Some folks are wondering if their money is safe in banks – sure, they’re insured up to $100K, but what if you have more than $100K? Spreading it around can be an onerous task – the Wall Street Journal has some suggestions:
‘POD’ accounts are catching on. These are ‘Payable on Death’ accounts, working much like an informal trust account. ‘POD’s’ are insured $100K per beneficiary – the more beneficiaries, the higher the limit FDIC will insure
Brokered CD’s - Buying multiple certificates of deposit at once through a brokerage firm provides a fast way to spread out money across different institutions, capturing the full FDIC protection.
CDARS. This deposit-placement service, short for Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service, disperses deposits into different individual CDs of up to $100,000 each, up to a maximum covered amount of $50 million. Customers deposit their money with a participating bank, and CDARS -- which is run by the Promontory Interfinancial Network LLC in Arlington, Va. -- disperses the deposit in individual CDs up to $100,000 in 2,350 member banks across the country.
Retirement accounts. Money deposited in IRAs, Roth IRAs and certain other retirement plans is insured up to $250,000.
Joint accounts. Deposit accounts owned by two or more people are insured up to $100,000 for each account holder listed.
Credit unions. Deposit insurance for credit unions works in much the same way as FDIC insurance does for banks and thrifts, except that the funds are insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund.
Revocable trusts. Under this estate-planning strategy, the owner assigns beneficiaries but retains control of the assets during his lifetime. The FDIC insures the interests of each beneficiary up to $100,000 each. Some are formal trusts, which are typically set up by an estate attorney. Others, such as POD accounts, can be created when the account owners add certain terms and the names of the beneficiaries to the bank's account records.
-Submitted by Monique Stanford, The Loan Source (408) 357-5718
mstanford@theloansource.comThanks Monique!! With Gold jumping $84 yesterday (highest in history) I was certainly more than curious.
Tracy Pina
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