Should I get an account at a credit union/bank or just manage my money with an account?

Banks/Credit Unions are safer. Credit unions have great programs that will earn you interest.

Here’s the problem: The money sitting in a jar under your bed (or wherever) is actually decreasing in value if it is not in a bank earning interest. Why? Because with inflation rates, your money is worth less and less as time passes.

Anyone serious about finances will have their funds in a savings account at a minimum, but an IRA or some other investment is even better.

Open an account at a bank. You will get a lot of benefits – interest (albet tiny) and an established account that can aid in raising your credit score (if you don’t overdraft).

There is no such thing as a safe place at home. Trust me, thieves that might break into your house know ALL the safe places.

I would suggest you have accounts in more than one bank. That way if one of them gets shut down by the Feds, you have some money readily available until the FDIC check finally gets to you.

Thank you both for your helpful responses. I’m trying to find a way to save my money and manage it without all the fees that come along with the account. I’m only 15 and have 65 dollars and I want to save it and I hear so much bad stuff from my mom about the bank that she manages her money at.

As you are still a minor talk to the bank managers. There are accounts for minors that waive the banking fees. Most if not all banks have them, they hope to snare you so that when you become and adult you will stay with them and they can make the fees back then.

If you put your money in a credit union, you can earn interest on it. Not a lot, but some.

Also, your money is insured in case of failure of the institution. It’s safer from theft.

Talk to a few banks about special accounts for minors, I agree with @WestRiverrat. You should not be paying fees for a bank tohold your money, they make money on your money.

Scratch everything else and go to a credit union.

Best move I ever made.

Credit unions are not generally notorious for excessive charges. SOME banks are.

Begin early to learn habits of a thrifty consumer and take the time to compare the rates for banks and CU in your area.

Comparison shopping is a good skill to develop and continue for MANY things. You’ll be amazed at the differences in fees from one bank to another. Either call or go in person from one place to another and gather the basic info. THEN make your decision.

After all, it’s your money and you hold the reins in any transaction.

My guess is that the credit union(s) offer the best deal. But compare, compare, compare BEFORE you decide. It’s time and effort well spent both now and continually throughout your life.

The ONLY reason I didn’t swap my account to a different institution when I moved several states away is because my acct. has NO regular monthly charge and stock checks are free of charge.

Even tho they have no branches here, it’s worth it to me to figure out how to deal with things long distance.

But that’s pretty uncommon in this day and age.

John Pennington is correct. Credit Unions are smaller, friendlier, and keep the lid on excessive charges.

So, stretch your wings, little consumer. Practice becoming an alert, efficient consumer for a lifetime. You’ll be glad you took the time to get it right the first time around :)

For a teenager without regular income from some kind of part-time job and less than a couple hundred dollars, a bank or credit union account is pretty much overkill. You just have no need for that now.

On the other hand, it’s never too early to start learning about money!

For that primary reason – and one other that I’ll get to in a minute – I would recommend that you check into (sorry for the pun) a no-fee no-minimum-balance bank account. Since you currently have no need for a checking account, just talk to an account manager at the most convenient bank to where you live about a simple passbook savings account. Learning how to read the monthly (or quarterly) statements that you’ll receive is something that everyone your age needs to start learning – and which too few actually do learn.

The other big reason for opening a savings account – especially (because of your age) if it’s an account that needs a parent’s approval to make withdrawals – is that the cash you put into that account won’t “burn a hole in your pocket”.

When you start earning regular income, and when you start to incur regular expenses, then it will be time to open a checking account and learn how to manage money that way, too. But that can wait for now.

Get a student, fee free account. If you try anything else, it will eat away at your money. Talk to the clerk at a bank and at a credit union, and let them both try to earn your business.

I recently had a theft in my house, and learned (belatedly) that there are limits to what you can get back, even if you have coverage that says you are covered for hundreds of thousands. So, there was a limit to cash on hand—about $500 I think, or maybe less. Your money is much, much safer in a bank—and a credit union is a good choice. Of course, you also can try and get some reasonable interest on your money, and the way to do that (especially if you are young) is through some kind of index fund, which will go up and down with the stock market. But over time, the stock market seems to go up.

What state do you live in? When I was in 1st grade the teacher made bank accounts for all us kids, and we brought in a dollar week for her to deposit, something like that. I think NY still has some programs like that, so the fee free low balance accounts for kids must still exist in some states. I think itis a fantastic idea to put your money in a bank or credit union, and start saving. Not only do you need to make sure it is fee free, but also that the funds are FDIC insured, that is very important.