Web Winners:
The failures this year of IndyMac Federal Bank and other banks may leave you wondering if your own savings belong stuffed in a mattress. These Web sites could put you at ease or push you to action.
The failures this year of IndyMac Federal Bank and other banks may leave you wondering if your own savings belong stuffed in a mattress. These Web sites could put you at ease or push you to action.
Entrepreneur advice.
Here are tips for entrepreneurs who may worry about the safety of bank accounts that exceed the $100,000 insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. First word for small businesses: Don't spread money around in $100,000 chunks. It's better to study up on banks and find a better one if you think your present one looks shaky.
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Insurance estimator.
The FDIC's Web site provides this "electronic deposit insurance estimator" to help you decide whether your accounts are covered. The issue can be confusing. The commonly quoted $100,000 of coverage applies to the total of all your regular accounts, such as checking and savings, not to each account separately. Still, an Individual Retirement Account can be covered up to $250,000. There are other wrinkles, too, so check them out.
There's a lot more about the FDIC and its coverage here, including "failed bank information" links for fretting customers of the latest banks to go off the cliff.
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Other accounts.
The FDIC doesn't insure accounts at other types of institutions. For example, credit union accounts are covered by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund.
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The Securities Investor Protection Corp., sometimes pronounced "sip-ick," covers accounts at stock brokerages for fraud and failures. In this case, most accounts are covered to $500,000.
Wall safe.
If none of this makes you feel safe, get a wall safe. There's an inventive one for sale at a site called ThinkGeek. The small safe resembles an electrical wall outlet.
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