Average checking account balance?

Question

Just curious as to what people keep in their bank accounts usually?? I heard the other day that a HUGE amount of americans live paycheck to paycheck.
I'm looking for adults, not teenagers.

Maybe I should rephrase...
How much of a "cushion" do you usually have between pay periods .

Answer 1

I usually keep between $200- 600 in mine. I get antsy for that next paycheck if it goes below 200.

I am 24, a teacher and newly married. I do have an advantage in that my husband and I both went to college so we already make the average house hold income, we also have no children, which is a HUGE benefit when it comes to saving money.

We have various forms of savings as a result of my father working in investments so our checking account is mainly for spending. As someone else mentioned it silly to keep lots of money where it gains no interest.

Answer 2

Average Checking Account Balance

Answer 3

Average Bank Account Balance

Answer 4

It's different for everybody, since everybody is different. There is no real, meaningful "average" that would be useful to know.

Some people like to keep their total monthly bills X 1.5 as a steady-state (a "do not go below") account balance. Sort of like an engineer's design safety margin.

A huge amount do live from paycheck to paycheck, in every income strata, too. I was blown away when a mortgage lender went out of business here in Tucson (First Magnus).
The media got commentary from a large sample of ex-employees-from senior managers and brokers to junior analysts and receptionists. The common denominator seemed to be them wondering how they were going to pay the bills next month. I'll bet some of them were 100,000 plus a year people too. Folks live way beyond their means today. My father used to say that young people wanted everything that their parents had, and they wanted it all before they turned 35. Course, their parents were retired in their 60's and had acquired everything over a lifetime.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Average checking account balance?
Just curious as to what people keep in their bank accounts usually?? I heard the other day that a HUGE amount of americans live paycheck to paycheck.
I'm looking for adults, not teenagers.

Answer 6

Yes most poor people live payday to payday.It's
because a lot of them have familes,with kids.
It's best to keep as much as you can.The rule is
3/13.
One third for bills,one third for rent,and the rest for food and survial .what you don't spend is a carry over.
The more you have in your account acts as a coushin aginest a bad check.
I sugguest that you open up a saving account.
If for the reason that it will cover any bad check you write.

Answer 7

The rule of thumb is that you should have 6 months of income available for emergency situations. Loss of job, disability without pay, etc. So calculate your net weekly check and multiiply it by 26. You can include savings, investments, etc. in that number. You are correct though many people live from paycheck to paycheck.

Answer 8

A lot of adults still live paycheck to paycheck, and I guess it depends on what state they live in of course. I don't really think people keep anywhere near the same amount of money in their accounts even if they are living paycheck to paycheck because everyone has different expenses etc....

Answer 9

About 12 thousand...Why put any in a savings account with the paltry interest the bank pays ? Invest in a retirement account and put the rest in a checking account.

Answer 10

It does not make sense to keep more than a couple thousand in checking when your money could be making interest for you. Just keep enough to take care of minor emergencies like car repairs and stuff like that. invest the rest.