FDIC Insurance Explained: The $250,000 Limit and Ownership Categories

If you keep savings at a bank, FDIC insurance is what protects those deposits if the bank fails. The FDIC says no depositor has lost a penny of FDIC-insured funds since it began in 1933.

The core rule

The standard limit is $250,000 per depositor, per FDIC-insured bank, per ownership category. All three parts matter.

Ownership categories

The FDIC lists categories including single accounts, joint accounts, certain retirement accounts such as IRAs, trust accounts, employee benefit plan accounts, corporation or partnership accounts and government accounts. Each category is insured separately.

A worked example

At one bank, your single savings and single checking are added together under the single category. A joint account with your spouse is a separate category, and your IRA is separate again. Moving money between categories can raise total coverage at one bank.

What is covered

Checking, NOW accounts, savings, money market deposit accounts, CDs, and cashier’s checks or money orders issued by the bank.

What is not

Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, life insurance, annuities, safe deposit boxes, Treasury securities and crypto assets, even if bought through a bank.

Merged banks

When banks merge, deposits can be counted together. For example, Capital One notes that Capital One and Discover deposits opened on or after May 18, 2025 count together for FDIC coverage.