Is your Bank safe ??

With three banks going down and are taken over by the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) in the last month, check whether investments in your bank are safe.

What is the FDIC

FDIC or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a US government entity that insures deposits in saving, checking and retirement accounts in member banks. Individual accounts are insured up to an amount of $100,000. There are different rules for different kinds of accounts. Some Retiree accounts may be insured up to $250,000 under the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform act of 2005. More information can be found at the official FDIC site.

Find out whether your savings are safe

Find the list of Banks insured by the FDIC at the following location.

http://www4.fdic.gov/IDASP/main_bankfind.asp

Also, if you are one of those whose Bank is already failed, you can check if you deposits are safe or not at the following location.

http://www4.fdic.gov/dip/index.asp

Precautionary steps to take

1. Do not have all your money in one Bank account, if you have say $100,000 in one account and another $100,000 in another account of another Bank, and both Banks are insured by FDIC, then you don't lose any money.

2.

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Look at the quarterly report published by FDIC on Banks. Member Banks insured by FDIC have to adhere to regulations set by the FDIC, still they can fail. FDIC publishes a quarterly report of member banks depending on various parameters to look at Banks and rates them accordingly.