1. Personal Finance Section Opening and Managing a Checking Account

2. Personal Finance Section If your piggy bank is bursting, consider opening a checking account. Before banks dotted every street corner in America, some people stuffed their money under the mattress for safekeeping. It wasn’t very safe!

3. Personal Finance Section Choosing a Bank The most common types of bank accounts are checking and saving. If you plan to take money out of the account frequently, you would need to consider a checking account.

4. Personal Finance Section Opening a checking account is fairly easy. First, you will need some money Second, you will need some kind of identification, i.e. Driver’s license or pay stub. Third, You will need a Social Security #. Fourth, you will need to visit a bank close to your home and ask a teller how to open the account. They can set it up for you.

5. Personal Finance Section Some banks will pay interest on your checking account, other banks will not. Some banks have fees and other things assigned to a checking account – other banks don’t have these fees.

6. Personal Finance Section Some questions to ask when opening an account? Do I have to keep a minimum balance to avoid any and all fees? Is there a monthly fee? If so, how much? Will I be charged a check writing fee? How many checks can I write per month? Will the bank return my canceled checks each month or keep them on file? Will I be charged ATM fees? What other fees are associated with this account?

7. Personal Finance Section Keeping Records: When you open an account, you will receive a checkbook that includes sequentially numbered checks and a check register (a booklet in which you will record your account transactions). If you keep good records, your life will be a lot easier when you have reconcile your account. Every time you write a check or use a debit card, record that transaction in your ledger.

8. Personal Finance Section Number One Rule to Remember Even if you have checks left in your checkbook, you may not have the money in the account to cover the check!

9. Personal Finance Section Balancing a Checkbook Each month you will receive a statement – a record of your checking account activity during the last month. It will list deposits, withdrawals, ATM fees, ATM transactions, interest paid, fees charged. Any check that you wrote that has cleared the bank may be returned to you. Most banks keep the original and send you a copy of the front and back of it.

10. Personal Finance Section Process of a Check 1. You write a check to your insurance company for your car insurance. 2. The insurance company deposits your check into its bank account. 3. The check goes through one or more regional Federal Reserve banks. 4. The Federal Reserve bank sends the check back to your bank. 5. Your bank deletes the money from your account and tells the Fed to credit the amount to the insurance company’s account. 6. The Fed credits the money to the insurance company’s bank. 7. The money is credited to the insurance company’s account. Your bill is now paid.

11. Personal Finance Section It’s extremely important to balance your checkbook each and every month. That means comparing the transactions in the bank statements to your own records to make sure that they agree. There is usually a worksheet on the back of the statement to help you balance your checkbook. If you have problems balancing the checkbook, contact the bank for help.

12. Personal Finance Section Review: How is your account balance different from your minimum balance? Why is it a good idea to use a check register? If you were going to open a checking account today, which criteria would be the most important to you? Why?