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Over the weekend, the news about the Silicon Valley Bank fallout take over people's weekend conversations and brought questions about their own personal finances to the surface.
Most people feel safe keeping cash in a bank account, but after witnessing the second largest bank failure in American history, it's easy to wonder how safe your cash really is.
So whether you've chosen to bank with a local financial institution or a national bank, here are the three ways a financial expert says you can make sure your money is protected.
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One immediate action you can take is to check and see what kind of insurance your bank has.
Certified financial planner Gabriel Lalonde says you can start by checking to see if your bank is FDIC-insured.
"The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is an independent agency that provides deposit insurance to protect depositors in case of a bank failure," he says.
So if you have your money in an FDIC-insured bank account and the bank fails, this agency will reimburse you for the money you had in the account.
FDIC insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. So if you have $100,000 in a CD and $150,000 in a savings account at the same bank, you're covered. Any additional money in the account might not be protected if the bank fails.
The FDIC doesn't cover all types of accounts. Checking and savings accounts are FDIC insured, as are CDs. Stocks, bonds, cryptocurrency, and money market funds are not insured by the FDIC.
Silicon Valley Bank was FDIC-insured, but many of the companies that kept money there had far more than $250,000 deposited.
If you take inventory of your finances and realize that most of your money is in the same bank, Lalonde says you might want to consider spreading your money across multiple institutions to reduce your risk of losing all of your money in the event of a bank failure.
"Instead of having all your money in one checking or savings account, you can split it among multiple accounts at different banks or credit unions," he says.
Lalonde also recommends this strategy because it can help you earn more interest on your money. He says if you find an institution that's offering a higher interest rate on a savings account or CD, you can move a portion of your money into one of those accounts.
For many people, keeping their cash in a bank seems like a safe option. But Lalonde says it's still important to take a firm interest in the financial health of your bank or credit union as frequently as possible.
He recommends people do this regularly by reviewing their own account statements to double check everything is correct and by checking the institutions' financial statements and rating from reputable sources, like Moody's, S&P Global Ratings, and Fitch Ratings, which provide credit ratings and research for global capital markets.
That way, you can make necessary steps to protect or remove your money if your bank or credit union seems to be at risk of failing.
