Hey this could well have been a blessing, if the 2MM program as we know it ends before January... ;)

Sorry. Prizes won in a contest or sweepstakes are taxable, including miles. Separate from that, IRS has stated that miles received by employees as a side benefit from business-related travel are not compensation. Separate from that, Congress passed a law levying a 7.5% excise tax on miles purchased from airlines, either directly by consumers or by third parties (such as a bank in order to give to you as part of an awards credit card program). Most of the time, the purchasing entity eats the excise tax before giving you the miles, but not always (such as if you transfer Amex MR points into airline miles), but you usually have to pay yourself if you are purchasing miles directly from an airline.

Each of the three situations (prize, purchase, and miles for flying) are separate situations, and the tax treatment of one really doesn't have anything to do with the others.

Just to throw in my two cents: FDIC insurance is per depositor per bank. So opening two accounts would not help unless they had different names on them. Or, if you open it as a joint account, the insurance amount doubles.

Also, if the interest rate is low enough (.25% or less i believe) the accounts are fully insured no matter how much you have in them.


Just droppin' some FDIC knowledge for you :D

You yourself may need a brush up on FDIC knowledge - because your whole post has wrong information.. I dont know if you are just joking because of the smiley or you are really dont know anything but pretend you do. However I believe most readers dont take FDIC insurance lightly and would prefer to have accurate information. The best way to get it is to go to FDIC's own site to read and understand how the insurance coverage is calculated.

1) There is no such thing about "if the interest rate is low enough (.25% or less i believe) the accounts are fully insured no matter how much you have in them."

2) The insurance limit is $250,000 PER ACCOUNT OWNERSHIP.

Here is the FAQ on FDIC website with examples:

How can I keep my deposits within FDIC insurance limits?

If you and your family have $250,000 or less in all of your deposit accounts at the same insured bank or savings association, you do not need to worry about your insurance coverage — your deposits are fully insured. A depositor can have more than $250,000 at one insured bank or savings association and still be fully insured provided the accounts meet certain requirements. In addition, federal law provides for insurance coverage of up to $250,000 for certain retirement accounts.

What are the basic FDIC coverage limits?*

Single Accounts (owned by one person): $250,000 per owner

Joint Accounts (two or more persons): $250,000 per co-owner

IRAs and other certain retirement accounts: $250,000 per owner

Revocable trust accounts: Each owner is insured up to $250,000 for the interests of each beneficiary, subject to specific limitations and requirements

*These deposit insurance coverage limits refer to the total of all deposits that account holders have at each FDIC-insured bank. The listing above shows only the most common ownership categories that apply to individual and family deposits, and assumes that all FDIC requirements are met.

Is it possible to have more than $250,000 at one insured bank and still be fully covered?

You may qualify for more than $250,000 in coverage at one insured bank or savings association if you own deposit accounts in different ownership categories. The most common account ownership categories for individual and family deposits are single accounts, joint accounts, revocable trust accounts and certain retirement accounts.

Here is the Estimator on FDIC website to figure out if ALL your deposits in one single bank is covered - based on EACH ACCOUNT OWNERSHIP.

https://www.fdic.gov/edie/calculator.html

Yeah there is. Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program. However, I am not sure if BD accounts are eligible and even if they are, it is a voluntary program and I suspect BD is not part of it.

But unlimited insurance exists for some accounts.

To follow up, BD's parent bank, Texas Capital, does participate in the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program:

Texas Capital Bank wants you to feel confident that your deposits are safe and that we provide the
greatest available level of financial security to our customers including:
• Unlimited FDIC coverage on all personal and business checking deposit accounts that do not earn
interest1,2
• FDIC coverage up to $250,000 per depositor for deposits other than non-interest bearing accounts
• FDIC coverage up to $250,000 on all retirement deposit accounts

http://www.texascapitalbank.com/user...message710.pdf

While the BD checking account is under the 25bp limit for a NOW account (do those still exist??), not sure if it qualifies though.

Oops, I forgot the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program was extended to Dec 31 2010 from Jun 30. This is already the 2nd extension. It initially expired on Dec 31 2009, 1st extension to June 30 2010 and now 2nd extension to Dec 31 2010.

http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/resources/TLGP/faq.html

Banks can Opt Out of the program. There is lists on FDIC site to show the banks which opt out.

Even without the program, I believe that all non interest bearing deposits (but honestly, who has more than $250k of non interest bearing deposits) are fully insured. Recently the program dropped the cutoff from .5% to .25% to be lumped into the group of 'non interest bearing'.

No, it is the program that provides the unlimited guarantee. The 2nd extension dropped the 0.5% to 0.25% for accounts eligible for the protection provided by this program. Eligible institutions CAN and DO opt out of the program. There are opt out lists on FDIC site for people to look them up.

Without the program it would be just the regular insurance in the amount of the old 100K and now 250K limit. The 250K limit now is permanent (after initially extended to 12/31/2013).

I'm glad Happy jumped in to urge attention to the details of what is and is not covered under FDIC rules. This is vital stuff-ignore at your peril.

I'm gladder though that this thread was hijacked, and I'm hoping it stays that way.

And for a joint account, the limit would be $500k. $250k per person.

AA removed ALL my BD miles today, not just the extra miles.

Still showing me as Platinum though.

My 4x still there this morning. :D

Same here. Still Gold, as I should be, but my program-to-date is under 1MM since I didn't even get the right credit.

now gone:(