With the fall of Silicon Valley Bank and other institutions in recent weeks you might be wondering about the safety of your funds. Well, your funds are federally insured to at least $250,000 thanks to the National Credit Union Administration, NCUA. Credit Union members have not lost a single penny of insured savings at a federally insured credit union...that includes WEOKIE.
The NCUA insures accounts through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund which was established in 1970. The fund is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. Qualifying accounts are insured for $250,000 by the NCUA. (You might be wondering if your account qualifies, we'll get to that.)
If a federally insured credit union fails and is closed, NCUA will pay members the insured amount of their credit union accounts. Usually, payments are made within 3 days or less after a credit union closes its doors. Sometimes, NCUA will transfer members ' accounts to another, open federally insured credit union instead of sending payments directly to the member. If that happens, NCUA will give members notice of the transfer.
Single Ownership Accounts
These funds you own individually in just your name. This would include savings, checking, and share certificates.
- Maximum insurance coverage - $250,000
NCUA will add all of your single ownership accounts and insure them up to $250,000.
| Member |
Type of Account |
Amount |
| John Credit |
Money Market Account |
$110,000 |
| John Credit |
Share Certificate |
$75,000 |
| John Credit |
Savings Account |
$35,000 |
| John Credit |
Checking Account |
$30,000 |
| |
|
|
| Total Deposited |
|
$250,000 |
| Available Insurance |
|
$250,000 |
Joint Accounts
Joint accounts are owned by two or more members. These accounts have joint account insurance in addition to the insurance you have for individual accounts. NCUA insures each owner of the account up to $250,000. Each owner's share of any joint accounts he or she has a joint interest in is added up by NCUA and insured by $250,000.
| Account |
Total Balance |
Member 1 |
Member 2 |
| Joint Account 1 |
$500,000 |
Jane ($250,000) |
Dan ($250,000) |
| Joint Account 2 |
$100,000 |
Dan ($50,000) |
Bill ($50,000) |
In the example above, married couple Jane and Dan have a joint account at a credit union. Dan also has a joint account at that credit union with his brother Bill. The chart below shows the available insurance on each account.
| Owner |
Account |
Balance |
Total Insurance |
Uninsured |
| Dan |
1 |
$250,000 |
$250,000 |
|
| |
2 |
$50,000 |
$0 |
$50,000 |
| Jane |
1 |
$250,000 |
$250,000 |
|
| Bill |
2 |
$250,000 |
$250,000 |
|
*Dan's interest in account 1 and 2 are added together and insured up to $250,000, leaving $50,000 uninsured.
Revocable Trusts: POD Accounts
The most common type of revocable trust account is the payable-on-death account (POD). This account states who the funds should go to should the owner passes away. NCUA insures these accounts $250,000 per beneficiary. Putting the same beneficiary on multiple POD accounts does NOT increase the insurance coverage.
A beneficiary can be any natural person or charitable and nonprofit organizations recognized as tax-exempt by the IRS. If a beneficiary doesn't match those qualifications then the funds will be insured as the owner's individual account and added to any other individual accounts the owner may have. Reminder, the max amount individual accounts are insured is $250,000.
Example: Grandpa Joe's POD to his friend Sam would have $250,000 of insurance coverage.
Grandpa Joe's trust for his granddaughter, Sue, and the city aminal shelter would be insured for $500,000 as long as the shelter is a charitable, tax-exempt organization.
Joint POD Accounts
To calculate insurance coverage for joint POD accounts, you would multiply the number of owners by the number of beneficiaries and $250,000.
Example: Kelly and Katie have a trust for their sister Jane. 2 owners x 1 beneficiary x $250,000 = $500,000 in insurance coverage
A mother and father have a POD for their daughters, Jackie and Jessica. 2 owners x 2 beneficiaries x $250,000 = $1,00,000 in insurance coverage.
If a POD account has more than five beneficiaries and a balance greater than $1,250,000 are treated differently than the previous examples. The amount of insurance for an account like that would depend on the amount of funds attributed to each beneficiary.
| Account Title |
Insured Amount |
Explanation |
Jane has two POD accounts:
- Jane POD to Jamie and Matt
- Jane POD to Sue and Matt
|
$750,000 |
Listing the same person on two or more POD accounts does not increase insurance coverage. Matt's interest in both POD accounts is added together and insured up to $250,000. Jamie and Sue's interests are separately insured up to $250,000. |
| Sue POD to her family dog, Spot |
? |
Since Spot is not a natural person, charity, or non-profit, the funds in the account are added to any other individual accounts in Sue's name and insured up to $250,000. |
Retirement Accounts
IRA, Roth IRA, and Keogh accounts are insured $250,000 and are insured separately from other accounts a member maintains in the same credit union. Keogh accounts are also separately insured from IRA accounts.
Both IRA and Roth IRA accounts are added together and insured up to $250,000.
How to Maximize your Coverage
Here is an example of how to maximize your coverage.
Here a family of four, (Mother Jane, Father Tom, and two children Bobby and Charlotte) are maximizing their share insurance coverage.
| Account Title |
Amount of Coverage |
| Single account of Jane |
$250,000 |
| Single account of Tom |
$250,000 |
| Joint account of Tom and Jane |
$500,000 |
| IRA for Jane |
$250,000 |
| IRA for Tom |
$250,000 |
| Tom, POD for Bobby and Charlotte |
$500,000 |
| Jane, POD for Bobby and Charlotte |
$500,000 |
| Total |
$2,500,000 |
We hope this explains how to best maximize your NCUA Share Insurance but if you still have questions please visit www.NCUA.com or give them a call at 1-800-755-1030.
