If recent reports of banks failing has got you wondering if your money is safe, there is an easy way to find out. For starters, the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) is an independent agency of the US government. Their responsibility is to protect depositors (like you and me) from losing insured deposits if an FDIC-insured bank were to fail. If your accounts total $100,000 or less, it’s all insured.

So how do you know if your money is safe? Make sure your bank is FDIC-insured. You can do that very easily by visiting the FDIC’s website. Simply conduct a database search or look through the Institution Directory to make sure your bank is listed.

If your bank does fail, there is also lots of information about what happens to your money and how to get help. By the way, it’s not totally uncommon for a bank to fail. According to FDIC statistics, 43 banks have failed since 2000.

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