Guides
Learn: bank safety, deposit insurance and how to read the numbers
Plain-English guides to how deposit insurance works, what happens when a bank fails, and how to read the figures banks and credit unions disclose publicly. Each guide names the government sources it draws on.
The FDIC insurance limit, explained
How the $250,000 FDIC limit really works: per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category — plus the 2024 trust-account rule, what is not covered, and fintech pass-through caveats.
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NCUA share insurance for credit union deposits
How the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund protects credit union savings up to $250,000, which account categories count separately, and how to tell whether a credit union is federally insured.
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How to check if your bank or credit union is safe
A practical guide to the public numbers behind bank safety — capital, problem loans, earnings, liquidity and uninsured deposits — what they mean, and why no public tool can predict a failure.
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What happens when a bank or credit union fails
Step by step: how the FDIC takes over a failed bank, what happens to insured and uninsured deposits, loans, checks and safe deposit boxes, and how credit union failures are handled by the NCUA.
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Credit union vs bank: what actually differs
A neutral comparison of credit unions and banks — who owns them, who can join, how deposit insurance compares, typical differences in rates and fees, and how to become a member.
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Uninsured deposits, explained
What uninsured deposits are, why they played a central role in the 2023 bank failures, how banks estimate them in call reports, and practical ways to keep your own money within insurance limits.
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The Texas ratio: what it measures and what it misses
The Texas ratio compares troubled assets to the capital and reserves available to absorb them. Here is its definition, history, how to interpret it, and its limits.
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How to read a bank or credit union call report
A plain-English tour of bank call reports (FFIEC 031, 041 and 051) and the NCUA 5300 credit union report: where they are published and which schedules matter.
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A short history of U.S. bank failures
The major waves of American bank failures — the 1930s, the savings and loan crisis, the 2008–2012 wave and the 2023 failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic — and what changed after each.
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How to choose a bank or credit union
A practical, neutral checklist for choosing where to keep your money: deposit insurance, fees, branch and ATM access, complaint data, rates, digital tools and financial health.
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