What a Bank Is and What a Savings Account Does
Aligned to JS:SS-2 — Jump$tart National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education & Advance CTE Career Clusters.
What this lesson teaches
A bank is a place that holds your money for you, keeps a record of it, and pays you a small amount called interest for leaving it there. Your money is not sitting in a box with your name on it — the bank owes it to you, and the record is what proves it.
Worked examples
Example 1
You deposit $100. The bank writes down that it owes you $100, and you can take it out at any branch or an ATM, not just the one you walked into.
Example 2
With 2% interest, $100 left alone for a year becomes $102. It is small, but it is money you got for doing nothing.
Example 3
Money in a bank account is safer than money in a drawer: it cannot be lost in a fire, and in the US most accounts are insured by the FDIC up to a limit.
Practice questions
- Name two things a bank does for you that a shoebox does not.
- If you deposit $200 at 2% interest, how much is there after a year?
- Why does a bank pay you interest at all?
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Qué es un banco y qué hace una cuenta de ahorros
Un banco es un lugar que guarda tu dinero, lleva un registro de él y te paga una cantidad pequeña llamada interés por dejarlo ahí. Tu dinero no está en una caja con tu nombre — el banco te lo debe, y el registro es lo que lo comprueba.
Ejemplo 1: Depositas $100. El banco anota que te debe $100, y puedes sacarlo en cualquier sucursal o cajero, no solo en el que entraste.
Ejemplo 2: Con 2% de interés, $100 dejados un año se vuelven $102. Es poco, pero es dinero que ganaste sin hacer nada.
Ejemplo 3: El dinero en el banco está más seguro que en un cajón: no se pierde en un incendio, y en Estados Unidos la mayoría de las cuentas están aseguradas por la FDIC hasta cierto límite.
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