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Short answer: the FDIC insurance limit is at least $250,000 per depositor, per FDIC-insured bank, per ownership category. Deposits such as checking, savings, money market deposit accounts and CDs are covered. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, U.S. Treasury securities and crypto assets are not, even if an insured bank sells them. This is general information, not financial advice.
What the FDIC insurance limit covers
| Question | Answer from the FDIC |
|---|---|
| Standard amount | At least $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category |
| Covered | Checking, NOW, savings and money market deposit accounts; CDs; cashier’s checks, money orders and other official items |
| Not covered | Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, life insurance, safe deposit box contents, Treasury securities, municipal securities, crypto assets |
| How to check a bank | FDIC BankFind Suite |
| How to estimate coverage | Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE) |
Source: FDIC, Understanding Deposit Insurance. Date checked: Oct. 30, 2026.
How the three parts of the rule work
Per depositor. Coverage follows the person or entity who owns the money, not the account number. Several accounts you own in the same category at the same bank are added together.
Per insured bank. Each FDIC-insured bank has its own limit. Money at two different insured banks is covered separately. A branded app that sends your money to partner banks is a different matter, so look for which bank actually holds the deposit and confirm it in BankFind.
Per ownership category. The FDIC treats single accounts, joint accounts, certain retirement accounts such as IRAs, trusts, employee benefit plans, corporation, partnership and unincorporated association accounts, and government accounts as separate categories. Deposits in the same category at the same bank are combined.
A worked example
Suppose one person has $180,000 in a savings account and a $120,000 CD at the same bank, both in a single-owner category. The total is $300,000, so $250,000 is covered and $50,000 is above the standard amount. Moving $50,000 to a second insured bank, or into a different ownership category, would bring the whole balance under coverage. The FDIC’s EDIE tool can confirm how a particular mix of accounts is treated.
What the limit does not do
Deposit insurance protects against a bank failing. It does not protect against investment losses, and it does not cover assets that only look like bank products. The FDIC’s list of non-covered items includes crypto assets, which is worth remembering when an exchange pauses withdrawals. For what to do in that case, see our guide to a crypto exchange hack or frozen withdrawals.
Where this matters for savers
People chasing yield often spread money across banks. Before you move cash, check that each bank is insured and that your total in each category stays within coverage. Our guides to CD rates and to money market accounts versus savings accounts explain the account types, and the note on savings rates after the Fed’s move shows what accounts pay.
Common mistakes
The most common are assuming a money market fund is a money market deposit account (the fund is an investment and is not covered), assuming a Treasury bill held at a bank is insured (the FDIC lists Treasury securities as not covered), and assuming a fintech app is itself insured when its partner bank is the one that holds the deposit.
Editor’s take
Do this first: look up your bank in BankFind, then run your balances through EDIE. It takes a few minutes and answers the only question that matters, which is whether any dollar of your cash sits above the line.
