Should you pull your CD or money out of a bank?

Here are two bits of advice that will help you figure out how secure your investments are from Michelle Singletary, a syndicated personal finance columnist for the Washington Post. Singletary received the tips from the CMPS Institute, an organization that provides training, examination and certification for mortgage bankers and brokers.

Tip No. 1: "Make sure your investments are protected through the Securities Investor Protection Corp. If you have a brokerage account, you might want to read up on what protection you have in light of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers.

"The SIPC maintains a special reserve fund authorized by Congress to help investors at failed brokerage firms. If customer assets (cash and securities) are missing as a result of a closure or bankruptcy, the SIPC steps in and, within certain limits, works to return customers' cash, stock and other securities.

"However, there's no point in calling the SIPC if the value of your investment portfolio is down or you lost money as a result of the Lehman bankruptcy. The SIPC does not insure your investment against market losses.

Tip No. 2 "The trade group urges that you make sure all your bank accounts are covered by the insurance offered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. To find out what protection you may have, visit http://www.fdic.gov and click on the link for "Deposit Insurance." Likewise, if you keep your money in a credit union, check your coverage with the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund at http://www.ncua.gov."

Whether or not your investments are insured will help guide your decision about whether to keep tight or withdrawal your money.