 Dear Dr. Don,
My wife and I have five accounts at one of our banks that total up to $200,000. These are a mixture of CDs, checking and money market accounts. Each account is a joint account. If my bank would fail, is all of my $200,000 insured?
-- Tom Transpire
 Dear Tom,
Here's what the FDIC publication, " Insuring Your Deposits," has to say about joint accounts and deposit insurance:
These are deposit accounts owned by two or more people. If both owners have equal rights to withdraw money from a joint account, each person's shares of all joint accounts at the same insured bank are added together and the total is insured up to $100,000.
If a couple has a joint checking account and a joint savings account at the same insured bank, each co-owner's shares of the two accounts are added together and insured up to $100,000, providing up to $200,000 in coverage for the couple's joint accounts.
Note: Jointly owned qualifying trust accounts are not included in this ownership category. Sleep well tonight knowing that your joint accounts are FDIC-insured up to $200,000. Deposit insurance limits have been increased for some retirement accounts, providing additional coverage for those accounts. For people who want to confirm their deposits are FDIC-insured, EDIE, the FDIC's Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator, provides additional peace of mind. |