Given the continuing gyrations of the stock market, many people are grabbing their money and fleeing to the safety of bank deposit accounts.

But how much protection do you have in a bank that is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.?

You might assume you're covered for just $100,000. That may not be true. You might have more insurance — it all relies on the way you have titled your accounts, should you be lucky enough to have to worry about the $100,000 ceiling.

Congress created the FDIC in 1933 to protect the savings of millions of Americans. But there are limits to how much insurance you can get. When a financial institution fails, the FDIC will give depositors back their insured money. However, there is no guarantee that you will get back all your money on deposits that exceed the insurance limits.

The type of account (checking, savings, money market deposit or certificate of deposit) does not affect the insurance coverage. Rather, it is the type of ownership of the bank account that determines if funds will be separately insured, or added together.

So that gets me back to my original question. How much of your money can be insured?

If you are not sure, try this test created by the FDIC to illustrate the most common mistakes and misconceptions people have when it comes to FDIC insurance.

If you answered "true," you would be a hurt puppy. The right answer is false.

A payable-on-death account and other types of deposit accounts, where funds pass to specific beneficiaries when the owner dies, can be insured up to $100,000 per beneficiary ($200,000 if there are two beneficiaries, $300,000 if there are three, and so on) but the person must be a "qualifying" beneficiary. Funds in a payable-on-death account that are held for a nonqualifying beneficiary are added together with other funds the owner holds in his or her name alone, and the total is insured up to $100,000.

A qualifying beneficiary has to be a depositor's spouse, child, grandchild, parent or sibling. Other relatives, such as nieces, nephews, cousins or in-laws, as well as friends, do not qualify for the additional insurance coverage on the account.

Suppose all your deposits in your IRAs are at one bank. If the bank fails, all the accounts are added together and insured up to $100,000. It doesn't matter how many IRAs you own or how many beneficiaries you have. True or False?

It's true. Even though retirement funds are insured separately from other types of deposits at the same bank, you still get just the $100,000 insurance limit. Also, listing beneficiaries on your IRA account does not get you additional insurance coverage.

If you're still not sure how much insurance coverage you have, read the FDIC's brochure "Your Insured Deposit." Get the most current edition, published in 1999, to reflect some rule changes. You can get a free copy from the FDIC, Public Information Center (801 17th St., N.W., Room 100, Washington, D.C. 20434).

Contact Michelle Singletary at singletarym@washpost.com.