The Sun Sentinel answers your questions about the downturn every Wednesday in Your Money. Use the box at the right to send in yours.

I have $10,000 in a certificate of deposit at a local bank. If the bank fails, is the interest earned insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. or just the principal?

Your money — whether it is principal or interest — is insured up to $250,000 per depositor. The FDIC covers any interest earned through the date that a bank fails.

Very often, when a bank fails, its assets are picked up by another bank, which then either cashes out savers or agrees to continue the CD until the date it matures.

The institution would let you know. On brokered CDs, the same insurance limit — $250,000 per depositor per bank — applies. One word on uninsured deposits: The FDIC tries to pay something on them.

So far, in the failure of IndyMac Bank, depositors have received 50 percent of the $541 million in uninsured deposits. The FDIC is in the process of selling IndyMac to an investor group and potentially, there may be even more funds available to repay the uninsured deposits.