If the cash in your bank is FDIC insured, you can relax

— -- Old photographs of Depression-era bank runs are popping up all over the place, and that raises a couple of questions. Why don't people wear hats anymore? And, more important, could this happen to your bank?

Concerns about bank safety and soundness have been exacerbated by the recent downfall of two of the nation's largest financial institutions. Thursday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized Washington Mutual, the nation's largest savings and loan, and brokered a sale to JPMorgan Chase jpm for $1.9 billion. On Monday, Citigroup c said it will acquire Wachovia's wbbanking business, a deal that was also negotiated by the FDIC.

The FDIC emphasized that Wachovia didn't fail and that all depositors were protected. Likewise, none of Washington Mutual's depositors lost any money, and customers have experienced no disruption in service.

No one has ever lost a dime of FDIC-insured deposits. Still, the prospect of a bank failure unnerves a lot of people, particularly in light of ongoing mayhem in the stock market.

The FDIC maintains a list of troubled banks but doesn't publicly disclose it because regulators don't want to trigger a run on those banks. There are, however, other ways to check on your bank's financial health. Bankrate.com assigns a "Safe & Sound" rating to banks, thrifts and credit unions, based on profitability, liquidity, asset quality and other criteria. Veribanc, an independent ratings agency, will provide a financial rating for any bank, thrift or credit union, for $10 per institution. Go to www.veribanc.com, or call 800-837-4226.

While closing accounts at a bank that appears to be on shaky ground could give you peace of mind, it could also cost you money. If you withdraw funds from a certificate of deposit before it has matured, you'll have to pay an early-withdrawal penalty.

A better option: Make sure all of your deposits are insured. No customer has ever lost a dime in insured deposits in a bank failure. But not all bank customers have that protection. The FDIC estimates that about 37% of all bank deposits are uninsured. Some of those accounts belong to businesses that keep more than $100,000 in the bank to pay bills, but other accounts may belong to people who don't understand the deposit insurance limits.

In the Washington Mutual and Wachovia transactions, all deposits were included in the deal, so no depositor lost money. But it doesn't always work out that way. When the FDIC took over IndyMac in July, about 10,000 customers of the California-based mortgage lender had uninsured deposits of about $1 billion. Those customers received an "advance dividend" of 50% of their deposits. Additional payments won't be made until the FDIC sells IndyMac's assets, which hasn't happened yet, says FDIC spokesman Andrew Gray. If your deposits are uninsured, you may have to wait months or years to get your money back, if you get it at all.

The FDIC insures up to $100,000 for individual accounts, $200,000 for joint accounts and up to $250,000 for retirement accounts. But when a bank fails, some customers discover that they have inadvertently exceeded the limits. Here's what you need to know:

•Joint accounts are covered for up to $200,000 if both account holders have equal withdrawal rights. If one account holder needs the other's permission to take withdrawals, it's not considered a joint account for insurance purposes.

•If you have deposits at two banks that merge, you could end up exceeding deposit insurance limits. As the banking industry becomes increasingly concentrated, this could become an issue for more savers. When two banks merge, the FDIC provides full coverage for six months after the merger, or in the case of CDs, until maturity. After that, depositors need to move some of their money to an unaffiliated bank to maintain full protection.

•You can significantly increase your coverage with revocable trust accounts, typically known as payable-on-death or living-trust accounts. The FDIC will cover up to $100,000 per beneficiary for these accounts. In the past, the coverage was limited to "qualifying beneficiaries," defined as spouses, children, grandchildren, parents and siblings. But last week, the FDIC voted to eliminate this requirement. Now, deposit insurance will cover any beneficiary named in the trust.

The FDIC provides an online tool to help you calculate your coverage for all of your bank accounts. Go to www.fdic.gov and search for the Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator.

Sandra Block covers personal finance for USA TODAY. Her Your Money column appears Tuesdays. Click here for an index of Your Money columns. E-mail her at: sblock@usatoday.com.