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What about my 401(k) account? Similar to a pension fund account, if your employer's 401(k) plan assets are held in a customer brokerage account at a SIPC- member brokerage firm, then cash and securities in that account may be eligible for protection by SIPC.

Brokerage firm failures are rare. If it happens, SIPC protects the securities and cash in your brokerage account up to $500,000. The $500,000 protection includes up to $250,000 protection for cash in your account to buy securities.

SIPC protection of customers with multiple accounts is determined by "separate capacity." Each separate capacity is protected up to $500,000 for securities and cash (including a $250,000 limit for cash only). Accounts held in the same capacity are combined for purposes of the SIPC protection limits.

All registered brokers or dealers are SIPC members by law, with some exceptions. Address information is provided as a convenience and often reflects the member's business mailing address and not necessarily the retail office or location.

Excess SIPC insurance is insurance provided by a private insurer and not by SIPC. The insurance is intended to protect brokerage customers against the risk that customers will not recover all of their cash and securities in the proceeding under the Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA).

Brokerage firm failures are rare. If it happens, SIPC protects the securities and cash in your brokerage account up to $500,000. The $500,000 protection includes up to $250,000 protection for cash in your account to buy securities.

Is it safe to keep more than $500,000 in a brokerage account? It is safe in the sense that there are measures in place to help investors recoup their investments before the SIPC steps in. And, indeed, the SIPC will not get involved until the liquidation process starts.

SIPC protects against the loss of cash and securities – such as stocks and bonds – held by a customer at a financially-troubled SIPC-member brokerage firm. The limit of SIPC protection is $500,000, which includes a $250,000 limit for cash.

Unlike the FDIC, which insures depositors of insured banks and investigates complaints, the SIPC has no authority to investigate complaints or regulate its members. The SIPC protects consumers' brokerage account assets, while FDIC insurance protects assets in banks or savings associations.