Is the money in your bank account safe? Here’s what to know if you’re worried about your deposits

Nearly all banks are covered by the FDIC and FDIC protection applies to a wide range of deposit accounts, including:

• Checking accounts
• Savings accounts
• Money market deposit accounts
• Certificates of deposit (CD)
• Prepaid cards (assuming certain FDIC requirements are met)
• Cashier’s checks, money orders and other official items issued by a bank
• Negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts

Where it can be a bit confusing is that the FDIC’s coverage limit is $250,000 per person, per bank and per account type. But a checking account and savings account won’t necessarily be in different categories. Here’s how the FDIC classifies accounts:

As an example, if you had a $100,000 CD and $175,000 in a savings account at the same bank and both accounts were only under your name, that combined total ($275,000) would be insured for $250,000. However, if you had a joint savings account, then the savings account balance would fall under a different category.

If you have more than $250,000 in deposit accounts, one way to protect the money is to deposit it in different account categories or to open accounts with different banks. As you’re shopping around for a deposit account, you can find out if a bank is insured with the FDIC’s BankFind tool. It’s also a good idea to open checking accounts or savings accounts with no monthly maintenance fees and the highest interest rate you can find.

Below are a few of the best deposit accounts with FDIC insurance, according to CNBC Select’s rankings:

Balances above the FDIC’s insurance limit and investments that are not “deposit products” won’t qualify for FDIC protection, this includes:

• Stocks
• Bonds
• Mutual funds
• Crypto assets
• Life insurance policies
• Annuities
• Municipal securities
• Safe deposit boxes or their contents
• U.S. Treasury bills, bonds or notes (these investments are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government)

The FDIC insures deposit accounts up to $250,000 per owner, per bank and per account category. Most banks are protected by the FDIC, so there’s no need to panic and withdraw money that is protected. To calm fears, the federal government has gone a step further and ensured that depositors at the banks that recently failed will have full access to their money.