214 National Financial Literacy Month - Day 7 - Banking & You

Banking is important because as employees and or entrepreneurs,
you need a place to put your money. Once while working in support
of the Governor of Maryland on a financial working group, we were
tasked with assisting immigrants that live and work in the state
of Maryland.


Many of the immigrants had never had a bank account, so we
ensured we provided oversight for them to open a bank account.
Some of the immigrants didn't have a bank account in the country
they left, they simply didn't trust putting their hard-earned
money in a bank. 


Banks include credit unions and thrifts. A bank is a business
that offers you a safe place to keep your money and uses your
deposits to make loans. This business is also called a financial
institution. 


Many people keep their money in banks. Let’s take a look at some
reasons why you might want to keep your money in a bank. 


• Safety – Money is safe from theft, loss, and fire. 


• Convenience – You can get money quickly and easily. Using
direct deposit, for example, saves you time and allows you
quicker access to your money. Funds that are electronically
deposited in your account are available sooner than if you
deposited a check. We will talk more about direct deposit later.


 • Cost – Using a bank is probably cheaper than using other
businesses to cash your check. 


• Security – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
insures deposits up to the maximum amount allowed by law. This
means that if for some reason a bank closes and cannot give its
customers the money they had in the bank, the FDIC will return
the money to the customers.


Opening and maintaining a bank account is not as difficult as you
might think. There are four basic things you have to do: 


• Open the account and go through account verification.


 • Make deposits and withdrawals.


 • Record interest and fees. 


• Keep track of your balance. 


Banks provide additional services with some deposit accounts.
Some banks charge a fee for these services. It is important to
keep track of the fees charged if any. 


The following are common services that banks offer:


• Direct deposit 


• Money order 


• Telephone and online banking 


• Automated Teller Machine (ATM) 


• Money transfer 


• Debit card 


• Stored value cards 


• Loans


Get to know these important bank employees: 


• Customer service representative 


• Teller 


• Loan officer 


• Branch manager


Banking is important because it is not wise to walk around with
large amounts of cash on your person. Neither is it wish to have
large amounts of money at your house. The bottom line is this if
you plan on purchasing a house, car, and or investing in a
business you will need a bank account, thus the relationships you
have with your bank is very important. 


Learn about Paul Lawrence Vann's virtual Financial Fitness
course, it is being offered at a 50% discount throughout the
month of April, National Financial Literacy Month, here is the
link:  https://bit.ly/3dbperG