NCUA insurance.
In plain English
NCUA insurance is government-backed protection for deposits at federally insured credit unions, run by the National Credit Union Administration. It covers up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured credit union, per ownership category, a limit set by federal law. This is the credit union version of FDIC insurance, which does the same job for banks. If an insured credit union fails, the NCUA repays your covered deposits, so you do not lose your insured money.
01Why it matters
It means your savings at a credit union are just as safe as savings at a bank, backed by the full faith of the federal government up to the limit. Knowing the per-category structure can also let you insure more than $250,000 at one place by spreading it across ownership categories.
02The math, step by step
You have $200,000 in a share account at a federally insured credit union. It is fully covered by NCUA insurance because it is under the $250,000 limit. If you had $300,000 in a single individual account, the extra $50,000 would be uninsured, so you could move that portion to a different ownership category or a different insured credit union to keep it all covered. Always confirm your specific situation with the NCUA Share Insurance Estimator, since coverage depends on account ownership.
03What this is NOT
NCUA insurance is not the same agency as FDIC insurance, though the protection is equivalent. NCUA covers credit unions; FDIC covers banks. Both carry the same $250,000 per-depositor limit, but a deposit is covered by only one of them, depending on where you put it.
04Receipts
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Plain-English answers from our glossary. Receipts included. Never advice.
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