Q. I see ads in the paper advertising higher returns for CDs than normal. How can I make sure that a specific credit union or bank is legitimate and ensure that my money will be safe? Is there a federal body governing credit unions and banks?

A. You are wise to inquire about the safety of your money with these high-paying CDs.

The federal government insures individual and joint deposits up to $250,000 through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., more commonly known as the FDIC. (That limit was raised Oct. 3, 2008, and will be in effect until at least Dec. 31, 2009.) Any bank offering CDs or any other type of deposit account (savings, money market) should say "Member FDIC" anytime it advertises rates. At the very least, it should display the FDIC logo.

If you do not see any reference to the FDIC, that is a red flag. But you can check further. To find out for sure whether your deposit is insured, go to Bank Find on the FDIC Web site, fill in the information on the bank in question and you will get an answer.

If the bank isn't insured, don't risk your money.

A credit union should offer the same protection. The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) is a federal agency backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. It works exactly like the FDIC, except that it insures all federal credit unions and federally insured, state-chartered credit unions that meet insurance standards.

To find out if a credit union is insured, go to the NCUA Consumer Assistance Center, then click on "find a credit union in your area." Then, under "OR" put one word in the box that best identifies the credit union in question (for example, type in "DuPage" for the DuPage County Credit Union, not "county." A box will appear with all the information that you need.

Individual accounts held by one person are insured up to $250,000. Accounts held jointly by a husband and wife, for example, can be insured separately from individual accounts up to $250,000.

And there is a third possibility. You might see an ad from a broker that buys CDs on behalf of multiple clients to get higher yields for everyone.

Many of these brokers are reliable, but they themselves are not FDIC members because they do not hold the money. Just be sure that the banks they do business with are insured.

To read more about brokered CDs, please check out a letter we recently received on that subject.