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NEW YORK (AP) -- Recent turmoil in the banking industry may have you worried about your money.
Shares of PacWest, a small regional bank based in Los Angeles, plunged almost 40% Thursday after the company confirmed it may put itself up for sale. Anxiety over potential bank runs has sent shares of smaller banks tumbling. A bank run is when large numbers of people withdraw their money from a bank all at once.
Since March, three regional banks have failed -- Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank.
If the recent bank collapses have you worried about the safety of your money, here's what you need to know:
Is my money safe?
Yes, if your money is in a U.S. bank insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and you have less than $250,000 there. If the bank fails, you'll get your money back.
Nearly all banks are FDIC insured. You can look for the FDIC logo at bank teller windows or on the entrance to your bank branch.
Credit unions are insured by the National Credit Union Administration.
If you have over $250,000 in individual accounts at one bank, which most people don't, the amount over $250,000 is considered uninsured and experts recommend that you move the remainder of your money to a different financial institution, said Caleb Silver, editor in chief of Investopedia, a financial media website.
If you have multiple individual accounts at the same bank, for example a savings account and certificate of deposit, those are added together and the total is insured up to $250,000. (Read on for more about how joint
accounts are protected.)
Federal officials have been taking steps to make sure other banks aren't impacted.
"People who have their money in insured accounts have nothing to worry about," said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com. "Simply make sure that deposits fall within the guaranteed limits, whether it's FDIC or the credit union equivalent."
Customers of banks that have been sold will have access to their money from the new owner, according to the FDIC. For example, JPMorgan Chase acquired First Republic Bank when it failed earlier this week and customers are able to access all of their money from JPMorgan.
Are there red flags I should look for
with my bank?
If you are worried about your bank closing in the near future, there are some things you can watch out for, according to Silver:
-- Watch the stock price.
-- Keep an eye on the quarterly and annual reports from your bank.
-- Start a Google alert for your bank in case there are news stories about it.
You want to make sure you pay close attention to the way your bank is behaving, Silver said.
"If they're trying to raise money through a share offering or if they're trying to sell more stock, they might have trouble on their balance sheet," said Silver.
Public companies, including banks, do sell shares or issue new ones for various reasons, so context matters. First Republic did so this year when the hazards it faced were well known, and it kicked off an exodus of investors and depositors.