[quote author="upperlowerclass" date=1240633811][quote author="Mcdonna1980" date=1240633357]You can't have an IRA with two names on the account. You can, however, open an IRA at a brokerage like TD Ameritrade, Schwab, Fidelity, T Rowe, etc and purchase CD's from several different banks in order to have the whole account covered by the FDIC insurance. For example, you could purchase $100,000 CD from BoA and $100,000 CD from Citi and each one would be insured separately.
I'm not really sure which brokerage would be best. I would recommended researching which one has the best CD offerings, though. (be mindful of fees too). (I'm assuming this is what she wants given you mentioned the FDIC insurance. I'm not personally recommending CD's. I'm just telling you how to stay under the FDIC limits and still consolidate the accounts. Sorry, i had to disclose this is not a investment recommendation). I'm only familiar with TD Ameritrade on the institutional side. I'm not impressed with their CD offerings at all. I have not seen anything come through their offerings that beats what you can get at the bank itself.
If you go with a place that has their own line of investment products like Fidelity, make sure that you open a "brokerage" account. You need the brokerage account to purchase offerings outside of Fidelity's products.</blockquote>
Thanks for mentioning the lack of CD selection in TDA. I was just considering them right now. I think initially I will set her up with a brokerage that invests in individual FDIC funds. She has too much to deal with right now and for this year atleast, everything I am setting up for her is for simplicity and stability. However, whichever IRA I select I would like to have flexibility in types of investments for the future when we manage it more actively.</blockquote>
I should clarify, TD could possible offer some better CDs on the retail side. I doubt it's much better, though. But, I'm not positive. I do my investments through the institutional side. The best CDs I've seen at TDA are for new account promos.
Having a beneficiary on a IRA will NOT increase the FDIC coverage. Read the following from the FDIC's website.
<em>Misconception Number 7: Each beneficiary named on an IRA (Individual Retirement Account) increases the FDIC insurance coverage.
No, the number of beneficiaries on an IRA does not affect insurance coverage. This misconception appears to be based on confusion with the rules for per-beneficiary coverage of revocable trust accounts, as described below.
Under the FDIC's new rules that became effective April 1, 2006, up to $250,000 in insurance is provided for the deposits a consumer has in a variety of retirement accounts, primarily traditional and Roth IRAs, at one insured institution. The previous coverage limit in this category was $100,000.</em>
