6 ms·

I think the limit was upped to $250K in the wake of the financial crisis.

Retric 9y ago
Joint accounts are also insured at 250k per person per bank and count separately from individual accounts. So a couple can have 3 accounts 2x 250k + 500k in a joint account at the same bank.
- abritinthebay 9y ago
  and that couple would be rich enough to afford a financial advisor anyhow.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    500k is nowhere near rich enough to afford a financial advisor; many people save that much easily for retirement. Maybe 2 million.
    - TheCoelacanth 9y ago
      If you have 500k in cash in a normal bank account, you are either so financially illiterate that you absolutely need a financial advisor or you are rich enough that you can easily afford a financial advisor.
      - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
        Or you are saving for a down payment for a house in the Bay Area? There are plenty of other good reasons why someone who wasn't rich would have 500k in the bank without significant other investments.
        abritinthebay 9y ago
        500k as a down payment? Yeah... that would come under rich. In that situation you either are rich enough to save that much AND/OR are rich enough to afford payments on a house where that is a sensible down payment rather than a transfer of equity from a sale.
        seanmcdirmid 9y ago
        Ya, to buy a small simple house. Rich is always relative.
        abritinthebay 9y ago
        I live in the Bay Area and just bought a house: 500k is not required. 500k in savings here is still rich - it ain’t THAT relative
        exikyut 9y ago
        I'm very very curious what your idea of an expensive house would be. I only ask because I (and probably most) view $500k as a downpayment as impressive. The best way to describe my perception of this type of mindset is that reading your comments reminded me (in a non-negative way) of reading https://redd.it/67zv7a https://redd.it/67zv7a, a serendipitous thread (which I found via https://redd.it/682xc3 https://redd.it/682xc3) that veered off into an interesting discussion about the relative views of being rich. Myself, I've never experienced this personally, which is why I perk up and take notice wherever I see it.
        TheCoelacanth 9y ago
        Someone who can afford a $2.5 million house can easily afford a financial advisor.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - arcticbull 9y ago
      Nah, that's not really true. If you have 500K (especially excluding retirement accounts) then you should really have it under management (robo, yourself, a fiduciary, whatever). The S&P is up 10% on the year so far, so that's $50,000 you could have made 1/1 through present. Obviously not a guarantee of future performance, and caveats apply, but that kind of money definitely has the potential to make more money, but not when in your 1% APR savings account.
      - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
        There are people of there who don't think the market is in a good state, or who are saving for a house, or for whatever reason want to stay liquid. The banks will treat you a bit better with that much in an account (they will assign you a relationship manager at Hsbc if you are at premiere level), but not very much. I personally accumulated savings in RMB and had no decent investment options until recently. I know I can't afford anyone more than the guy at the bank who wants to take you for a ride. Everyone's situation is different.
    - heartbreak 9y ago
      A tenth of that in savings is more than enough for an advisor.
      - abritinthebay 9y ago
        Or at least a consultation about how to manage it better than just sitting in a savings account.
- WalterBright 9y ago
  Even if it's insured, you may not have access to the funds until the government sorts it out. Meanwhile, you've still got bills to pay.
  - Retric 9y ago
    Banks fail regularly the FDIC has a lot of practic dealing with this. Generally the assets are sold off and most of the same branches are open the next day under a new name. Checks are processed using the old account etc. It's possible for things to take significantly longer than that, but your quickly talking about lightning strike odds. However, I would definitely use a separate institution for investment accounts which would worse case let you sell off some stock.

Joint accounts are also insured at 250k per person per bank and count separately from individual accounts. So a couple can have 3 accounts 2x 250k + 500k in a joint account at the same bank.

abritinthebay 9y ago
and that couple would be rich enough to afford a financial advisor anyhow.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  500k is nowhere near rich enough to afford a financial advisor; many people save that much easily for retirement. Maybe 2 million.
  - TheCoelacanth 9y ago
    If you have 500k in cash in a normal bank account, you are either so financially illiterate that you absolutely need a financial advisor or you are rich enough that you can easily afford a financial advisor.
    - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
      Or you are saving for a down payment for a house in the Bay Area? There are plenty of other good reasons why someone who wasn't rich would have 500k in the bank without significant other investments.
      - abritinthebay 9y ago
        500k as a down payment? Yeah... that would come under rich. In that situation you either are rich enough to save that much AND/OR are rich enough to afford payments on a house where that is a sensible down payment rather than a transfer of equity from a sale.
        seanmcdirmid 9y ago
        Ya, to buy a small simple house. Rich is always relative.
        abritinthebay 9y ago
        I live in the Bay Area and just bought a house: 500k is not required. 500k in savings here is still rich - it ain’t THAT relative
        exikyut 9y ago
        I'm very very curious what your idea of an expensive house would be. I only ask because I (and probably most) view $500k as a downpayment as impressive. The best way to describe my perception of this type of mindset is that reading your comments reminded me (in a non-negative way) of reading https://redd.it/67zv7a https://redd.it/67zv7a, a serendipitous thread (which I found via https://redd.it/682xc3 https://redd.it/682xc3) that veered off into an interesting discussion about the relative views of being rich. Myself, I've never experienced this personally, which is why I perk up and take notice wherever I see it.
      - TheCoelacanth 9y ago
        Someone who can afford a $2.5 million house can easily afford a financial advisor.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - arcticbull 9y ago
    Nah, that's not really true. If you have 500K (especially excluding retirement accounts) then you should really have it under management (robo, yourself, a fiduciary, whatever). The S&P is up 10% on the year so far, so that's $50,000 you could have made 1/1 through present. Obviously not a guarantee of future performance, and caveats apply, but that kind of money definitely has the potential to make more money, but not when in your 1% APR savings account.
    - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
      There are people of there who don't think the market is in a good state, or who are saving for a house, or for whatever reason want to stay liquid. The banks will treat you a bit better with that much in an account (they will assign you a relationship manager at Hsbc if you are at premiere level), but not very much. I personally accumulated savings in RMB and had no decent investment options until recently. I know I can't afford anyone more than the guy at the bank who wants to take you for a ride. Everyone's situation is different.
  - heartbreak 9y ago
    A tenth of that in savings is more than enough for an advisor.
    - abritinthebay 9y ago
      Or at least a consultation about how to manage it better than just sitting in a savings account.
WalterBright 9y ago
Even if it's insured, you may not have access to the funds until the government sorts it out. Meanwhile, you've still got bills to pay.
- Retric 9y ago
  Banks fail regularly the FDIC has a lot of practic dealing with this. Generally the assets are sold off and most of the same branches are open the next day under a new name. Checks are processed using the old account etc. It's possible for things to take significantly longer than that, but your quickly talking about lightning strike odds. However, I would definitely use a separate institution for investment accounts which would worse case let you sell off some stock.