Teen opening a bank account?

Well, to start you are right to be concerned and question whether there are any "hidden fees". A lot of banks today do not have monthly maintenance charges (charges to keep track of your account), or minimum balances (amount of money that remains in bank to avoid a fee). However, it all counts on where you live, if it is a Credit Union or bank, and the business itself. Most Credit Unions have something where you have to keep, lets say $5.00 in the account at all times but that is because you are a member of the Credit Union. Most Credit Unions require you to either work for a certain company, live in a certain town or other criteria. Larger banks that have large yearly expenditures may charge you monthly maintenance charges. Whereas smaller banks in your community (if you live in a smaller town or city) may have no monthly charges and at times can be more friendly. However, this can go both ways, there can be small banks with fees and large ones without fees. It all counts on the bank you choose. As a teen most banks might require you to open an account with an adult co-account holder, but if the one you choose does not require this then never mind :) You mother is right about the savings accounts though. Without a large sum of cash in the bank you would make hardly any interest. This is because most savings accounts earn under 5% interest yearly. But opening a savings account to simply put back money is never a bad idea. Keeping cash on you is a good practice, but not very safe if you are carrying a lot of cash. This is where a bank, and a debit card would help. The only problem is that you will need to be very responsible and maintain a check book to keep track of how much is in there so that you do not overdraft and either hurt your credit that you have not even gained or incur a fee (usually around $25). I would suggest looking at local banks, but it is whatever you choose :) Good luck! Hope it helped!

Well, to start you are right to be concerned and question whether there are any "hidden fees". A lot of banks today do not have monthly maintenance charges (charges to keep track of your account), or minimum balances (amount of money that remains in bank to avoid a fee). However, it all counts on where you live, if it is a Credit Union or bank, and the business itself. Most Credit Unions have something where you have to keep, lets say $5.00 in the account at all times but that is because you are a member of the Credit Union. Most Credit Unions require you to either work for a certain company, live in a certain town or other criteria. Larger banks that have large yearly expenditures may charge you monthly maintenance charges. Whereas smaller banks in your community (if you live in a smaller town or city) may have no monthly charges and at times can be more friendly. However, this can go both ways, there can be small banks with fees and large ones without fees. It all counts on the bank you choose. As a teen most banks might require you to open an account with an adult co-account holder, but if the one you choose does not require this then never mind :) You mother is right about the savings accounts though. Without a large sum of cash in the bank you would make hardly any interest. This is because most savings accounts earn under 5% interest yearly. But opening a savings account to simply put back money is never a bad idea. Keeping cash on you is a good practice, but not very safe if you are carrying a lot of cash. This is where a bank, and a debit card would help. The only problem is that you will need to be very responsible and maintain a check book to keep track of how much is in there so that you do not overdraft and either hurt your credit that you have not even gained or incur a fee (usually around $25). I would suggest looking at local banks, but it is whatever you choose :) Good luck! Hope it helped!

talk to a couple of banks and find out what kind of low or no fee bank acct options they have for people your age - your Mom is clueless - in order to have $1000 in a savings acct, you have to start with $10 - what does she expect you to do? keep your money under a mattress? you could get a prepaid debit card - most banks DO charge monthly fees if you don;t keep a certain sized balance, so find out all your options first

I think you can be any age if you want your own bank account, but I think you have to have at least $10.00 which I'm sure you do. And I am also pretty sure you have to be eighteen exactly if you want a checkbook.