Recently one of the banks that I use decided to eliminate a chequing account plan that I have been on forever where because I kept a certain amount of funds in the account there was no fees for it. However, with the new change you would be charged regardless and in order to avoid the fee you would have to sign up for one of its more expensive plans. So I went to the bank to try and figure out what the best option would be.
Upon talking to the person there didn’t really seem to be anything to go crazy about. Considering I have been with them for so long too it’s kind of a pity I wasn’t offered anything great as even a new person could get a great bonus deal. The one thing that got me thinking was how the highest plan requires you to keep a significant amount of money in the account to get for free. So as the service agent looked at my account he saw that the minimum amount should be no issue for me and because of that I should sign up for it.
It makes you think where many times just because you can afford it doesn’t mean you should as it may not be the best option. Like in this case to sign up for a higher end plan to waive off a crazy fee of like $40 a month may sound great initially. But realistically I could sign up for a lower plan that suits my needs and invest that money that would normally be tied down to save on the monthly fee on investments like a TFSA that would earn me way more.
It’s the type of stuff you need to think of because once you do the hard work to earn and save your money there is the part on how to actually maintain it too. So many times when we have the money and we get comfortable that bad habit of not feeling the need to even think about how you spend and invest your money can kick in. Basically needs to be a nonstop habit in many ways. Doesn’t mean you need to think about it 24/7 but rather it might not be wise to just blindly go for things because you can, so to speak.