Who remembers Passbook Savings?

[Scanner]

http://mylifeinflipflops.blogspot.com/2009/01/ive-always-been-saver.html

Notice the little "passbook." (no pic of inside)

I remember I got mine at the Bank of Kennett Square, PA (back when the town you lived in actually had banks).

I think my initial deposit was $50.00 and the interest rate was 5%. The teller would stamp the date with interest and I guess this was the record keeping/tracking system.

[a1nipper]

I still have a Passbook savings account! Northwest Savings Bank based in Warren, Pa. .10% interest

[disneysteve]

Absolutely. That's how all bank accounts worked. You had your book and when you went in to make a deposit or withdrawal, you'd hand the teller your book and they would type in the new balance.

5.5% was the standard interest rate for years. There was none of this FOMC nonsense with rates changing every week. It was 5.5% and it was always 5.5%. It didn't matter what bank you went to either. Every bank paid 5.5%.

I probably still have a bank book lying around somewhere in a box in the garage.

[Scanner]

Yeah, I was feeling sentimental about it because I remember my first Passbook.

Even the word Passbook sounds so regal or something. . .this was going to be my Passbook to wealth. It looked like a Passport. I was going to save. . .and this book was the ticket.

Then, I saved up $800 and spent it on a 1973 Mercury Comet. It was a piece of junk.

I squandered it.

It's gone. Gone forever.

So much for the symbolism of the Passbook.