The FDIC insures up to $250,000 per depositor per bank

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protects your money if the bank fails. That protection covers up to $250,000 per person, per bank account type, per institution. If you have $250,000 in a savings account at Bank A and the bank closes, you get all of it back. If you have $300,000, the FDIC covers $250,000 and you lose $50,000.

This limit has been $250,000 since 2008. It applies to most savings accounts, checking accounts, and money market accounts. It does not explore to investment accounts, brokerage accounts, or cryptocurrency held at a bank.

The key word is per bank. You can have $250,000 at Bank A and another $250,000 at Bank B, and both are fully covered. The FDIC tracks this by the name and Social Security number on the account, so accounts in different names at the same bank are counted separately.

Key Takeaways

  • The FDIC insures up to $250,000 per person per bank, so amounts above that are not protected if the bank fails.
  • You can spread money across multiple banks to keep all of it insured, since each bank's coverage is separate.
  • Joint accounts, retirement accounts, and trust accounts have their own $250,000 limits, so a married couple can each have $250,000 in a joint account and both be fully covered.
  • Most people's savings fall well below $250,000, so FDIC coverage is not the limiting factor in how much to keep in savings.
  • How much money is actually safe to keep in savings depends more on your financial goals and how soon you need the money than on insurance limits.

How account ownership type changes the coverage limit

The $250,000 limit applies separately to different account categories at the same bank. A joint account (owned by two people together) gets its own $250,000 coverage. Each owner of the joint account is also covered for another $250,000 in their own individual account at that same bank. So a married couple can have $250,000 in a joint savings account plus $250,000 in individual accounts each, all at the same bank, and all fully covered.

A retirement account (IRA, Roth IRA, SEP-IRA) gets its own $250,000 limit separate from your regular savings account. A trust account gets separate coverage too. If you are the trustee of a trust with $250,000 in it at Bank A, and you also have $250,000 in your own savings account at Bank A, both are covered.

Accounts in the names of minor children are covered separately as well. If you open a savings account for your child with their Social Security number, that $250,000 is covered independently of your own accounts at the same bank.

What happens when you exceed the limit at one bank

If you keep $350,000 in a savings account at a single bank, only $250,000 is insured. The remaining $50,000 is uninsured. If the bank fails, you lose that $50,000. The bank itself does not fail often — the FDIC has closed fewer than 600 banks since 1934 — but it does happen, usually during economic downturns.

The uninsured portion becomes an unsecured claim against the bank's assets. You may recover some of it if the bank's remaining assets are sold, but there is no may provide. In most recent bank failures, uninsured depositors have recovered between 70 and 100 cents on the dollar, but that depends entirely on how much the bank's assets were worth when it closed.

The simplest way to keep all your money insured is to split it across banks. Put $250,000 at Bank A, $250,000 at Bank B, and so on. Each bank's $250,000 is fully covered. You can also use a service like IntraFi (formerly Promontory Interbank Network) that automatically splits deposits across multiple banks and keeps track of the coverage for you, though this is mainly useful for very large amounts.

The difference between insurance and safety

FDIC insurance protects you from bank failure, but it is not the only reason to think about how much to keep in savings. A savings account is safe from market risk — you will not lose money because stocks fall — but it is not safe from inflation. If you keep $100,000 in a savings account earning 0.01% interest while inflation runs at 3%, you are losing purchasing power every year.

A savings account is also not the right place for money you will not need for years. If you have $500,000 and you will not touch it for a decade, keeping it all in a savings account means you are missing out on higher returns from bonds, CDs, or other investments. The "safe" amount to keep in savings depends on when you actually need the money.

For most people, the practical limit is not the FDIC insurance limit but rather their own financial goals. How much of your income do you want to keep liquid and accessible? How many months of expenses do you want in reserve? Those questions matter more than the $250,000 threshold.

How to track coverage across multiple accounts

If you have accounts at more than one bank, the FDIC website has a tool called the FDIC Coverage Calculator where you can enter your accounts and see exactly how much is covered. You enter the bank name, account type (individual, joint, retirement, trust), and balance, and it tells you the covered amount at each institution.

You should also check your bank's own disclosures. Banks are required to tell you in writing whether your account is FDIC-insured and up to what amount. This information is usually in the account agreement or a separate disclosure document. If you cannot find it, call the bank and ask for the FDIC coverage disclosure.

Keep records of which accounts are at which banks and the balance in each. If a bank fails, the FDIC will contact you, but having your own records makes the process faster. The FDIC typically processes claims within a few weeks, but having documentation of your balance at the time of failure helps if there is any dispute.

When you might need more than one bank

Most people never reach $250,000 in a single savings account, so this is not a practical concern for them. But if you are saving for a house down payment, a business purchase, or you have inherited money or received a large settlement, you might accumulate more than $250,000 in liquid savings.

At that point, splitting across banks is straightforward. Open a savings account at a second bank and move the excess there. You do not need to do anything special — just make sure each bank knows you are the account holder and the account is in your name (or your joint name, or your trust name, depending on the account type).

Some people also split accounts for practical reasons unrelated to insurance: to separate emergency savings from other savings, to take advantage of different interest rates at different banks, or to keep money at a local bank and a national bank for convenience. The insurance limit is just one reason to think about multiple banks.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I have $300,000 in savings, how much do I lose if the bank fails?

You lose $50,000. The FDIC covers $250,000, leaving $50,000 uninsured. You may recover part of that $50,000 if the bank's assets are sold, but there is no may provide. To keep all $300,000 covered, split it across two banks: $250,000 at Bank A and $50,000 at Bank B.

Does FDIC insurance cover money in a joint account differently?

Yes. A joint account gets its own $250,000 coverage. If you and your spouse have a joint savings account with $250,000, it is fully covered. Each of you can also have an individual account with another $250,000 at the same bank, and both individual accounts are covered separately. So a married couple can have up to $750,000 covered at one bank.

What if I keep my money in a money market account instead of savings?

Money market accounts are covered by FDIC insurance the same way savings accounts are: up to $250,000 per person per bank. The coverage limit does not change based on the account type, only on the bank and the account ownership.

Does FDIC insurance cover savings bonds or CDs?

CDs (certificates of deposit) are covered up to $250,000 per bank, same as savings accounts. Savings bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury are not FDIC-insured because they are not bank deposits — they are backed directly by the federal government, so they are safe regardless of amount.

If I have money in a retirement account, is it covered separately from my regular savings?

Yes. A retirement account (IRA, Roth IRA, SEP-IRA) gets its own $250,000 coverage limit at each bank. You can have $250,000 in a regular savings account and another $250,000 in a retirement account at the same bank, and both are fully covered.