. This is the government agency that is responsible for giving you back everything that you would have lost in the case of a bank falling.
So, what happens to your money when a bank does close? Well, that’s what this guide is all about. You see, when banks fail, you have to make sure that they are actually FDIC insured. Generally speaking, just about every bank you will run into is FDIC insured. So if it were to close, the FDIC would step in immediately. The FDIC starts by paying the insurance to everyone up to the limit, and then they accept the failed bank and handle the asset distribution and sale. The debts are settled — including what happens to the deposits that are over the insured limit.
The real purpose of FDIC deposit insurance is to make sure that you have peace of mind when you use a bank. If you don’t have this then you’re going to have a hard time feeling really safe using a bank. We want you to always like the bank that you use, and we want you to feel safe.
There are a lot of different deposits that are covered — savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts and even CDs and other time deposits. As you can tell, investment accounts are not insured in this manner.
You are currently covered up to $250,000 for each type of account under FDIC insurance.
So if you really want the best peace of mind, make sure that you look for the little brownish-gold sticker that says the bank in question is FDIC insured. That’s a bank that you can definitely count on!