As parents, my husband and I have decided that it’s important to teach our children the importance of saving, the value of what they buy and an understanding of the costs involved. It’s basic fiscal responsibility.

When our first two children were born, one of the first things we did was set up custodial accounts for them at our bank. Our third child – who just turned four – doesn’t yet have an account. She doesn’t have a baby book either. Boy, that third kid really gets the short end of the stick. Poor kid.

There are all sorts of reasons she doesn’t have her own account, but mainly it’s because we just haven’t found time to go to the bank. Some would call it lazy. But seriously, it requires a trip into a branch, which is something that I try to avoid, and frankly, for me is a hassle. Ideally I could set-up the account online, but my bank won’t let me set-up a custodial account online.

Despite my visit-a-bank-branch aversion, I recently did set foot into a branch. My bank is going to start charging a monthly fee and I wanted to ensure that my accounts were exempt from the fees. I could have called the 1-800, but frankly, I wanted someone to look me in the eye and tell me, “No, your accounts are not subject to a fee.” But fees are a different topic. Back to savings accounts…

Our bank requires an average monthly balance of $300 for the savings accounts to be exempt from the monthly service fee. The fee is $4, which is the amount of my oldest daughter’s weekly allowance. She’d have to save all of her allowance for 75 weeks to reach the $300 level. Impossible.

Here’s our dilemma…part of the deal with the allowance (because I think $4 a week is a lot for an 8 year old who doesn’t need anything) is that she needs to save half of the money. Some for long term savings and some for short term savings. That probably involves visiting a branch every other week. But anything for my kids. However, with the $300 minimum, it’s almost impossible to use the account for our purposes.

So…while at the branch inquiring about fees, I told the customer representative about my dilemma. I asked if there was an account better suited for our purposes. She replied, “No” and reiterated the $300 monthly minimum balance. Don’t get me wrong. She was perfectly nice about it. The bank just doesn’t have the right account.

I’m really looking for a passbook savings account, which just isn’t offered anymore. And I understand that they are dinosaurs. But they are really, really great accounts for kids. Kids like things that are tangible. And obviously a passbook serves as a tangible item for the money in the account. Going to the bank and depositing money is a very intangible concept for kids. When talking to my daughter about it her response was, “But why would you want the money in the bank and not your piggy bank? What does the bank do with your money?”

Excellent question.

“They keep it safe for you.”

“But it’s safe in my piggy bank.” (She likes to take it out and count it.)

We haven’t yet gotten to, “But why do I want to save my money?” But it’s only a matter of time.

So now I’m investigating kids savings accounts at other banks. I understand that passbook savings accounts are probably a money losing proposition for the bank. But I still wish my bank offered them. The real issue, however, is what role should banks play in financial literacy?

A big question. While I ponder it, I’m off to visit the branch. Again. Because the online information from my bank states that all savings accounts are free if the depositor is under 18….

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