Should I even have a savings account?

[PennyPincher]

Today I was on the phone arguing with a Wachovia customer service rep about a $4 fee that was assessed to my savings account. She told me that it was because I dipped below the minimum balance of $300 for 11 days in July. I was not aware of this minimum - I opened the account when it was Harmonia Bank...which became United Counties...which became something else...and then First Union and then Wachovia. So - upon mergers they decided what type of account I ought to have. (Gee, thanks!)

Anyhow...it occured to me - why do I even need my Wachovia savings account?????

I have a checking account with them (obviously needed), and savings accounts with ING and Emigrant. That $300 that I MUST keep in Wachovia's account will earn me at least $10/yr with Emigrant now.

Although I'm partially nervous to have all my money with internet banks in cyberspace, at least I know that they are FDIC insured. So...is there any reason NOT to close my regular bank savings account?!?!?

Have any of you done this too with the emergence of ING and others?

I've had it for so long that it's just habit - probably over 15 years...

[34saving]

I have "land-based" checking, but the savings is all in cyberspace these days . . .

[akaivyleaf]

I have a "land-based" savings account only because the bank gave it to me free with my checking account. It has 0.00 in it and it has no fees or anything attached to it. I've gone to the bank to close it, but they insist its ok to be open and have no money, and no hopes of getting money in it due to better interest rates on line

[Russell]

I have a free checking and a savings account with Washington Mutual. The only condition for the savings account is that they'll auto-withdraw $25 from my checking into savings each month...but I can transfer it right back into my checking if needed so its essentially free.

The only reason I have a savings account is because I use my check card all the time so I don't like to keep a lot of money into it. Also if you write checks (I don't, everything is auto-debitted from my checking) I'd think about it too even though most banks will refund your money if you ever became a victim of 'check-washing' (anyone read 'Art of Steal' lately ? )

Anyway, my paychecks go directly to my savings and from there I transfer to my checking as needed. When my savings has enough money I tranfer 80% of it to ING (on top of the monthly auto-withdrawls I have setup with ING).

[Bruce Wayne]

I have both current (checking) and savings accounts online and have had no problems with this approach at all. The majority of the Internet banks in the UK are backed by large offline institutions so there is no risk of them going bankrupt and taking your money with them.

The first online checkings account I had was with Zurich bank. I signed up because they offered 12 bottles of wine and a good interest rate and I had no problems at all. Even received a cash sum when they decided to close the service down.

[Tree0164]

No

I have an ING account and then a saving account with my checking account at my local bank. There are no fees on my savings account because I have checking with them.

[kashi]

I have a "land-based" checking account and an ING savings account. Nothing else.

[PRICEPLUS]

I have direct seposit and so my checking account is free. I have an ING account becasue it is simple and easy to use. I have 100 dollars a month taken from my checking and deposited directly into my ING account.

If your savings account is costing you money then dump it.

[mehmeh]

I had the same dilemna. I had about $500 at the time at Greenpoint Savings Bank which incidentally went thru a merger w/ another bank. Took the money out. Opened Wamu checking and sent all the money to ING. It's worked fine for me; the only thing is that when i have money in checking, i feel like 'hey i know it's not earning a penny in there.' but in the long-run, i'm now getting like 30 bucks in interest whereas if i left it in a brick-and-mortar savings account, i would have made like ... 2 bucks a year or something. Internet savings has worked great for me.

Just to add, I took the money out because in my Greenpoint SA, I couldn't dip below 500 dollars... and I saw no point in having my money tied up like that (almost CD-like in that it would cost fees to use it) when putting it in ING or Emigrant w/ *no* minimum would give me *more* money. For me, it was sort of a no-brainer but I felt trepidation about making the complete switch to saving online. On the other hand, I wanted to get it while the going was good (i.e. the online interest rates - who knows how long/short it will last). So I made the switch.

[Bluezy]

I would not keep and savings account that has a balance requirement. Unfortunately, the bank slipped that in on you during their merger. What a dirty thing to do to you.

I, personally, would not keep the Wachovia account open. Keep your savings in Emigrant.

[PennyPincher]

I DID IT! ~

I cancelled my Wachovia checking account, and have transferred the money to Emigrant. I feel freed from the nonsense of a mimimum account balance and the 'benefit' of .012% interest!

Thank you for all your input

Wamu offer a 5% APY on the Statement Savings account if open the free chequeing and the statement savings account at the same time. It's only available online. I have done it. If the transfer limit worries you, you can get a platinum chequing account that has interest.

That said, yes, you should have a savings account if you don't spend all your money every month. It's not smart to keep thousands of dollars in chequeing because they lose power every year due to inflation.

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by PennyPincher

Today I was on the phone arguing with a Wachovia customer service rep about a $4 fee that was assessed to my savings account. She told me that it was because I dipped below the minimum balance of $300 for 11 days in July. I was not aware of this minimum - I opened the account when it was Harmonia Bank...which became United Counties...which became something else...and then First Union and then Wachovia. So - upon mergers they decided what type of account I ought to have. (Gee, thanks!)

IIRC when a financial institution makes a significant change in any account agreement they have to notify you in some manner and give you the chance to opt out. This is usually done by printing a notice at the bottom of your statement, but sometimes it's on a seperate piece of paper.

A good bank will waive a small fee like that the first time it happens if you claim you weren't notified about the change in account terms. If Wachovia didn't waive it, then to heck with them. I would have closed the savings account right then.

If part of your nervousness about internet banks is because all your eggs would be in one basket somewhere in cyberspace, just open an online savings account at two different banks and if one of them is frozen for a while because of financial problems, the other will still be accessable. That's not at all likely to happen, you know. But 20 years ago one of the top brick-and-mortar banks in my town closed it's doors and everyone had to wait several months for the FDIC to unfreeze the accounts and give them their money. So it does still happen sometimes, and a brick-and-mortar bank is no more substantial than a cyberspace bank if the ax falls.

[joseblanco]

Originally Posted by PennyPincher

I DID IT! ~

I cancelled my Wachovia checking account, and have transferred the money to Emigrant. I feel freed from the nonsense of a mimimum account balance and the 'benefit' of .012% interest!

Thank you for all your input

Congrats, while voting with your feet is the best method to protest you might want to inform Wachovia that is why they lost your business. The trend in modern banking is to generate revenue in the form of fees and achieve critical mass via mergers. Go w/ Credit unions, savings & loans and internet banks they are all about maximizing customer value while not being overly greedy and looking at customers as a fee revenue source.

[heather]

All I know is that I have a savings account at a bank called Key Bank. I got this account when I was about 15, which I'm almost 20 now, and at that time I was given the "Dino Account" which is what is given to people under the age of 18. And they still haven't moved my account to an adult one! I don't know if there is a minimum requirement. All I know is that they don't take money out just because I don't put money in.

Anyways... I think it is always a great idea to have a savings account because there will always be those times when you'll need that money and be thankful you have the account. Just do some research and find out what kind of account is best for you.

[tabbycat31]

I have a savings account (and checking) with Wachovia and I've had no problems with them. I opened them when it was First Union.

I also have a savings with ING

Credit Unions are not an option for me. The nearest one is over 1/2 hour away.

[Elgin526]

I would think the only problem with having internet savings only is that if you need to transfer funds from savings to checking, it will take a few days (doesn't it? I thought I read that somewhere...) so if you need money in a hurry, you could be stuck!

[RJB1180]

Originally Posted by heather

All I know is that I have a savings account at a bank called Key Bank. I got this account when I was about 15, which I'm almost 20 now, and at that time I was given the "Dino Account" which is what is given to people under the age of 18. And they still haven't moved my account to an adult one! I don't know if there is a minimum requirement. All I know is that they don't take money out just because I don't put money in.

Anyways... I think it is always a great idea to have a savings account because there will always be those times when you'll need that money and be thankful you have the account. Just do some research and find out what kind of account is best for you.

be careful of not having any transactions as the bank may declare the account abandoned and transfer it to the state dept of lost property.

Search on line for more info for your state

[JBinKC]

I would first consolidate the savings account into your checking account and threaten to stop doing business with them if they didn't waive the fee. If they fail to comply I would shop around for another bank. Unfortunately savings accounts today have high minimums and pay low rates. I think the best way to save for lower amounts is to use treasury direct.

[Ima saver]

Well, I have a local savings account and it pays over 4%. But i just took most of the money out to go to a money market account, local, that is paying 5.25% I do like having the money right here locally!