Earning Interest At The Bank

I learned the hard way you have to shop around

Photo by Alex Motoc on Unsplash

I’ve had a savings account at my bank for almost a year now. That’s where I keep the money I’m saving for a new vehicle. I figured, might as well earn some interest on the money, right?

Then as cash started piling up at my house to go towards my year of retirement I thought it might be a good idea to go open up another savings account to put it in. So I went to my bank.

The lady who helped me couldn’t have been nicer. As she entered my information into the computer I asked, “What is the interest rate for the savings account?”

I will never forget the look she gave me.

I swear she cringed.

“Right now it’s at .01%.”

My jaw dropped. I asked if she was serious and she nodded. Then I asked what the interest rate was for a money market account since I’d heard those tend to have much higher interest rates.

I got another cringe.

Want to guess what it was?

.05%

I groaned knowing that it was pretty pointless to try to earn anything in interest, but I’d still rather it be at the bank than at my house so I went ahead and opened the account.