Q My question has to do with CDs. At Republic Bank here in Duluth I have an IRA CD with a value of $208,953. I understand that it will be FDIC-insured for up to $250,000. At the same bank I have a regular CD with a value of $73,000. Because one is an IRA CD and the other is a regular CD I felt that both would be FDIC-insured even though they're at the same bank. Am I right or wrong?

NANCY

A You are right. Both are insured -- the numbers you gave come under the FDIC insurance limits -- despite being at the same bank.

"Bank failure" is a chilling phrase. When IndyMac recently failed, customers formed long lines to get their money. Shades of the Great Depression, or maybe "It's a Wonderful Life." Remember the scene where the mob gathers outside the savings and loan, then rushes into the lobby when the doors are opened?

There's no need to panic or line up outside a bank. Today is nothing like then when it comes to bank failures. Yes, there will be more bank failures this year, but most of us don't have to worry about our money, thanks to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. No depositor has lost a penny in an FDIC-insured account. (Federally insured credit unions have a comparable backstop.)

Your money is safe if your account at the bank -- checking, savings, money-market deposit, certificate of deposit, and the like -- is $100,000 or less.

What if bank accounts add up to more than $100,000? You still might be protected. It all depends on how legal ownership of the account is labeled. For instance, a couple may have individual accounts at a bank, each covered up to $100,000. They may also have a joint account -- it gets up to $100,000 protection. And then they could also have -- as you do -- deposits in an IRA insured up to $250,000. And so on.

But at some point, it pays to either spread the money around into different banks for the insurance coverage or, better yet, to stash more of your "safe" money into default-free U.S. Treasury bills and notes.

To learn more about the insurance coverage limits, go to www.fdic.gov. The website offers a lot of good information. The FDIC guide to insured deposits is at www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/insured/index.html.

Chris Farrell is economics editor for American Public Media's "Marketplace Money." Send questions to cfarrell@mpr.org, or to kaching@startribune.com. Put "Your Money" in the subject line.