Robert Brown of the FDIC hands out forms to people anxious to get their money back outside an IndyMac Bank branch in Encino, Calif., earlier this week.

AP / Nick Ut

When IndyMac Bank FSB, of Pasadena, Calif., failed last week, streams of depositors gathered in lines outside.

It looked like a scene from the Great Depression.

If your bank fails, will your money be protected? Today’s MoneyLine offers answers to some questions you might have:

Q: Is my money safe?

A: Your money is safe if your bank is federally insured and the amount you have on deposit falls within federal insurance limits.

Q: How do I know if my bank is federally insured?

A: Call the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) toll-free at (877) 275-3342, or use its Web site: www.fdic.gov.

The FDIC is an independent agency of the U.S. government. It protects depositors against the loss of their insured deposits if an FDIC-insured bank fails. The FDIC is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

In Rhode Island, all banks that accept deposits must be federally insured.

Q: What’s the limit?

A: The insurance limit is generally $100,000. So if you have no more than $100,000 on deposit at a single bank, your money is fully insured — even if your bank fails, said Mark Higgins, dean of the University of Rhode Island’s College of Business Administration.

“For the average person, there’s nothing really to worry about,” Higgins said yesterday. “The federal government will stand behind those deposits.”

Q: What if I have more than $100,000 on deposit at a single bank?

A: Your money may still be fully insured. That’s because federal deposit insurance really applies per depositor, per ownership category, per bank.

There are several ownership categories. One is the “single ownership” category, which includes accounts owned only by you. Another is the “joint ownership” category, which includes accounts that you own with other people.

Each category is separately insured for up to $100,000, said FDIC spokeswoman LaJuan Williams-Dickerson. So if your money is spread across several ownership categories, all at the same bank, all of it may be fully insured — even though the combined total exceeds the standard limit of $100,000 mentioned above.

Q: What about my retirement money?

A: There’s a separate ownership category for retirement savings accounts. And because of legislation approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2006, the insurance limit for that category is $250,000.

So you add up all the amounts in all your retirement accounts at the same bank — including money you’ve salted away in traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP IRAs, self-directed 401(k) retirement-savings accounts, self-directed Keogh accounts, and Section 457 plan accounts.

Of that total, the first $250,000 is covered in full by federal deposit insurance.

Q: How about an example?

A: Suppose you have the following amounts, all at the same bank:

•A checking account in your name only, totaling $20,000.

•A savings account in your name only, with a $75,000 balance.

•A checking account that you own jointly with your spouse. The balance is $200,000, of which your share is $100,000.

•Three IRAs, with $50,000 apiece, for a total of $150,000.

Your stake in all these accounts adds up to $345,000. And it’s all fully insured by the FDIC.

Why? The first two accounts listed above, holding a total of $95,000, fall into the “single ownership” category. You get $100,000 in insurance for that category.

The third account listed above falls into the “joint ownership” category. You’re insured for up to $100,000 that you own in that category.

The three IRAs fall into the retirement ownership category. You’re covered for up to $250,000 in that category.

Q: What if some of my money at a bank doesn’t fall within federal deposit insurance limits and the bank fails?

A: The uninsured balance isn’t covered.

For example, suppose you have $120,000 at a single bank, all of it in the “single ownership” category as described above, and the bank fails.

The FDIC is obligated to cover only the first $100,000; the remaining $20,000 is uninsured.

The FDIC might pay you a portion of that $20,000 up front, and a little bit more later on, but you can’t count on getting the entire $20,000.

At IndyMac, about $18 billion in insured deposits, held by more than 200,000 customers, is fully protected, the FDIC says.

But about 10,000 depositors have about $1 billion in uninsured deposits. The FDIC will pay the uninsured depositors, in advance, 50 cents for each dollar of their uninsured deposits, said FDIC chief Sheila C. Bair. “As assets of IndyMac are sold, they may receive even more,” Bair said in a statement.

Q: Should I be worried about my bank?

A: There are nearly 8,500 federally insured banks nationwide. IndyMac Bank is only the fifth FDIC-insured bank to fail this year.

Some other banks are in trouble. As of March 31, there were 90 banks on the FDIC’s “problem bank list,” Williams-Dickerson said yesterday. The banks on that list have some type of deficiency and are working with regulators to resolve their problems.

But the number of banks that have failed, and the number of banks that are on the “problem bank list,” are tiny compared with the overall number of banks.

“The overwhelming majority of banks in this country are safe and sound,” Bair said. “The chance that your own bank will be taken over by the FDIC is extremely remote. And if that does happen, you will continue to have virtually uninterrupted access to your insured deposits,” she said.

Q: What about my credit union?

A: The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) generally insures credit unions. The NCUA’s deposit insurance rules are essentially the same as the FDIC’s.

In Rhode Island, all credit unions that accept deposits must be federally insured.

TODAY’S TIP: Make sure that your deposits at a single bank or credit union fall within the federal insurance limits.

Your bank or credit union may have a brochure that describes federal insurance rules.

The FDIC and NCUA also have online, interactive tools you may use to see if your deposits fall within the limits:

www.fdic.gov

www.ncua.gov

Questions about your money matters? Call us at (401) 277-7484 and leave a message, or e-mail:

moneyline@projo.com

Whether you phone in or e-mail your question, please be sure to include your name, hometown and home phone in case we need to reach you. Sorry, no personal replies; as many questions and issues as possible will appear here.