Should I Keep Money in My Savings Account?
You should keep money in your savings account or a similar program because this money will grow with interest over time. A savings account also keeps your money secure, so you will not accidentally spend it.
Similarly, Current’s Saving Pods keep your money secure and allow you to grow your money with Current Interest, helping you to achieve financial freedom.
Savings Accounts and Their Uses
A savings account is a type of account that you can have at your bank, where you can keep money safely, while the money earns interest. Simply put, the bank pays you to keep your money with them.
Savings accounts are an invaluable financial resource. You should make it a point to keep a good amount of money in your savings account. Your checking account will get more day-to-day activity, but it is best thought of as a temporary stop for your money on its way to a final destination.
If your money is in a savings account, or a Saving Pod with Current, it’s set aside, so it’s less likely that you’ll tap into those funds. This allows you to save up for a major purchase (like a car) without having to rely on a credit card (with its high interest rates).
Furthermore, keeping a good chunk of your money locked away in a savings program helps you avoid accidentally spending too much of your money or giving into the temptation to splurge on something.
How Much Money to Keep in Savings
A savings account gives you a lot of options that a checking account will not: somewhat higher interest rates, for example. If you have enough money in your savings account for a long enough period of time, that money will start to grow on its own.
But no matter how much money you have in a checking account, and for how long, that amount will remain stagnant. Even the banks that offer interest rates on checking accounts will typically pay less than 0.10%. Unless you use Current and enable to Interest feature, which allows you to earn 4.00% Annual Percentage Yield on funds in your Savings Pods daily.
Financial experts recommend keeping a little more than one month’s worth of expenses in your checking account and putting the rest of it in your savings account. Given the right amount of money, the right amount of time, and the right kind of account, your savings account might grow up to 20 times as much as your checking account would.
You should think of your savings account or pod as your own personal vault. It’s where your money is, but you can’t easily access it, and you shouldn’t unless absolutely necessary. The money in your savings program is intended only for emergencies and big, important purchases. Putting it in savings means that you can’t access it at an ATM or a point-of-service terminal.
In Case of Emergencies
One of the biggest advantages of this is that you keep your emergency funds safe. As many as 40% of Americans wouldn’t be able to afford a $400 emergency; 27% would have to sell something to raise that amount of money; and 12% would be completely unable to afford even $400 in a pinch.
To avoid being in such a situation, it is a good idea to put at least three months’ worth of expenses into your savings pod. If you don’t have a fixed income — such as if you are a gig worker — then you should put six months’ worth of your money in your savings account, so that even if you have to pay for an unbudgeted emergency, you still have something left over.
Build Toward Your Goals
Another reason to have a healthy savings program is so you can keep building toward a financial goal. This means that if you want to eventually afford a car, you will already have saved up a good deal of money for it.
You can have that kind of money in your checking account, but your checking account will not yield any notable amount of interest. Additionally, your checking account is too exposed to impulsive purchases and sees too much day-to-day action for that to be a safe place to store money for a major goal.
If, instead, you have a savings account that is off limits to ordinary spending, then you’re already on the journey to being able to achieve your financial goal.
Saving for the Future
Saving money is important, and your savings options are there for that reason and purpose. Set up automatic transfers from your checking account to create a regular schedule of deposits, so you don’t have to think of it. With Current, you can schedule deposits or enable round-ups, which automatically allocates money into your Savings Pod from rounding up on certain purchases when you swipe with your Current card.
If you have a windfall, put some of that money in your checking account and send most of it to your savings. If your employer pays you by direct deposit, see if you can split the deposit so some portion of it goes into your checking, and the rest gets locked away in your savings.
But the worst thing you can do is to neglect your savings or keep too much money in your checking account. While the savings may look like a lot of money you can’t use, it is an incredibly vital resource to have for your long-term financial future.
References
What Is a Savings Account and How Does It Work? (May 2021). Forbes.
What a High-Yield Savings Account Is And How It Can Grow Your Money. (August 2020). CNBC.
I'm a Former Banker, and There Are 6 Reasons I Keep Most of My Cash in a Savings Account Instead of a Checking. (May 2020). Business Insider.
40% of Americans Don’t Have $400 in the Bank for Emergency Expenses: Federal Reserve. (May 2019). ABC News.
5 Benefits of Having a Savings Account. (September 2021). US News & World Report.
