Money Skills for Real Life: GearUP College

Saving Money

Types of Bank Accounts

There are many types of accounts you can open at a bank, but the two most common ones you’ll need and use are savings accounts and checking accounts.

Savings Accounts | Close this Window

Savings accounts, which are easy to open, earn interest. Ask your parents or friends where they bank. If your parents are members of a credit union, can you open an account at it?

If you need to find a bank on your own, ask a trusted friend or adult to help you call or visit several banks or credit unions close to your house. Together, compare account services. Explain to a bank professional that you’d like to open an account and find out:

•	the required initial deposit, or the amount of money you need to open an account.
•	the required minimum balance, or the minimum amount of money you must keep in the account at all times.
•	the rate of interest paid, or percentage of your account balance the bank automatically deposits into your account each month.
•	what fees may be charged.
•	what identification is needed to open the account.

The biggest benefit of savings accounts is that your money earns interest—the amount the bank pays you to use your money. Over time, your money grows just by sitting there in the bank! And the more you deposit, the more interest you earn. On top of that, you can withdraw your money, or get it back, anytime you want. And, you can track your balance by the monthly statements the bank sends you. You can also track it through your online account.

Checking Accounts | Close this Window

Checks allow you pay for things without using cash. Think of checks as a note, or a written “order” for money. The note tells the bank to take the amount of money specified on the note out of your account and pay the person or business to whom you wrote the “note,” or, check.

Look at the sample check below.

As you can see, it contains a lot of information:
1. Your name and address.
2. The check number.
3. The date you wrote the check.
4. The amount your check is for, written in numbers.
5. The payee, or person or company to be paid money from your account.
6. The amount of money to be withdrawn from your account and paid to the payee, written in words.
7. A note to yourself to remind you what the check was for.
8. The bank's number and your checking account number.
9. Your signature.

Never give anyone a blank check. A blank check is where you sign the check but leave the check amount blank (items 4 and 6 in the sample above). If you give someone a blank check, he or she can make the check out to anyone and for any amount of money. How many people do you trust to decide how much money to take out of your checking account? Play it smart. Never hand over a blank check.