Quora Answer: How Much Money is Covered by FDIC?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How much money is covered by FDIC?”

The FDIC insures up to US$250,000 per name per bank.  That means, if you have multiple accounts in the bank, under your name, and the sum of your deposits exceeds US$250,000, the FDIC only covers that US$250,000.  In the event of a bank failure, the rest is lost.

If you have a lot of cash sitting in deposits, you should either insure them privately, if the amount is exceptionally large, or you should put it in the name of entities – companies and trusts – you control, up to the limit.