Consumer Blog

Here's a game - what do these topics have in common?

Car payments; mortgages; student loans; putting food on the table; gas prices; bank failures; government buy-out plans.

If you guessed, "things that make me nervous," you are not only correct, but you also have plenty of company. Recently, it seems like chats at the water-cooler quickly turn into common stories on how the current economy affects everyone. Gone are the days of talking about the latest television shows featuring glamorous lives we'd like to emulate. Life, it seems, is pretty far from an episode of "The Hills." These days, conversations focus more on keeping our money safe.

So, with things as they are, you should be thinking, if my bank fails, what happens to my money? As a general rule, if you have a checking, savings or NOW account at an FDIC-insured bank, your money is covered for up to $100,000. The value might increase if you have multiple-deposit accounts, or joint accounts. Many credit unions - insured by NCUSIF - cover accounts up to $100,000.

Non-deposit accounts, such as stocks, mutual funds and life-insurance policies are not covered by insurance.

You can check to see how much your bank accounts are insured with this calculator. It will not calculate for credit union insurance.