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Tired of getting hit with fees from your bank? See how you can find the best bank to stash your cash to save and earn more money!
Best Banks for Your Money
All this month we’ve been talking about big decisions you need to make about health insurance and investing that will have an impact not only on your finances now, but in the years to come.
These are things you should care about for sure, but I want to cover pretty much a crucial decision you don’t want to ignore – your bank accounts.
Where and how you bank can either help you reach your financial goals faster if you got a great banking partner or it can hinder you and drain your wallet if you have a dud.
In this episode we’ll get into:
- why / where/ and how you bank matters
- three alternatives to the big banks that can save and make you more money
- how to easily set up and automate your money
Hope you enjoy!
Resources to Maximize Your Bank Accounts
Are you two ready to master your joint accounts and create a system that fits your priorities and styles?
Here are some resources to check out!
- Best Budget and Money Apps: Empower, Tiller, Mint
- My book: Jumpstart Your Marriage and Your Money
- Coastal Federal Credit Union <- Our bank 😉
- Want a Happier Marriage? Combine Bank Accounts
- Finding the Best Banking and Investing Accounts
- Optimize Your Bank or Credit Union Accounts
- Track These 2 Key Numbers to Master Your Money
- Reaching Financial Independence Faster By Focusing on Big Wins
If you’d like to chat about your money moves for this year, you can join us in the Thriving Families Facebook community. We're a fun and supportive group.
We swap ideas, questions, stories, advice. When we try to help one another out with our family and financial goals.
We'd love to see you there!
Why Your Bank Matters
Where you bank matters. Our checking and savings accounts are the foundation of our financial system.
Checking accounts are essential for most of us; it's where most of our day-to-day cash flows.
Our paychecks are deposited into there and then redistributed to pay bills, build up our savings and investments, and hopefully have something left over to spend.
With the right checking account, you can reach your financial goals more quickly. The wrong one, with its unnecessary fees, can drain your account and make it difficult to actually save.
I think finding the best bank accounts for you is an area worth investing some effort into.
Go for Big Wins with Your Money
If you've listened to this podcast for a bit or been on the site you know I am about big wins.
I'll give you an example with groceries.
some people like to clip coupons for every trip that they do at the grocery store. that can save them some money but it takes a lot of time.
Others will go to four or five different shops to get the very best deal on every single item.
Kudos on optimizing your dollars but again I feel like time is your most precious resource and I don't have time to drive around town for that.
Here's what I did. I went ahead and set up a price book of the most common items we get each week. I visited stores in the area and found the best overall store in terms of deals and quality of food.
It's a little work upfront, but it saves me a ton of time. We get high-quality food and we still save a significant amount on our groceries.
That's what I think should be done with your bank accounts. Take some time upfront to find the right spot and move your money there.
The question is – how do you find the best spot for your money?
Which Bank is Right for Us?
If you're sick and tired of getting nickeled and dimed by your bank and not getting the service you want I want to give you three alternatives to check out.
Online Banks
With online banks, you get a lot of the same services (if not everything) you can get at a brick and mortar bank except for you can't visit branches.
That can be a benefit for you because if they don't have to maintain those branches that means some of that money saved will go back to you.
That was our original switch. We went from the big bank to an online bank and were happy with their service.
Community Banks
if you're more of a person you love that face to face contact being able to go walk inside a local branch and get a problem sorted then you might want to look at community banks.
Again, the same services that a lot of the big banks offer, but you're typically going to get lower fees and you're getting more personal service.
Credit Unions
We have check and savings accounts with the credit union now.
Actually when we bought this house being credit union members was a financial benefit. That's because of how credit unions are designed.
In an earlier episode of the , I had a talk with Joe Mecca from Coastal Federal Credit Union (that's who we bank with).
He explained why you can see some significant savings with credit unions
and credit unions typically offer many of the same banking from a consumer standpoint.
We offer a checking account savings account. We offer certificates money market most of the types of loans that you would find at every bank.
We do mortgages, credit cards, home equity line loan .. auto loans, and personal line the credit.
From a product and service we are largely on par with what most of the larger community banks would have to offer. The
The biggest difference is really the structure how we're set up you know while banks are shareholder owned and really to be profitable for their shareholders.
Credit unions are cooperatives. We are completely owned by our members and every person who belongs to a credit union has an equal share in an equal say in how the credit union .
Joe Mecca, Coastal Credit Union [8:33]
That means as a member when the credit union prospers you'll see benefits like lower interest rates on loans and higher rates on savings.
Depending on the credit union you go with, you can get some extra benefits that you may not be able to get at a big bank for free.
For example, with Coastal, all the members have free identity Recovery Services (which nowadays with all these data breaches seems almost like a necessity).
So if you guys have some time over the weekend, start hunting around to find the best banking option for you!
Key Takeaways on Better Banking Options
Before we close up I want to focus on some key takeaways that have made a huge difference for us when it comes to where and how we bank.
- Treat your money like a business
- Find a financial partner that will help you grow your stash
- Set up your finances so your money is moving where it needs to by default
If you want to discuss options out there and compare notes on where and how to automate, please join us over at Thriving Families. It’s a free, private, and positive community at Facebook.
Support the Podcast!
Thank you so much for listening to the podcast!
- Spread the word! If you enjoyed this episode and think it can help a buddy get on the path to dumping debt and become financially free, please share.
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- Grab a copy of Jumpstart Your Marriage and Your Money. My book is designed for a busy couple to set up their finances in 4 weeks. Get tips and tools that have worked for other couples on their journey of building their marriage and wealth together!
Music Credit
Like the music in this episode? Our theme song is by Gentle Regime. Additional music by Lee Rosevere.
This episode was originally released in October 2018. Show notes have been updated in January 2023.