We all know that savings accounts at major banks are (generally speaking) not worth it.
In case you haven’t heard, savings accounts at major banks are generally not worth it. For the average Joe, which I consider myself to be, there are usually minimum balances that must be met in order to avoid monthly fees. Even once these minimum balances are met, the percentage paid to hold your money is normally a paltry sum.
I know this. I have savings accounts at two different credit unions. I closed my child’s savings account at a major bank once they changed the terms and were going to start charging an account maintenance fee.
And yet…
I confess. Even knowing this, I’ve had a savings account at Bank of America for many years, despite a $5 monthly fee for not maintaining an average daily balance of $300. During rough periods I dropped below (sometimes well below) this threshold, but I continued to pay the fee, even budgeting for it each month. I told myself keeping the account open was motivation to increase my savings so I wouldn’t have to pay the fee. I would get there eventually. When one of my side hustles deposited into my checking account, I told myself I would get to that minimum balance faster and be able to maintain it, because it would be so easy to transfer the money over from my checking account.
I can be a sucker for convenience.
Another reason why I kept the savings account was the convenience of their Keep the Change program. At the time of its debut, it was a novel idea; round up your purchases to the next dollar automatically with the difference being deposited into your savings account. I’ll meet that $300 minimum and keep it up in no time.
Then I stopped working that particular side hustle as much. I stopped using that debit card as much, because I only deposited the bare minimum amount in my checking account required to keep from being charged a monthly fee. But still I kept that savings account open, determined to build the account up enough to stop paying the blasted monthly fee.
A week and a half ago, for whatever reason, the lightbulb went off. I was looking at a credit union savings account and saw that my little $44 had earned two cents in January. Then I thought: When was the last time I saw some interest paid on my BoA savings? Had I ever seen interest in my BoA savings!?
A quick check of the app told me that no interest had been paid recently. I didn’t bother going back because I didn’t remember any interest being paid. The microtransations to my savings account were the only small additions I remembered seeing to my account.
How on earth could I have allowed this to go on so long? I know better! I could have earned at least $1, maybe even $2, as long as that account was open.
Obviously I wasn’t going to get rich off the potential money I lost, but it is the principle of the matter. I called Bank of America and promptly closed the account, allocating that money elsewhere.
Rather than to continue to beat myself up about it, I forgave myself and moved on.
On this journey (and others), as you try to better yourself, change habits, and make improved decisions, you may have similar moments, or even days where you don’t make the best choice. It is on these days and at these times you have to accept it, suck it up, and keep moving forward. Don’t let it discourage you.
We all are human and make mistakes. But you don’t have to continue to make them. Even if you’ve never known another way, that doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it the way you have always done it. Once you know better and are in a position to do better, make that your day one.