To be confident that your deposits at an insured institution are fully protected, it's important to understand how FDIC insurance works and how to get more help or information. Here's an overview.

What is covered by FDIC insurance?

If an insured bank or savings association fails, the FDIC protects deposit accounts — including checking and savings accounts, money market deposit accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs) — against any loss up to the federal limits. For a look at your rights as an FDIC–insured depositor, see An FDIC-Insured Depositor's Bill of Rights.

What is not protected by FDIC insurance?

FDIC insurance doesn't protect against losses on nondeposit products — such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, life insurance policies, annuities or municipal securities — even if they were offered by insured banks.

For more information about what is and is not covered by FDIC insurance, go to www.fdic.gov/deposit/investments/index.html or contact the FDIC (see For More Help or Information from the FDIC About Deposit Insurance).

How much coverage does the FDIC provide?

The basic insurance coverage is $100,000 per depositor per insured institution, but you may qualify for more than $100,000 in coverage at one insured bank if you own deposit accounts in different "ownership categories." For example, your deposits in:

• Single accounts (in one name only) are insured up to $100,000;
• Joint accounts (for two or more people) are protected to $100,000 per owner;
• IRAs and certain other retirement accounts are covered up to $250,000; and
• Trust accounts can be protected up to $100,000 for each named beneficiary provided that FDIC requirements are met. For example, if a mother has a $300,000 deposit account in connection with a living trust (a legal document for distributing her assets upon her death), and she is leaving all the deposits equally to her three children, that account would be insured in full up to $300,000 ($100,000 for each child).

Because of the separate insurance coverage for deposits in different categories, a family of four could have well over $1 million in deposit insurance coverage in one FDIC-insured institution. To learn how, see the FDIC publication "Your Insured Deposits," which is online at www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/insured.

How can I know that all my deposits are within the FDIC's insurance limits?

If you (or your family) have $100,000 or less in all of your deposit accounts at the same insured bank, you don't need to be concerned about the safety of your money. That's because the basic insurance limit is $100,000 per depositor per insured bank, plus an additional $250,000 per depositor for certain retirement accounts.

If you have questions about your insurance coverage, visit www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits, which features our Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE), an interactive Web site that can be used to calculate your deposit insurance. You can also call FDIC deposit insurance specialists toll-free at 1-877-ASK-FDIC (1-877-275-3342).

What if some of my deposits are over the insurance limit? How can I get them fully insured?

In general, you have two options. One is to divide the funds among various ownership categories at the same institution. But this is an option you need to think about carefully because, for example, moving some money from a single account into a joint account with someone else means that you are giving that other person legal ownership of the money. Your second option is to move funds over the insurance limit to accounts at other insured institutions. This option works well for people who don't want, or don't qualify for, other ownership categories at their existing bank.

For more help or information, contact the FDIC (see For More Help or Information from the FDIC About Deposit Insurance) or your bank.