Insuring Your Deposits: Sample Account Scenarios
To help you better understand how different account ownership categories can increase your FDIC coverage, we’ve provided you with a fictional example of a married couple, Alex and Jordan Smith, who have one child, Darcy. They may achieve far more than the standard $250,000 limit in one financial institution.
By having deposits in separate account ownership categories, this fictional family has FDIC insurance for $2.09 million of their $2.26 million of total deposits at one bank.
There are many different ownership categories for FDIC insurance, and we have not covered them all in this example. For more information, visit FDIC.gov.
Category: Single Owner
Single owner accounts are held in one person’s name only. The FDIC adds together all single accounts owned by the same person at the same bank and insures the total up to $250,000.
|
Account Title |
Deposit Type |
Balance |
|
Alex Smith |
MMDA |
$15,000 |
|
Alex Smith |
Savings |
$20,000 |
|
Alex Smith |
CD |
$200,000 |
|
Alex’s Apple Cakes (sole proprietorship) |
Checking |
$25,000 |
|
Alex’s Total Single Owner Balances |
|
$260,000 |
|
Alex’s Single Owner Amount Insured |
|
$250,000 |
|
Alex’s Single Owner Amount Uninsured |
|
$10,000 |
|
Account Title |
Deposit Type |
Balance |
|
Jordan Smith |
MMDA |
$15,000 |
|
Jordan Smith |
Savings |
$35,000 |
|
Jordan Smith |
CD |
$200,000 |
|
Jordan’s Total Single Owner Balances |
|
$250,000 |
|
Jordan’s Single Owner Amount Insured |
|
$250,000 |
|
Jordan’s Single Owner Amount Uninsured |
|
$0 |
Category: Jointly Owned Accounts
Joint accounts are owned by two or more people. They must be still living, with equal rights to withdraw deposits from the account.
|
Account Title |
Deposit Type |
Balance |
Share Per Owner |
|
Alex and Jordan Smith |
MMDA |
$230,000 |
$115,000 |
|
Alex or Jordan Smith |
Savings |
$250,000 |
$125,000 |
|
Alex or Jordan or Darcy Smith |
CD |
$270,000 |
$90,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
$750,000 |
$330,000 |
Each person’s insurance coverage is up to $250,000 of the total of their ownership shares in joint accounts.
|
Owners |
Total of Joint Ownership Shares |
Amount Insured |
Amount Uninsured |
|
Alex Smith |
$330,000 |
$250,000 |
$80,000 |
|
Jordan Smith |
$330,000 |
$250,000 |
$80,000 |
|
Darcy Smith |
$90,000 |
$90,000 |
$0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Totals |
$750,000 |
$590,000 |
$160,000 |
Category: Trusts, including Payable On Death (POD) Accounts
A trust account is a deposit account owned by one or more people that identifies one or more beneficiaries who will receive the deposits upon the death of the owner(s). The owner's trust deposits are insured up to $250,000 for each unique beneficiary up to a maximum of five (5) beneficiaries. Trust titling may be worded payable on death (or POD), in trust for (or ITF), as trustee for (or ATF), living trust, family trust or simply having the word “trust” in the account title.
The amount insured varies by the number of beneficiaries.
|
Number of Unique Beneficiaries |
Maximum Deposit Insurance Coverage |
|
1 Beneficiary |
$250,000 |
|
2 Beneficiary |
$500,000 |
|
3 Beneficiary |
$750,000 |
|
4 Beneficiary |
$1,000,000 |
|
5 Beneficiary |
$1,250,000 |
|
Account Title |
Owner |
Beneficiaries |
Deposit Type |
Account Balance |
|
Alex Smith POD |
Alex |
Jordan, Darcy |
MMDA |
$10,000 |
|
Alex Smith POD |
Alex |
Jordan, Darcy |
Savings |
$20,000 |
|
Alex Smith POD |
Alex |
Jordan, Darcy |
CD |
$470,000 |
|
Total |
|
|
|
$500,000 |
|
Alex Amount Insured |
|
|
|
$500,000 |
|
Amount Uninsured |
|
|
|
$0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Account Title |
Owner |
Beneficiaries |
Deposit Type |
Account Balance |
|
Jordan Smith POD |
Jordan |
Alex, Darcy |
MMDA |
$10,000 |
|
Jordan Smith POD |
Jordan |
Alex, Darcy |
Savings |
$20,000 |
|
Jordan Smith POD |
Jordan |
Alex, Darcy |
CD |
$470,000 |
|
Total |
|
|
|
$500,000 |
|
Jordan Amount Insured |
|
|
|
$500,000 |
|
Amount Uninsured |
|
|
|
$0 |
Note: For joint trusts, each of the grantors’ interest is insured. Visit fdic.gov to learn more.
Insured Summary
- Alex Total - $1 million
- Jordan Total - $1 million
- Darcy Total - $90,000
- Family Total Insured = $2.09 million
These examples are intended solely to describe different account ownership categories for FDIC coverage and not to provide estate planning or financial advice. Reach out to your advisor for strategies for your specific situation.
