Most credit unions are insured as well as banks

Dear Liz: With recent bank failures, I'm wondering how safe money is at credit unions. Their rates on certificates of deposit are usually a little better than banks', but I understand they're not FDIC insured. How safe are they?

Answer: Credit unions do tend to provide better interest rates on loans and savings because they're member-owned and not for profit. But most are insured in much the same way as banks.

All federal credit unions and most state-chartered credit unions are insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which is an arm of the National Credit Union Administration, a government agency. (Insured credit unions will display the NCUA symbol at their offices, or you can check their insurance status at www.ncua.gov.)

Both the NCUA fund and the FDIC are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

The insurance provided by the credit union fund is similar to that provided by the FDIC for banks. The basic insurance is $100,000 per depositor per credit union. That amount is increased to $250,000 for certain retirement accounts. For more details, go to www.ncua.gov /ShareInsurance/Index.htm.

Some state-chartered credit unions are not covered by the NCUA fund, however, and rely on private insurance.

If having FDIC-type insurance is important to you, you may choose to deposit your money elsewhere.

Living within means is a choice

Dear Liz: You recently responded to a young person who didn't believe he could limit his housing costs to 30% of his income. Your response was elitist and out of touch.

You should know, as a Los Angeles resident yourself, that living here often requires spending upward of 45% to 50% of your income on housing if you want a safe place to live.

Yes, I could live cheaper here if I were willing to have my children walk through gang territory to get to the low-performing neighborhood school, or if I were a young person willing to live in a safety-barred cracker box in an area that sees little police presence.

Maybe next time before you respond so cavalierly, you should check the reality of everyday living for those of us trying to make our budgets balance in a city that does not allow for "adolescent fantasies of what city living would be like."

Answer: Let's see how much clearer we can make this simple point.