Some people save for retirement. Some for a house. Some just to pay the food bill.
Whatever the reason, your savings is too important to put it all at risk in volatile markets. That's why STCU membership includes free federal share insurance of your accounts through the National Credit Union Administration. In this way, your money – and its earnings! – is there when you need it.
Did you know a family could fully insure more than $1 million at the credit union? It’s true! More on that later.But first, you should know that your savings is insured by the NCUA, an independent government agency, and the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, to certain limits. In all the years this fund has been around, not one penny of insured savings has ever been lost by a member of a federally insured credit union.*
Second, NCUA insurance protects aggregate savings to at least $100,000 in your checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates.
Finally, NCUA insurance coverage for Individual Retirement Accounts is now up to $250,000. The NCUA, however, does not cover investments you may have in mutual funds, annuities, and other securities.
Wise members know that the NCUA insurance allows you to structure your savings accounts to maximize your protection for a lot more than $100,000.
Share insurance separately insures individual and joint accounts. For example, if you have an individual account of $100,000 and a joint account with your spouse with another $100,000, each account is insured separately for total coverage of $200,000. So, if you don’t mind spreading the wealth around the family, you could insure even larger amounts.
The following chart shows how a family of four used individual and joint accounts to fully insure $800,000 at the credit union:
| Family of four NCUA insurance | NCUA insurance |
| Husband’s individual account | $100,000 |
| Wife’s individual account | $100,000 |
| Child #1’s individual account | $100,000 |
| Child #2’s individual account | $100,000 |
| Husband/wife joint account | $100,000 |
| Husband/Child #1 joint account | $100,000 |
| Wife/Child #2 joint account | $100,000 |
| Child#1/Child #2 joint account | $100,000 |
| Total insured by NCUA | $800,000 |
If this same family of four were to set up additional revocable trusts, as well as IRA and KEOGH retirement accounts, the family could amass nearly $2 million in deposits -- all insured by the NCUA -- as the following chart shows:
| NCUA insurance | Amounts insured above | $800,000 |
| Revocable trust | Husband as trustee for wife | $100,000 |
| Revocable trust | Wife as trustee for husband | $100,000 |
| Revocable trust | Husband as trustee for Child #1 | $100,000 |
| Revocable trust | Wife as trustee for Child #1 | $100,000 |
| Revocable trust | Husband as trustee for Child #2 | $100,000 |
| Revocable trust | Wife as trustee for Child #2 | $100,000 |
| IRA | Wife | $250,000 |
| KEOGH | Husband | $250,000 |
| Total insured by NCUA | $1,900,000 | |
Source: NCUA special bulletin, May 2006 | ||
For more information about the best way to structure your savings for maximum insurance protection, read the NCUA's "Your Insured Funds" brochure, or contact an STCU Member Service Representative.
