Find your situation
Whose name is on the account you worry about most?
Family money ends up in many places: a joint account from before the wedding, a savings account in one name, perhaps a trust a lawyer set up. Each is counted by its own rule, and a few minutes with a list of them shows where the lines fall.
Is all of my household's money actually insured?
Coverage follows how each account is titled and how much sits at each institution, not your household total. 1
It is easy to assume that because every bank you use is insured, every dollar is covered. The limit attaches to a person, a bank and an ownership category at the same time. That is why one couple can be fully covered across several categories at a bank, while one saver with $300,000 in a single account is $50,000 over.
The worked example below uses round numbers to show the mechanic. It is an illustration, not your result.
Bank A, one single account of $300,000: $250,000 insured, $50,000 uninsured; Bank B, joint accounts of $500,000 for two co-owners: $500,000 insured, $0 uninsured.
| Bank | Insured | Uninsured |
|---|---|---|
| Bank A, one single account of $300,000 | $250,000 | $50,000 |
| Bank B, joint accounts of $500,000 for two co-owners | $500,000 | $0 |
How does the $250,000 limit really work?
The limit is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each ownership category. 1
Two phrases in that sentence matter most. "Per bank" means the same person at two separate banks has two limits. "Per category" means a person can hold single, joint, trust and retirement money at one bank with a separate limit on each. Single accounts in your name at the same bank are added together before the limit applies. 2
The FDIC recognizes seven ownership categories in total. This guide covers the four personal categories the calculator handles. 3
How are joint accounts counted?
Each co-owner is insured up to $250,000 for the combined amount of his or her interests in all joint accounts at the same bank. 4
The FDIC assumes the co-owners own equal shares unless the bank records clearly say otherwise. For a couple, that means the joint accounts at one bank are covered up to twice the per-owner limit, and the calculator divides each joint balance by the number of co-owners you enter. The account also needs the paperwork that shows co-ownership, so check the signature card or its electronic equivalent with your bank.
How does coverage work for a trust or payable-on-death account?
For trusts, coverage is owners times eligible beneficiaries times $250,000, up to $1,250,000 per owner at one bank. 5 6
This formula took effect on April 1, 2024, so advice written before then may describe an older set of rules. Eligible beneficiaries include living people and certain charities. The calculator assumes every trust account at a bank names the same beneficiaries and uses the largest count you enter, which gives the lower coverage figure.
What about retirement accounts and credit unions?
Certain retirement accounts, such as IRAs, are added together per person at one bank and insured up to $250,000 as their own category. 7
Naming a beneficiary on a retirement account does not raise that limit. Only the cash deposits inside the IRA count, not securities held in it.
Credit unions follow a similar structure through the NCUA, with $250,000 per member-owner, per credit union, per ownership category. 8 Revocable trusts differ in detail, with $250,000 per eligible beneficiary for each owner. 9 Switch an institution to "Credit union (NCUA)" in the calculator to apply those rules. Our NCUA versus FDIC explainer covers the differences in full.
What can I do if some of my money is above the limit?
The simplest fix is to move the excess to another insured institution, because each one is counted separately.
A second option is to hold some money in a different ownership category at the same bank, such as a joint account or a trust with named beneficiaries. That changes who owns the money and how it passes to heirs, so it is a legal and family decision as well as an insurance one. Talk to your bank, and for trusts talk to an estate attorney, before you retitle anything.
Our longer article, FDIC and NCUA insurance: getting past $250,000, walks through spreading money across banks and covers the ownership-category rules this page only summarizes. If your money sits in an app rather than at a bank, see whether your fintech money is insured.
How do I double-check my answer?
Run your accounts through the FDIC's own estimator, then confirm with your bank. 10
The FDIC Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator, called EDIE, lets you enter accounts and ownership categories and see the coverage the FDIC would calculate. Coverage depends on exact titling and bank records; confirm with your bank. The FDIC check tool on SwitchWize helps you confirm that an institution is insured in the first place.