With Good and Bad Advice Flowing, Learn to Discern

SIPC coverage is limited to $500,000 per customer, including up to $100,000 for cash. For more information about SIPC coverage, read "The Investor's Guide to Brokerage Firm Liquidations," which you can find at http://www.sipc.org.

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 from 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.

I would be cautious about following the final two tips from the CMPS Institute.

The organization advises people to max out their home-equity lines of credit before lenders cut them off. Nicholas advised consumers to borrow the money and put it in an FDIC-insured account.

It is true that lenders have been reducing or terminating home-equity lines of credit across the country. But if you're not having financial trouble or don't foresee any and you have ample capital reserves, don't tap these borrowed funds as a "just-in-case fund."

A loan isn't a good safety net. Instead of borrowing and paying interest on money you don't need, save more while you have the resources.

"Although it sounds counterintuitive, you should have as big a mortgage as possible -- even if you don't need it," Nicholas said.

Why recommend that people take out a mortgage if they don't need it?

The answer becomes clear when you consider that CMPS is also a membership group for mortgage professionals, who have a financial interest in getting you to take out a mortgage.

When I pressed Nicholas about the reasoning behind the recommendation that people take out the largest mortgage possible, he said the organization is only trying to advise people to reserve cash in case of an emergency or to take advantage of bargain investment opportunities during this market downturn.

"I'm not saying people should be reckless and get a mortgage they can't afford," he said.