Teaching Your Kids About Saving Money?

[mrjarrell]

Might not want to do it with a savings account at a bank then. Here's a cautionary tale about a family who took the time honoured route of opening up savings accounts for their kids, only to see them eaten away by the bank and its fees. Yep. There was no accrued interest for these kids. Their accounts were drained and closed by the bank, except for one and hers was severely depleted. Guess you can teach your kids to use a mason jar and shovel. It'll be a lot safer.

7 On Your Side: Money-saving lesson backfires on kids | abc7news.com

 

[badwolf.usmc]

I disagree, it taught several very valuable lesson to those kids.

First, don't trust banks.
Second, don't assume anything.

 

[clt46910]

My bank has a no fee saving accounts for kids under 18. My daughter has one of those.

But I have found she saves more if she keeps it at home so she can feel it and count it often. Gets excited when she adds to it and can actually see the money.

Right now she wants a new computer. I told her I would match what she saved for a new one. She is doing a lot better then I expected. She is always keeping me up to how much she has saved every time she adds to it.

Might have to sell a gun if she saves too much more just to meet my share....LOL

 

[CountryBoy19]

Wait a minute, banks charge a fee for savings accounts? I've never had a bank that charged a fee for a savings account, or even a checking account. I'm sorry, but if you're not smart enough to find a bank that isn't crooked then you had it coming... That's where your small, hometown banks pay off... even if their rates are lower...

 

[gunman41mag]

Might not want to do it with a savings account at a bank then. Here's a cautionary tale about a family who took the time honoured route of opening up savings accounts for their kids, only to see them eaten away by the bank and its fees. Yep. There was no accrued interest for these kids. Their accounts were drained and closed by the bank, except for one and hers was severely depleted. Guess you can teach your kids to use a mason jar and shovel. It'll be a lot safer.

7 On Your Side: Money-saving lesson backfires on kids | abc7news.com

If you want to teach kids how to save money, MAKE THEM WORK FOR IT After they see how hard it is to make money, they won't spend it

 

[mrjarrell]

Wait a minute, banks charge a fee for savings accounts? I've never had a bank that charged a fee for a savings account, or even a checking account. I'm sorry, but if you're not smart enough to find a bank that isn't crooked then you had it coming... That's where your small, hometown banks pay off... even if their rates are lower...

Bank of America is well known for charging all kinds of fees. So are many other banks. It's not an oddity, these days.

 

[22lr]

So all banks are now evil because a single bank chain charged fees? In my book this is crappy parenting for not picking a bank that didnt charge fees. Heck ive been using a bank for 15 of my 22 years and have yet to be changed a single fee for anything. Yes thats right, 15 years and still haven't paid them a dime in these so called evil fees. It isn't that hard to find a good bank, not that hard at all.

 

[PistolBob]

So all banks are now evil because a single bank chain charged fees? In my book this is crappy parenting for not picking a bank that didnt charge fees. Heck ive been using a bank for 15 of my 22 years and have yet to be changed a single fee for anything. Yes thats right, 15 years and still haven't paid them a dime in these so called evil fees. It isn't that hard to find a good bank, not that hard at all.

Which bank do you bank with?

 

[Clay]

another good reason to go to a credit union if you can. I left my bank of 25 years because of their new fee structure last year and went to a credit union.

I haven't looked back. It was one of the best moves Ive ever made.

 

[22lr]

Which bank do you bank with?

State Bank of Lizton. Small, very friendly and ive been going to the same branch long enough that I know most of the ladies that work there by there name and vise versa. I hate everything about massive chain banks, small town banks are the way to go. For the record I would gladly pay fees to have a bank as good as SBL, but im glad I dont have to.

 

[trinitrotoluene85]

I currently work for a bank. We have all kinds of accounts, including one for kids. The savings accounts for kids have no monthly service charge... However if the account (any of our accounts) have no activity (besides the monthly interest deposit) for 3+ months, then we will start charging account inactivity fees. I know recently (within the last 18 months) we put our fee disclosures on a separate piece of paper in larger print so you can see the fees when you sign up for your account, and take it home with you.

It's easy to get mad at banks. It's much harder to learn and understand how banks operate top to bottom, and how/why they charge fees.

Also, I want to note: How many kids (teens) do you know that use the word "gleaned" in regular every day speech? Sounds like an edit to me, and not a quote.

"I think that was money gleaned from a lemonade sale, cookie stand thing," explains Kate.

 

[22lr]

I currently work for a bank. We have all kinds of accounts, including one for kids. The savings accounts for kids have no monthly service charge... However if the account (any of our accounts) have no activity (besides the monthly interest deposit) for 3+ months, then we will start charging account inactivity fees. I know recently (within the last 18 months) we put our fee disclosures on a separate piece of paper in larger print so you can see the fees when you sign up for your account, and take it home with you.

It's easy to get mad at banks. It's much harder to learn and understand how banks operate top to bottom, and how/why they charge fees.

Also, I want to note: How many kids (teens) do you know that use the word "gleaned" in regular every day speech? Sounds like an edit to me, and not a quote.

In my mind an inactivity fee is perfectly reasonable. I dont see why people get bent out of shape over banks charging a few fees. Its a business, businesses only work if they can make money. Move to a different bank, or use fewer fee incurring services. Its not rocket science.

 

[eldirector]

Sounds like mom and dad learned a few things, too. Like: read the little account info sheets they keep sending you.

Another +1 for credit unions.

 

[revsaxon]

Id love to side with the parents, but its not that simple. Once a year I get a multi-page statement from my bank that says if they are going to be doing this kind of fee. If I choose not to read it, do I have any right to complain that they are doing something, they clearly laid out? Obviously not.

Same thing with credit cards, loans, etc. If you choose not to be responsible, your going to get f***ed, and you have no-one to blame but yourself

 

[22lr]

Id love to side with the parents, but its not that simple. Once a year I get a multi-page statement from my bank that says if they are going to be doing this kind of fee. If I choose not to read it, do I have any right to complain that they are doing something, they clearly laid out? Obviously not.

Same thing with credit cards, loans, etc. If you choose not to be responsible, your going to get f***ed, and you have no-one to blame but yourself

If your stupid enough to not read a contract before you sign you deserve to get hammered with fees. I love the guys who sign a constrictive covenant in a neighborhood and then complain when they try to put up a shed or pool and get hammered with fines. LOL, maybe I should really look for new forms of entertainment.

 

[Cru]

inactivity fees are the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of. WHAT! Your’re not making us do anything? Not bringing in money for us to count, or taking any out, so our tellers aren’t doing anything for you... we’re not providing you any service at all, we’re just holding your money, using it to give loans and profit from.... We’d better charge you for that...

 

[trinitrotoluene85]

inactivity fees are the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of. WHAT! Your’re not making us do anything? Not bringing in money for us to count, or taking any out, so our tellers aren’t doing anything for you... we’re not providing you any service at all, we’re just holding your money, using it to give loans and profit from.... We’d better charge you for that...

It's easy to get mad at banks. It's much harder to learn and understand how banks operate top to bottom, and how/why they charge fees.

This is exactly what I was talking about.

We're still printing you a monthly statement which costs money. Simply hanging onto the account and tracking it, as easy as it sounds costs money. If you're not out there swiping your debit card, writing checks, depositing payroll, etc. then your account is costing the bank money (unless you have a high enough balance).

If you're not going to actively use the account, it is costing the bank money. Please take your money and leave, or we will charge you a fee to try and recoup that loss.