Experts weigh in: How to protect your money in wake of SVB, Signature Bank collapse

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- President Joe Biden addressed the safety of our economy on Monday, hoping to ease concerns about the nation's banking system after two banks collapsed in one week.

Action News has what consumers and investors need to know.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was the second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history. Federal regulators have taken control of SVB as well as Signature Bank, which regulators shut down on Sunday.

The headline on Monday is there is no need to panic.

SEE ALSO: US regulators take steps to make sure SVB customers can access all their money

"Americans can have confidence that the banking system is safe. Your deposit will be there when you need them," Biden said.

The federal government took over Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and took an extraordinary step of guaranteeing SVB customers will have access to all their deposits, even those above the FDIC-insured limit.

"Each account is insured up to $250,000. What does that mean? That is one account per depositor, per institution, per account type," said financial advisor Bobbi Rebell.

The feds say its response to the failures does not amount to a bailout.

"No losses will be borne by the taxpayer. Instead, the money will come from the fees that banks pay into the deposit insurance fund," Biden said.

SEE ALSO: How does a bank collapse in 48 hours? A timeline of the Silicon Valley Bank fall

Meantime, money experts say this is a good wake-up call for consumers.

"There is absolutely one thing that people should be doing right now. And that is to make sure that their deposit accounts are backed by the federal insurance funds, whether it's in a bank and a savings and loan or a credit union," said Mark Hamrick of Bankrate.

FDIC Insurance covers things like checking and savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. It's also important to know certain items are not protected, including investor money.

"What FDIC insurance does not cover, for example, is your mutual fund," said Rebell. "It doesn't cover your annuity, it doesn't cover life insurance, it doesn't cover for example the contents of your safe deposit box."

President Biden also made clear that while the federal government will allow access to uninsured deposit money for SVB customers, investors in the banks will not be protected.

As far as the ripple effect this could have on the broader economy and the market, it's too early to know exactly what the long-lasting impacts could be.

We will be watching what the Federal Reserve decides to do with interest rates when it makes its next announcement on March 22.