The good news? Chuck Minnich from Foundation Capital Management, LLC tells us, "If you are under the FDIC limits and have insured accounts - there's absolutely nothing to worry about."
FDIC accounts are insured by the federal government. So look for the logo for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation at your bank - that means it's a member.
Also, make sure your accounts don't go over the coverage limits. The FDIC covers $100-thousand per depositor, per ownership category, per insured institution. Your checking account, savings account, and CD fall in the same ownership category. Added together only $100,000 will be covered. On a Joint account, your spouse could have another $100,000 covered, and on top of that, you can have other account categories that are covered separately. For instance, certain retirement accounts are added under another category and together they can total up to $250,000.
Financial experts say it is critical you restructure your accounts to make sure all your money is protected.
Minnich tells us, "The economic problems we're having are only to get worse because right now most of the financial institutions are frozen in fear."
But experts also point out it's not all doom and gloom, and these tough economic times will improve.
"They will get better, absolutely, we've been through difficult times before and more difficult times than this," admits Minnich.
But again, it will get worse before it gets better. So don't waste any time making sure your money is safe.
Find out if your bank is a member of the FDIC, and use an interactive calculator to figure out if your accounts exceed the coverage limits on it's website, www.fdic.gov.
