900 N. Kings Highway, Cherry Hill, New Jersey 08034
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The Online Advisor

April 2008

Smart Business

Check your deposit insurance


The recent failure of Bear Stearns, the fifth largest investment bank in the U.S., may have you wondering about the health of the banking system in general. Indeed, you may be wondering if your bank accounts are safe. Here's a quick review of deposit insurance that may help put your mind at ease.

The sign at your savings and loan states that your accounts are insured up to $100,000. Knowing the rules of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation can help you extend your protection beyond this amount.

Generally, the FDIC insures only $100,000 per person per institution. Thus, if you have more than one account in a single bank, only $100,000 of the aggregate of your accounts is protected. Amounts over that are uninsured.

To increase your protection, you can simply spread your accounts over a number of different banks. Remember, however, that accounts in different branches of the same bank will be aggregated.

Because joint accounts are insured apart from separate accounts, you can increase your protection by placing some funds into a joint account. If you and your spouse have a joint account and each of you has a separate account, the three accounts can be insured to a total of $400,000. As with personal accounts, however, all joint accounts held by the same persons will be aggregated.

Different types of accounts are also aggregated. Individual retirement accounts (IRAs), however, are separately insured to $250,000 if the underlying investments are insured.

For more information on deposit insurance, go to www.fdic.gov. You may also want to review your accounts with your banker to be sure you have the protection you need.




For details on exactly what business records you need and how long they should be kept, call us.

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