A total of $16. That was the profit I made from selling my toys and games at a garage sale my mother had when I was 7 years old. That collection of cash and coins was what I carried with me to our local bank to open my first savings account in 1975. The bank teller even handed me a folded and stapled passport in a plastic sleeve that had the deposit transaction printed on it. A few years went by before I made any additional deposits from my lawn-mowing money, but it was then when I realized what interest was all about. That $16 I deposited had somehow grown. I didn’t understand how, but I liked it.
I became fascinated — maybe obsessed — with the entire process of making deposits and growing my savings. As I started walking beans and detasseling corn, some bigger dollars began to come in. I felt personal victories with each savings milestone— $100, $200, $300 and so on. When I turned 15, I started working at a gas station and received a regular paycheck, but the savings process was still the same. I walked up to the bank, deposited my check and fixed my eyes on that passport to see how much I earned in interest.
Today I realize how minimal the interest on basic savings accounts is, but I also am not much of a risk-taker in the markets. So, I still deposit savings with the passion I had as a kid. Admittedly, with auto-deposits, ATM withdrawals and online banking, I don’t get the same satisfaction I had as a child when gazing at the entire history of my deposits and withdrawals on that printed passport in the bank lobby, but that’s OK.
As for that original bank passport, I still have it stored away in a box, complete with the now-yellowed plastic sleeve and the memory of my first $16.
It seems money is not the only thing I save.
Have a terrific Tuesday, and, as always, thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707