What is exempt from garnishment?

Typically, the funds that you mentioned are in fact exempt from garnishment. Unfortunately, banks are not responsible for determining whether your account contains exempt or non-exempt funds. Yet, even if exempt funds have been put into a bank account that is later garnished, these funds are not necessarily lost to you.  A garnished account is “frozen.” This means, the debtor cannot withdraw any money from the account. After a statutory period of time, the money is paid to the creditor. However, if you have exempt funds in your account you can file an objection with the court having jurisdiction over the judgment (within the time allowed by law - usually 60-90 days). You must complete and file special forms with the court. Once the courts have obtained proof that your funds are exempt from a collection action, they will be released to you. The specific requirements for the release of money from a frozen account differ from jurisdiction-to-jurisdiction, so contact the clerk of the court that the judgement was granted in.  

Note: If your checking account is frozen any non-exempt funds will still be turned over to your creditor to pay the judgment.

You have to distinguish between money that is still in a pension fund or some other retirement plan and money that is in the bank--even if it originally came from the pension or retirement account. A general matter, most retirement funds or earnings are exempt from being directly garnished. That means, a creditor cannot have the fund administrator send him part of the money from each payment or distribution to you, the way, for example, that a creditor could have your employer (with the proper order) send part of your paycheck to the creditor (called "wage garnishment"). However, once money is in the bank, regardless of the source is something that a creditor could target and potentially access.