Sixteen dollars. That was the profit I made from selling my toys and games at a garage sale that my mother had when I was 7 years old. That collection of cash and coins was what I carried with me to Home Federal Savings and Loan 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, the REAL money 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 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 Home Federal Savings and Loan passport, I still have it stored away in a box in the basement, 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 fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@dmcityview.com
641-755-2115