Until they are not

Fidelity money market paying 5.02%.

Using Treasury Direct is easy and with 4-week T-Bills, I keep next to nothing in a bank. The money is returned before my credit card bill is due. Plus, they don’t need FDIC insurance because the funds are at the Treasury. If the Treasury missed a payment or worse, the banks are done too and so is the FDIC.

That was my first thought, too.

interest rates
 

There are many other options for higher interest rates, rates that you can lock in for multiple years...over 5%...message me is you want more information...

I’ve had Capitol One for years and years. Love them. With 50k (like to have access to my money) I’ve been paid $535 so far this year. Easy money with no term or obligation.

GM Right Notes. Not FDIC insured. Currently pays 5.5%. The rate floats with the FED discount rate. Interest is calculated daily and paid monthly on your balance. Entirely online. You can withdraw any or all of your money at any time without penalty via either EFT or wire transfer The plan is managed by Bank of New York Mellon. This is essentially a loan to General Motors but the account functions like a savings account. Mercedes and Toyota have similar products but have lower rates.

Google GM Right Notes.

This may sound like overthinking it, but how do you know an online bank is actually FDIC insured? I know you can check with the FDIC and match the bank name with their FDIC insured list. But, I would hesitate to send a large amount of money to a "so called" bank who only has a website and says they are FDIC insured. There are lots of scams on the Internet.

With all the mention of FDIC, I am curious to know if anyone has had any personal experience with getting caught up in a bank failure.

Yes.

FDIC will arrange for the "purchase" of the bank.

Take all deposits and take quality assets (loans, securities, facilities, etc) and then fund the gap.

Was there a significant amount of time where you didn't have access to your money?

couple days

interest-bearing accounts continued to earn.

Thank you.

THIS! ^^^

I've been working with internet businesses for 20 years (not banking) so tend to be more aware of flags to look for regarding online businesses. Anybody can create a professional looking website but, it could be a fraud or cheesy business.

Couple quick examples...regarding much smaller sums of money than we're talking about here but, still examples.
1) A friend booked a limo service to pick her up at LAX and take her to her lodging. She got an email confirmation like normal but, they never came. She's at the airport waiting, trying to call them, got voicemail or whatever. Could never get in contact. Money 100% wasted; took a cab. I told her it was probably just a "booking service" and not an actual limo company. Scam. I wonder if they were in Nigeria? Lol...
2) Friend ordered clothes online and saw that she'd be shipped from Indiana. Ok. Well, she got the stuff after about 3.5 weeks, it didn't fit well, she checks the site for return instructions and learns she has to send it back to China to get refunded. The postal cost was going to be high relative to the product cost so, I think she just kept it. It's probably sitting in a drawer. Money 100% wasted.

I'll just share my minimum tests for buying from an unknown business online. They have to have a posted phone number. Period, otherwise, forget it. In the majority of cases, I want to see an address too. Also, of it's something I might return, I want to see clear and complete instructions posted on the website before I buy.

Lastly, for any company, you can install keywords like this in a search engine before conducting business: ABC Company bad reviews, Widget Company a scam?, or look it up on the Better Business Bureau website, etc.

We need to learn to monitor our own investments and not relay
on anyone else to do it for us,