Adulthood Adventures:

Hello, my name is Shea and welcome to the first installment of Adulthood Adventures.

I wanted to start this series, because of my unique perspective on being a young adult in today’s society.

I want to start this off with something relatively simple – checking and savings accounts. Most people by now have some form of bank account. For the accounts I have, a savings is required to open the account. Institutions usually require a deposit to open a savings account that stays there until the account is closed. Some places, it’s as low as $5, but others could require more.

Once you have opened a basic savings account, you will have the option to open a checking account. It can get a bit confusing, but an easy way to think of it is like a tree. You have an account at the top, then your savings and checking branch out underneath. A savings account is where you, shockingly enough, save money. It’s a great way to have some rainy day cash or to save for your future.

Some places let you open special savings accounts that you can name for specific things. Such as “Christmas” or “taxes.” Most savings accounts also earn what’s called interest. A percentage of however much is in the savings that’s paid back to you by your institution.

Now, a checking account is what people use more often. This account is what’s attached to a debit card or what your personal checks can be drawn off of. While you have this checking, your savings is sitting right next to it. Depending on your institution, you may have an app you can use to look at balances or make transfers. If not, the tellers at your local branch can always assist you. Though the point is to know the difference between checking and savings. For instance, you go to fix a tire on your car and you think there’s enough in checking, but the money is actually in savings. The tire cost $100 but there’s only $50 in your checking.

Now you risk going negative in your bank account, which can cause more problems than you think. But if you knew the money was in savings to begin with you could transfer it over before.

It’s very easy to get confused when it comes to banks.

It’s important to pay attention to the wording of things and keep track of your spending.

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