FDIC: Deposit Insurance (2024)

FAQs

What is FDIC deposit insurance coverage? ›

The FDIC protects the money depositors place in insured banks in the unlikely event of an insured-bank failure. Each depositor is insured to at least $250,000 per insured bank. FDIC deposit insurance covers all types of deposits held at an insured bank.

The standard maximum deposit insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. The FDIC insures deposits that a person holds in one insured bank separately from any deposits that the person owns in another separately chartered insured bank.

The FDIC insures up to $250,000 per account holder, insured bank and ownership category in the event of bank failure. If you have more than $250,000 in the bank, or you're approaching that amount, you may want to structure your accounts to make sure your funds are covered.

If a couple has a joint money market deposit account, a joint savings account, and a joint CD at the same insured bank, each co-owner's shares of the three accounts are added together and insured up to $250,000 per owner, providing up to $500,000 in coverage for the couple's joint accounts.

Wealthy people do not leave large amounts of money in saving/checking accounts earning no interest or income. Instead they invest their money in stocks, bonds, real estate, mutual funds, etc.

The FDIC adds together all single accounts owned by the same person at the same bank and insures the total up to $250,000.

The standard maximum deposit insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. The FDIC insures deposits that a person holds in one insured bank separately from any deposits that the person owns in another separately chartered insured bank.

Remember that these limits are applied at the individual bank level. If you have more than $250,000 to deposit, you could open multiple accounts at different banks to spread out those funds. This could make it easier to stay under any bank-imposed account limits, as well as the FDIC coverage limits.

What percentage of people have more than $250000 in the bank? ›

Median account balance by percentile of income

But fewer than one percent–just 0.83 percent–of these accounts have more than $250,000.

The Bottom Line. FDIC insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor for each ownership category in each distinct bank. You can open accounts at different banks or in different ownership categories at one bank to maximize your insurance coverage.

Note on Beneficiaries: While some self-directed retirement Accounts, like IRAs, permit the owner to name one or more beneficiaries, the existence of beneficiaries does not increase the available insurance coverage.

Joint bank account holders generally have the right of survivorship, which grants the surviving account holder ownership of the entire account balance. The surviving account holder retains ownership regardless of which owner contributed the money, and the account doesn't go through the probate process.

The FDIC adds together all single accounts owned by the same person at the same bank and insures the total up to $250,000.

FDIC deposit insurance covers $250,000 per depositor, per FDIC-insured bank, for each account ownership category.

the FDIC could take up to 99 years to pay depositors for their insured accounts.