Millions of Americans rely on Social Security benefits, and they've been able to count on those dollars being safe from debt collectors under federal law.

A creditor or debt collector can't garnish your future Social Security benefits. And even when you deposit your Social Security check in the bank, those dollars continue to be protected - except in a few cases -- as long as they can be identified as government benefits, according to the Social Security Administration.

But that's rapidly changing, warns Rep. Barney Frank, who says creditors and debt collectors are increasingly managing to garnish federal benefits from bank accounts. The Massachusetts Democrat, who chairs the House Committee on Financial Services, asked banking regulators recently what they're doing to protect consumers.

It's a serious problem, but it also raises another question. What other assets are protected from creditors? Protections are often a patchwork of federal and state law.

Here are some of those protected assets:

Creditors can't go to your employer and tap your pension or 401(k). But this money loses protection from creditors once you deposit your pension check or 401(k) withdrawals into a bank account.

Individual retirement account protections are spelled out in state law. "States are all over the place," says Ed Slott, an IRA expert in New York state.

Maryland is among those that fully protect IRA assets from creditors. For those in states that don't, the 2005 federal bankruptcy law may provide some shelter. If you're contributing to an IRA, up to $1 million in assets are protected from creditors in a bankruptcy case, while retirement money rolled over into an IRA is fully protected in bankruptcy, says Natalie Choate, an IRA expert in Boston.

Besides IRAs, the new bankruptcy law also protects money invested in college savings plans known as 529s.

"The act says that 529 assets are not included in your bankruptcy estate if the money has been there for at least two years and the beneficiary of the account is your child or grandchild," says Joseph Hurley, founder of Savingforcollege.com and a 529 expert. If the cash has been in there for less than two years but more than one, he says, you can shelter up to $5,000 from creditors.

Similar bankruptcy rules apply to assets in a Coverdell education savings account, Hurley says.

Many states already protect 529 assets. Maryland, for instance, specifically states its college savings plan and prepaid tuition plan benefits can't be seized by creditors.

Hurley says the various state laws might need further interpretation from the court, say, in situations where you live in one state but invest in another state's college plan. "That may not give you the same protection," he says.

Mark Scurti, a bankruptcy lawyer in Baltimore, says every state allows residents to keep a certain amount of real property, which includes equity in a home or cash in the bank. "The theory is you don't want to leave a person penniless," he says. In Maryland, the amount is $12,000.

Of course, there are limits on what can be protected, even with Social Security. You can find that your Social Security benefits are withheld in cases where you owe child support or alimony. And there's one creditor that's never denied.

"The IRS, they can get to anything," Slott says.

Questions? Comments? Write personal.finance@baltsun.com

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